Trying to find the "real Scotland"
Now, after spending five days and nights in Edinburgh, I was feeling the need to leave the big city. Yes, Edinburgh is a fantastic city, and it was the best time of the year. But after five days in a big city, I needed to get away. I felt it would be insincere to visit a country and only really see the main cities. Although going to the Highlands was too far and expensive, I still wanted to see some small towns, get away from main street and meet some real folks and experience the real Scotland. I also didn't want something like this happening again.
I had no idea of where I could go, so I turned to the trusty googles. My criteria were thusly:
1. A small town, but not touristly cliche.
2. Preferably close to the sea.
3. Somewhere far away enough for the backpackers to not be filled up with tourists for Edinburgh Festival.
4. Close enough for me to get back to Edinburgh Airport for my 10pm flight on Tuesday.
However, I am not a terribly good internet researcher, so I just ended up looking on google maps, finding towns that looked small but had a train station, googled for a backpackers in the area, and I looked through the Scot-rail website to see if I could make it back on time.
This is pretty much the map I made my decision from. It was a town with the second silliest name I have ever been to: "Berwick-Upon-Tweed".[The prestigious first prize goes to The Dutch city of Bergen-op-Zoom]
I arrived by fast train on Sunday night, which took about an hour and half, and I walked straight to the backpackers. The Australian running it had to leave the gates open past the ungodly hour of 9pm. Yes, this was a conservative, traditional town. Also, the common room had already closed. However, I was a rebel and made a cup of instant coffee, and sat down to write. Besides, there was no-one else staying there.
After a while, someone came in. It was an older guy from Glasgow, very friendly. We talked for a while, and he came to the subject of what he did that day. He said:
"I walked from here into Scotland."
My brain paused for a minute. It was about to explode with a toxic amount of logic.
'Wait a minute. If he walked into Scotland from here... then here... must not be Scotland!'
I had inadvertently crossed the border into England. I mean, if I had known this was England, I would have chosen somewhere else. I didn't want to go to England! It all makes sense now: only the English would give a town name something as lame and gay as "Berwick-Upon-Tweed." I felt such the fool. Of course, I didn't say anything to the guy, and luckily he was content to keep talking.
Now that I've take a closer look at the google map, there is a squiggly line of the border just above Berwck-Upon-Tweed. But I was here in this town, and I was going to make the most of it. That night, I slept so incredibly well. After five consecutive nights of sleeping in backpacker rooms with 8 or 12 other people on plastic matrasses, this real wooden bed with soft down duvet was like sleeping in a gay cloud filled with puppies and bunnies.
I woke up refreshed, and armed with a map, umbrella and a camera. It was a full day of relaxed walking, between fresh bouts of rain and glorious sunshine. It was such a nice town to spend the day in.
Because I took so many photos, I compiled them into a 4 minute video. The song is Big Blue Sea by Bob Schneider (not Rob Schneider). It has no real relation to the content, apart from matching my relaxed, feel-good mood of the day, and I wanted to use a song by an artist that most people probably don't know.
The reason why Berwick-Upon-Tweed is such a pretty town is due to the River Tweed and the trade it brought further north into Scotland. And then, [from Wiki]
Berwick's strategic position on the English-Scottish border during centuries of war between the two nations and its relatively great wealth led to a succession of raids, sieges and take-overs. Between 1147 and 1482 the town changed hands between England and Scotland more than 13 times, and was the location of a number of momentous events in the English-Scottish border wars.
So, there you have it. I went on a trip to find the real Scotland, and ended up in England. If you are Scottish, I'm kidding. Although, I heard and read that in the future, Berwick-Upon-Tweed might change back, and when they do, feel free to call me a visionary.
No comments:
Post a Comment