Edinburgh, Scotland

Back home once again after an incredible adventure!

Athena had class Thursday afternoon and by 7:00pm we were on the train headed north to Edinburgh.  Running a little later than planned though, we ended up having to run through King's Cross station, and jump onto the train.  In my head, I was running towards the Hogwarts Express to bring me back to school though ;)  We didn't have assigned seats on our tickets like we thought we did, so we ended up having to sit on the floor inbetween cars for an hour and a half until people got off and seats opened up.  Next time: choose your seats in advance.  We got to Edinburgh around 11:30pm, found our hostel, and hit the hay.  We stayed at Castle Rock Hostel which was very nice!  Though we selected "female only dormitory" online, we of course walk into our four person room and find a friendly Brazilian man named Pedro ready for bed in the bunk next to ours.  He was very nice and was quiet in the mornings, so no complaints!  

Friday the 21st, we slept in a little then caught a free walking tour we had heard about from friends and from our hostel.  The tour was a lot of Scottish history and about certain major landmarks in the city.  Our guide was very entertaining and it was free, so of course it was good!  We learned about Greyfriar Bobby who was a dog to a local policeman years ago.  When his owner died, the dog sat on top of his grave for 6+ years until his own death.  It was a very touching story, and now the statue of the dog is one of the most photographed attractions in Edinburgh.  Touching his nose is good luck!  We had lunch at The Elephant House which is a now famous cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote part of the first Harry Potter book in.  It was really cool to see all the newspaper articles and pictures about the book and how it started at The Elephant House.  That evening, both being hockey fans, Athena and I hit up a pub to watch the USA vs. Canada Olympic Hockey game.  We made them change the channel from speed skating in which Great Britain was competing to watch the game...they were hesitant at first, but decided to change it.  After the disappointing conclusion to the game, we met some locals that were out celebrating a friend's birthday.  Since we had no plans, they said they'd be happy for us to tag along, so that is exactly what we did.  We went on a our own mini pub crawl, and it was a blast!  They were very intrigued by American culture and one guy practically knew more about America than we did.  

The Elephant House

Good luck rub!

Saturday, we decided to not pay 23 Pounds to go inside the Edinburgh Castle, but to explore outside instead!  We climbed to the top of Calton Hill which had the Scottish National Monument and other amazing landmarks.  The view from the top was gorgeous as well!  But not nearly as breathtaking as the top of Arthur's Seat.  That was a strenuous climb, but 100% worth it.  I have never experienced something so beautiful and of course no picture could truly capture it.  On one side of you is the coast and green hills, then on the other is all of Edinburgh to look down on.  The wind at the top was impressive, and there were multiple times that I thought we would blow right off the mountain.  That was enough climbing and walking for one day, so we decided to find another pub to eat dinner at.  Our tour guide on Friday told us about haggis and how it was a traditional Scottish meal.  For those who don't know what haggis is (like I did not), it is a mixture of sheep heart, lungs, and liver, all cut up and mixed with herbs and spices, then cooked inside the sheep stomach and served with potatoes and turnips.  Sounds appealing right?  But how could we be in Scotland and not get it?!  So, I braved it for dinner and while I don't think I would ever order it again, it was worth it to try!  After dinner we went to a different pub where again we met some Scottish guys that showed us their favorite places which turned into yet another pub crawl.  Scottish people were way more interested in Americans than anyone we had met since coming over here.  Instead of making fun of our accents, they seemed to actually enjoy them.  It was semi refreshing and made us even more proud to be an American ;)

On the top of Arthur's Seat

Today, Sunday, thinking we had experienced all we could from Edinburgh, Athena and I hid from the rain and hung out in a coffee shop laughing about our random adventures we had been on since being in Scotland.  We walked around, took a couple more pictures, then got on a 4:00 train back to London.  Currently, dirty clothes are in the wash, and we are slowly getting our lives back together after 10 days of straight traveling.  Our reading week break is over, and it is back to reality and class tomorrow!  I am looking forward to being back into a routine, having my own bed, and having just Athena as my roommate. 

Here's my Facebook album of pictures!

https://www.facebook.com/kaitlin.martiny/media_set?set=a.10203190581346820.1073741832.1276632147&type=3