A Close encounter with the Dutch Kind

Due to many a factor - one of which is my long-term flu and cough-ness induced inclination to lie down on the couch and watch telly after a long day of uni and rehearsing - I have neglected a new blog entry for quite some time. (It is staring to become suspiciously clear that all my updates start with a flimsy excuse like that nowadays) However, I have been away from the computer altogether for the weekend so that added a few days to the waiting. The reason I was away was one of the best one can come up with, I was in Scotland's beautiful capital Edinburgh, student-leading a clan of International Students around town plus surroundings. The story behind me becoming a chieftain of our own little band of explorers is a long one, but it boils down to this; Trip needed 2 people to help Richard the groupleader out on a Uni organised trip. Instead of the 75 pounds that it would cost, we received a much welcomed discount and we were off on a 5 hour coach journey to the North. My friend Julia being the other helper-outer, the drive up there in a slightly too-cramped- for-my-long-Calvé-peanutbutter-(daar wordt je groot van)inspired-legs bus was very fun nonetheless and we and the driver had some interesting conversation about the whereabouts of the world's bunny rabbit population.

The Youth Hostel where we arrived at 11ish at night was what you can expect from a city centre based hostel; I won't go in to many details but the noise at night was very very audible and it smelled of catfood wherever you went. But the murals were very pretty and the staff very nice. The pooltable in the common room became an unexpected friend when I found out that I wasn't half bad at playing the game and almost beat Felix.

The two days we then had in Edinburgh consisted of a tour around town and the impressive Edinburgh Castle. Julia and I had to keep the wandering student-tourists in check (who knew it'd be so hard to keep a 40 odd group together on a 15 min walk to a castle on the top of a hill) until we reached the various destinations. The castle was wonderful, the view over the city stunning but it sadly 5 minutes after our group had stormed the gates it began to rain and we scuttled inside into the various exhibitions for shelter. After an hour luckily it cleared up and we were again able to enjoy the architecture and panoramas over the Firth of Forth.
Continuing our tour to the Hilltop of which I have forgotten the name, but which did bear a nice tower and Roman Arch (why it did we're still unsure, I was under the impression the Romans never dared to venture past Hadrian's Wall, so why a Roman structure would be sitting overlooking the buildings beneath it is a mystery. It was pretty though) And later the Scottish Museum which was very enjoyable even though in the mean time we'd gotten pretty soaked with the Scottish Rain that beat down on us just minutes after we left the hill.


We ended the guided tour there, and Julia and me went on a little expedition of our own, trying to find a place to fill our hungry bellies. We ran into the 'Birthplace of Harry Potter', which is the café in which Joanne K. Rowling wrote her famous septology (is that a word?) but didn't go in. (We decided we were not that kind of fans, it was too crowded anyway) After a very long walk in which we basically circled the whole city back to where we started we settled on a Burger King meal. Imagine that, two fully convinced vegetarians in the Burger King, I suppose there is a first for everything (and the veggieburger was quite nice to be honest)
That night a club night was planned to an 'establishment' called Po Na Na. Julia funnily remarked that Po means bum in German. After the free champagne we quickly fought our way through the queue standing outside and fled to a pub. Places that charge 3 pound for a shooter or 6 pound for a vodka lime our not our cuppa.
After another night in the Hostel (in which we cleverly avoided getting no sleep again by drinking a smartly calculated amount of Budweisers) the last day was a free day. Julia and I decided to walk down the Royal Mile to the Holyrood palace and Abbey, where the Scottish Parliament is now at. It required a 8 pound entrance fee though so we decided to skip the tour and climb the famous hill behind it instead. Arthur's Seat has been a famous subject in Edinburgh's and Scotland's history for ages and although we didn't quite make the top, an impressive view of the city and the Palace presented itself to us after a short hike.



Now, if that wasn't impressive enough a strange thing happened to me on the way back to the hostel where we were bound to leave at 3. We were sturdily walking along the Mile when I spied someone standing in front of a bookshop that reminded me of a Dutch TV presenter Henk Spaan. I didn't think much of it because I don't know the man very well and only have a vague recollection what he looks like. It could have been any random dude. However, about a minute later a man comes walking down that I very much recognised instantaneously; it just happened to be that Matthijs van Nieuwkerk, famous and notorious TV person back home was ambling along the Royal Mile as well. The most random thing I've had happening to me to date. I didn't say anything or stare or take a sneaky photo. I just nudged Julia and told her who was just walking behind us. We ended up walking up the road in front of him and the people that he was with (whether it was really Spaan I don't know) for quite a while but lost them in the end. But I have to say, it was quite funny to be waiting for the traffic light to turn green with a Dutch celebrity standing next to you on the corner of an Edinburgh cobblestone street.

The drive home was long and partly in the dark. But the views when the sun was still shining down on us was very nice. Although the area around Edinburgh isn't quite the Highlands, there is a lot of cool hills to career through and enjoy. We were absolutely shattered when we arrived back at the Guild in Liverpool. I slept for a very long time, and now, today is the premiere of our play; The Wind in the Willows. I'm very very nervous, not for what I'm going to have to do on stage (I've been more 'exposed in Sticky Floor where the pressure is on Improv rather than rehearsed lines) but for what the play is going to be like. We have no real set to speak of, the dress rehearsal was messy and chaotic and we're still missing at least a third of the props that we'll need tonight....What will be will be I suppose, but I'll be glad when the opening night is done!