Today we decided to explore some of the farther attractions that the city had to offer. The weather was again flaky. The sun dictated the climate hiding behind clouds, followed by a short appearance and then hiding behind clouds again. Rain trickled down every once and a while, but it never lasted very long. Edinburgh has a much smaller town feeling then Glasgow. The traffic is not as thick and the building are quite a bit shorter.
Our first destination is the Royal Botanical Gardens. It is about a 20 minute walk from our hostel and initially the weather is sunny. Gene and Nate rejoice in the good weather.
The season here in Scotland is still early spring. Most of the plant life were in the early budding stages. If our visited would have been a little bit later I am sure our views would have much more spectacular. Nonetheless the gardens were well groomed and purposefully crafted. The land acreage is huge and we are only able to explore a small portions of the landscape. Waterfalls and ponds hide around every corner.
On our way back from the gardens, we stop at various shops to see if there are any affordable meals. The dollar is worth half a pound and everything seems expensive. I spot Desi Sandwiches, a small shop on the corner of the street we were stopped at. Upon entering we speak to an extremely talkative Pakistani. After learning I was from China, the smile on his face grew even wider. "Pakistan and China are very close friends. If you go to Pakistan everyone will like you". He even offered us a discount on our lunch and threw in extra sides for us to try.
I decided to get the Chicken Kebabs with free sides of Chick Peas and Lentos. He explained that Lentos were probably one of his favorite sides. This was probably the first time I had lentos. We continued to talk about the international relations between China and Pakistan. He says that China is probably Pakistan's best friend. I had no idea that their relationship was so great but apparently China has had a guiding hand in the economic growth of Pakistan and much of the investments are coming from China. We continue to talk politics and slowly conveys his idea that the past decade it was all about America while this coming decade will all be all about China. It still amazes me how politically involved people outside the US are. It makes me feel like I need to read up on more issues.
We are offered tea and end up staying longer. More "regulars" of the store come in and it is obvious that this guy has a outstanding rapport with the locals. His father walks into the shop and he quickly jumps into the conversations. We continue to talk about politics and then more on to religion. Once again Osama Bin Laden's name is mentioned. He tells us how Islamic views are now generalized by American media. He tells us that every group has extremists and that the Islamic faith is no different. The people that commit the terrorist acts are part of a small extremists group and that their views in no way depicts Islamic views. He continues to tell us about the Qur'an and how similar it is to the traditional Christianity views. It was probably one of the most enlightening conversations I've had.
The next attraction on our agenda was to visit the Palace of Holyrood House. This palace is the Queen's official residence in Scotland. The tour price was kind of steep, but with nothing else in that area we decided to take it. A lot of history is given, but again photography is not allowed inside the house. There is much history in the house and a lot of the original furniture and household items are still intact. One tidbit of information I thought was pretty interesting is that the Queen's bodyguards were a group of skilled archers and that they were the oldest form of bodyguards ever used. They still use the gardens to practice their archery skills. It was an interesting exhibit, but if I had to do it again I probably would have skipped it.
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