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Simone Baines |
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Home of the Scottish Parliament |
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Edinburgh, the capital
of Scotland, is a respectable community of lawyers, doctors and
accountants.
Each year it
hosts
the dignified and elegant Edinburgh Festival of classical music.
Its long connections with
royalty
are evident – Prince Philip, the British Queen's husband, is
known
as the Duke of
Edinburgh.
Edinburgh has a
wild side
too, as celebrated in the film, Trainspotting, seen by
millions around the world. Each year it hosts the Festival
Fringe, a
chaotic
celebration of alternative performing arts that is now bigger
than the Festival
it sprang from.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Resembling a modern interpretation of a medieval castle
on the outside and a
trendy
art gallery inside, the new National Museum of Scotland is set
to become a new source of national pride for the Scots. So is
the ‘upside down
boats’ design of the Scottish Parliament building
which is sited next to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Enric
Miralles of Barcelona was the architect of the home of the first
Scottish Parliament for 300 years.
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GHOSTS AND
GHOULS
Edinburgh has more
ghostly and
gruesome tales per square mile than anywhere else in
Scotland. When the famous Princes Street Gardens were being
built, a lake had to be
drained. On the empty
lake
bed the builders discovered hundreds of
skeletons of women who had been
drowned as
witches.
The
graveyard of the church of St Cuthberts has a
watchtower. It was built in the 1820s to stop
body-snatchers
from
stealing corpses.
The most famous of these body-snatchers, Burke and Hare, made a
good living supplying bodies to the university medical school,
where, author of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle later
trained as a doctor. |
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EDINBURGH
UNDERGROUND
For an unusual view of the city, take one of the tours of
the Edinburgh underground. Reached through the back of an
abandoned apartment, you'll find streets and rooms that were
walled
up many years ago and forgotten. Forgotten that is until
the unfortunate
apartment owner accidentally broke through his wall and
found a part of the city unseen for hundreds of years.
STAYING AND EATING
If you
fancy
a breath of sea air, then Leith is just fifteen minutes from the
centre. And overlooking Leith's
quay
is the Malmaison Hotel. Tatler magazine voted this the
best hotel in the world for under £200 a night.
Showbiz stars (who could easily afford to pay more) are
frequent visitors.
For a
superb meal in
eerie
surroundings, try The Witchery restaurant,
in the shadow of
Edinburgh Castle.
Lit
only by candles, with a black interior, you feel sure
there are other
ghostly guests at your table.
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Source: New English Digest |
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GLOSSARY |
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accountants:
contadores
hosts:
auspicia, presenta
royalty:
la realeza
known as:
conocido como
wild side:
aspecto bravío
chaotic:
caótica
it sprang from:
del cual surgió
resembling: semejante a,
parecido a
trendy: de moda, muy
moderno
upside down boats: botes dados vuelta
ghostly and
gruesome tales: historias
fantasmagóricas y macabras
drained: desaguado,
vaciado
lake bed: lecho del lago
skeletons: esqueletos
drowned: ahogados |
witches:
brujas
graveyard: cementerio
watchtower: atalaya, torre
de vigía
body-snatchers: ladrones
de cadáveres
stealing corpses: robar
cadáveres
trained: entrenado
walled up: tapiados,
enmurallados
apartment owner: dueño del
apartamento
fancy: tienes ganas de
quay: muelle
showbiz stars: estrellas
del cine y televisión
superb: soberbia
eerie: escalofriantes,
espeluznantes
in the shadow of: a la sombra de
lit only by candles:
iluminado sólo con velas
ghostly guests: invitados fantasmagóricos |
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MAS
"VIAJES Y OCIO"
FORO
INICIO |
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