Lady Alexis Gets Frustrated. And Hangry.

              Day three was the very best day, if by best you mean weirdest. We caught a freakishly early bus to Glasgow (8:45) so I could visit Glasgow Cathedral for one of my classes. After Emily and Sidney dragged me away from taking two hundred photos of stained glass¹, we went back to the bus station to purchase Megabus tickets for Edinburgh (The Megabus is supposedly this great deal because it only has one stop and is 10 pounds for a round trip). We couldn’t connect to the internet long enough to purchase tickets and after hearing that yes we could purchase tickets on the Megabus and no we couldn’t purchase tickets on the Megabus, we were irritated and confused and decided to ditch the Megabus idea after an hour. We caught the Citylink bus around 12:15 and bought our tickets round trip, knowing that we would only have four hours in Edinburgh before going back to Glasgow to catch the last McGill bus to Greenock (I don’t know how my brain did not explode because of this). On that bus we also discovered that we only paid one pound more to take the Citylink bus round trip than Megabus round trip. Sorry for that rant but I felt it was imperative you understand why this day was not my favorite.
Once we finally got to Edinburgh (hallelujah!) we headed to the Royal Mile. We saw the Edinburgh Castle at one end and Holyrood Palace at the other and every souvenir shop in between and could not have been happier. (I personally feel that royalty rubbed off on me on the Royal Mile and I’m thinking Lady Alexis sounds like a nice way to be addressed from now on.) It was also on the Royal Mile that Emily and I realized that we are not the only people capable of getting hopelessly turned around in Scotland when we heard a woman on the Royal Mile ask how to get to Edinburgh Castle, when it is literally the highest point on the street and impossible to miss. After walking up and down and up and down the Royal Mile to check out each gift shop, random bag pipe player, and each café menu, we headed back to Prince’s Street for a late lunch because Emily and I were getting a little hangry (that’s hungry and angry for those of you genial people who have never needed to use this term), and Sidney was getting a little annoyed with us.
             It was at lunch I decided that I was just about done with this mess of a day and sat down for some fish and chips (again, because they are delicious) and people watching. A Scottish man trying to get to the next table kindly said ‘excuse me Darlin,’ and my day was made. If you’re a woman and you’ve never been called “Darlin’” by a Scottish man, you need to make it a goal of yours. Based on personal experience, not only does it boost your self-esteem a little bit, but it sounds so much less creepy than when American men say it. Doubly the case if you’re peeling from a horrendous sunburn and it looks like you have leprosy. So, with feet I wished I could transplant and a smile on my face, my friends and I caught our two buses back to Greenock and kicked our feet up in the port terminal and enjoyed some Wi-Fi. Here ended the third day and we had had the last word in our battle with public transportation. With nothing scheduled on day four I went to sleep knowing my feet and I would live another day.

1: Glasgow Cathedral really was beautiful. There was stained glass showing different important stories, figures, and verses all over. They had the creation story with Adam and Eve, the life of Moses, Jesus, the Apostles, and other minor prophets. There was also a lower level under the main body of the cathedral that had little prayer chapel areas and, and, dead bodies. They weren’t out in the open or anything, but two people were buried inside the cathedral and I’m not sure if the bodies are housed there anymore, but their stone coffins were there for everyone to see.
Glasgow Cathedral
Moses in Stained Glass

Edinburgh Castle!

Look who's on the Royal Mile!!!

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