Last
weekend, I forged a new experience: my first real trip while abroad. On Friday
night, eight friends and I packed our bags and took the night bus to a new
nation! Well, sort of. We went to the capital of the centuries-old,
quasi-self-governing nation of Scotland: Edinburgh (pronunciation rhymes with
Greensboro). Ah Edinburgh. Home to centuries-old, jaw-dropping architecture,
volcanic mountains that rise austerely from the city like calvary soldiers
amongst armies of infantry, manly-sounding accents, and yes, throngs of
well-off Americans treating the city like a Disney World with alcohol (and
plenty of companies willing to make money off of them). I had a good weekend
there, but not a great one. I was glad I went, but also realized that I made a
few mistakes along the way that hampered my enjoyment of the weekend and cost
me a fair amount of money. Did things go horribly wrong? Simply put, no. But
they did go just wrong enough to leave me wondering after the trip about what
might have been.
Perhaps this story starts last Monday
night, at around 8 p.m. or so when I got out my computer to work on my British
politics essay that was due this Monday. Long story short, I didn’t, choosing
instead to look up flight prices to random European destinations for a couple
hours. I did similar things the next three nights so that by the time I left on
Friday, I’d done the research I needed to, but none of the writing. Now, I’d
always planned to take the train ride back to London to finish writing my essay
(I have an uncanny work ethic on buses, trains, and planes—I once wrote a
10-page essay almost exclusively in airports), but I’d hoped to be at least a
bit further along than I was. So throughout the weekend, I kept trying to make
time to work on the essay because I had the sneaking suspicion that I wasn’t
going to be able to finish it on the ride back (my suspicion was right). I’ve
never been one to freak out about schoolwork, but this failed procrastination
on my part did put me a little on edge.
If
I was on edge at first, the night bus surely didn’t help. As I referenced in my
earlier blog, I knew what I was getting myself into. I’ve been on enough
Megabus rides to know that they’re not comfortable for extended periods, and
enough night trains to know that they’re not conducive to restful sleep. I
wasn’t exactly coming onto the bus well rested, either; I had yet to fully
recover from watching the Duke game until 4 a.m. that week. So when I got off
the bus after a hard-fought four hours of sleep, I wasn’t feeling my best self.
I was functional and able to appreciate the beauty of the city as we walked
around that day, but looking back on it, I wasn’t really in the best state to
engage in a full day of walking and sightseeing. This had a number of small
effects. I was slightly more irritable, less willing to go on the half-planned
adventures that so often form the highlights of our travel experiences, and
more likely to go along with the rest of the group. Consequently, when the
group wanted to go on a “free” walking tour of the city that the hostel
recommended, I readily consented.
The
waling tour ended up being really interesting, even if it wasn’t exactly free,
but perhaps it ended up being our tragic flaw. Our tour guide recommended a pub
crawl that night, which was advertised as a trip through six of Edinburgh’s
best pubs, with six free drinks for only £12. I was a bit skeptical, as I had bookmarked a few pubs that
my Scotland guidebook recommended. Yet I didn’t think to speak up or talk about
possible alternatives to the pub crawl. So as members of our group started
buying their tickets, I was more or less forced to buy mine. The pub crawl, as
you might have guessed, wasn’t much of one. Maybe one of the places we went to
could qualify as a pub, the drinks weren’t really free, and the only
non-Americans we met were the people leading us around and some creepy Scottish
guys looking to get lucky with adventurous American girls. By 10:30, it was clear
that we’d spent £12 for two
mediocre drinks and a night effectively shielded from anything that could be
considered authentic Edinburgh. Sensing a long night ahead of us, I started
lobbying friends to cut our losses and head back to the hostel, and after an
hour most of us did just that.
To my great satisfaction, we ended
up wandering around the hostel and finding a lounge room with a record player,
and spent the rest of the night singing along to Simon & Garfunkel tunes. I
got a good night’s sleep and woke up on Sunday ready for the day. Most of the
group went to explore Edinburgh Castle, but about five of us decided to hike up
Arthur’s Seat, a mountain that overlooks Edinburgh (pictures coming soon). It
was loads of fun, and a nice break from trying to keep up with a dozen people
in a new city. We took the train back that afternoon and I made some great
headway on my paper ended up switching prompts for my paper about halfway
through, only finishing minutes before the paper was due on Monday. I felt good
about the paper I did turn in, though.
So what did I learn from the
weekend? First, I have to get my work done. Second, while the night bus is
certainly cheaper, it’s not always the best option. Third, I shouldn’t be
afraid to break off from the group and do my own thing. Fourth, it’s better to
trust the guidebook, which is in the business of enabling me to have good
travel experiences, than the free tour guide, who is in the business of getting
unwitting college students to give him money. Finally, I’m not always going to
have the best weekends travelling, but as long as I learn from my experiences,
I’ll be okay.
No comments:
Post a Comment