It’s been 10 days since leaving California. In ten days I’ve learned so many things I don’t know where to begin but I’ll start with the obvious. It’s cold. Like- really cold. As a California girl I forget that the rest of the world experience something called weather. Today it was a brisk 37 degrees with ice rain pelting at me sideways. And this is only the beginning. However that doesn’t seem to stop anyone. The city is still full of life and people going about their business. I know I’ll get used to it but in the meantime I find myself a teeth chattering- layer wearing- wuss.
Some of the things we’ve done in the last week- A LOT of job applications. For all my fellow millennials that soul sucking activity that makes you feel like you’re a worthless piece of educated and indebted shit. We’ve also looked at a few apartments that have been nice but nothing has really stuck yet- and without a job we would need to put down 6 months’ rent which of course is not really something either of us WANT to do.
Yesterday Annika and I attended a really cool (in my opinion) tour called “The Double Dead Tour.” We were taken down beneath the city in the underground vaults where people used to live only a mere 200 years ago. Imagine an entire society of impoverished and cast aside peoples forced to live underground. It was incredible and humbling- and of course spooky. Our tour guide was a total paranormal believer and kept referring to all the ghost stories relating to the place but me being a non-believer thoroughly enjoyed the history.
Edinburgh is known as the most haunted city in the world- so much so that there are thousands of ‘documented’ attacks on inhabitants and visitors alike. This isn’t surprising considering its bloody history. The Scots do have a historical tendency to resort to violence. One such story is that of the covenanters prison located within Greyfriars Kirkyard. It was here that the 1300 people were forced to lay on the ground side by side for an entire winter because of their refusal to adopt the Episcopalian faith during the time of King Charles the II. Well as it so happens this bloody history has made this space a ‘haunted’ one and there is a famous poltergeist here known as The Mackenzie poltergeist (look it up).
So learning all this we were then given the opportunity to enter the vault called the ‘black mausoleum’ where violent attacks from this ghosty beastie occur. Well Annika and I came out unscathed- Except for the adorable tumble Annika took in the mud on the way to the vault. However, a muddy butt and cold toes was the worst of it for us. It was still an awesome way to get to know some of the darker history of this new city.
Mostly, after 10 days there is not much to report. The beer is good, the people are nice, the weather is cold, and the adventure continues….
Sisters, Scots, and Scotch 