The First Task

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We landed in Edinburgh, Scotland on a quite chilly Wednesday morning. We rolled our bags and away we went, towards the buses that waited to take us to our hotel. My first day at Edinburgh was very eventful. The first difference that caught my eye was the driving on the opposite side of the road. When I looked, I saw cars driving on a different side of the road. I got used to that fairly quickly. I was glad when we finally arrived at our hotel because it meant a warm room, food, and some hot drinks– tea. It was the first time that I readily sought tea out and that was because the only other option was coffee. I forgot to ask whether I could get a glass of water. After all the formalities, we had a most welcomed lunch. Then we were advised to obtain phones with local UK numbers. I had already planned to go to carphone warehouse to buy a cheap Nokia phone.  This is what I eventually bought

I was quite satisfied with my purchase. My trip to the shop was longer than normal because I was too dependent on Google Maps, which I was lucky to still have access to due to the long range WiFi from the hotel. My return trip was eventful because I curiously ventured into a compound that I had previously passed. 

This was cool site because it was a preserved burial ground and I saw various ancient looking headstones that one normally sees in historical movies and the like. 

I looked around the parish and I was surprised to see that it was connected to a park called Princes Street Gardens. One aspect of Scotland I had conveniently forgotten was that it was very hilly. There were various entrances to the park and they all involved going down very steep slopes.

I took some captivating pictures of the garden and other rather intriguing historical statues and facts.

Wojtek the bear.

I saw numerous people in the park and that surprised me because the weather was chilly if one stayed in a place for long and I wondered if people just got used to the weather. I can testify to the fact that the chill becomes a welcome part of being in Edinburgh because after walking for so long, it becomes warmer. The highlight of my first day in Edinburgh was visiting that church and the gardens.