GREAT SCOT! edinburgh

We arrived in Edinburgh around 7am. We were all pretty groggy stepping off the bus, but my eyes widened immediately when I looked up and saw the the town for the first time. I had seen pictures, but I still couldn't believe the landscape and architecture. I basically felt like I was thrown into a movie of some sort, with the greenest grass and the most amazing castles and cathedrals around me in every direction. We headed to our hostel knowing that we wouldn't be able to check in yet, but we weren't sure where else to go. The hostel was my favorite to date, with an amazing location just yards away from the Edinburgh Castle and a different theme for every room (we got the Lord of the Rings room.. woo!!!). Luckily for us, they also had a movie room complete with about 6 couches and they let us nap in there until our free walking tour that left at 11.

On our way to meet our tour guide, we stopped by to grab some much needed Starbucks. For the first time in her life, Kerry's coffee cup had her name spelled correctly! Man, is it nice to visit to the homeland.

Our walking tour was sponsored by the same company as the one we took in London (NewEurope), and although it was a bit cold, we learned a ton about the rich history of Edinburgh, unleashing the hidden beauty of a quaint town that most of us had known very little about before. The Royal Mile, Mercat Cross, St. Giles Cathedral ("Mother Church of Presbyterianism" and by far my favorite church thus far), back alleys, the grass markets, Frankenstein's, Greyfriars Graveyard, New Town, Elephant House, Princes St. Gardens, Edinburgh castle and the stone of destiny... we saw it all!

After the tour, we spent the afternoon on the new town side exploring the numerous stores and cafes. Then we headed back to the hostel to check in, shower and get ready for dinner that night. Hayley's older sister had a friend studying in Edinburgh who, along with other locals, recommended an indian restaurant called Mother India. Having never tried indian food, I had no idea what to expect but I ordered a few random things from the menu and dove in. I think I dove too deep because my food was extremely spicy and I went through about three pitchers of water. After that, we stopped at a pub called Biddy Mulligans and then called it a night, exhausted from a long 24 hours.

The next morning we woke up to a snowy Edinburgh, strapped on our bean boots and took a walk down the Royal Mile to Holyroodhouse- the Queen's official residence in Scotland. We purchased tickets and audio tours and walked through the palace, learning the speicifc histories of each of the rooms on display. The palace has been home to James II-VII as well as Mary, Queen of Scots, Charles I, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Queen Victoria and George V! My favorite room was Mary's bedroom, where her first husband, Lord Darnley, murdered her Italian secretary, David Rizzio out of jealousy. This was my favorite time period in European history and I could've stayed and listened to stories about Mary and Queen Elizabeth I all day. Pictures weren't allow inside, but we managed to get a few from the outside.

From there, we walked back up the Royal Mile to the castle end toward the Scotch Whiskey Experience to catch the 4:00 tour. We had some time to kill, so we stopped in shops on the way and checked out the street entertainment.

The Scotch Whiskey experience began with a ride similar to the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney World that led us through the process of producing whiskey. Then we were ushered into a tasting room and taught about the various regions and corresponding flavors of different scotch. I knew my dad's favorite would be from the region of Islay as soon as our guide said it produced rich, smoky flavors as called it a cigar in a glass. I decided to leave that one to him and I tried one from the Highland region, known for its "smooth and floral" taste. Then we walked into a room which was actually more of a series of rooms... that held the largest collection of scotch whiskey in the world (about 3,400 unopened bottles!) We also got to see the largest single bottle of scotch whiskey in the world, which was nearly my height.

Ready for dinner, we headed down to the grass market area to a pub called Fiddler's Arms, where we each tried a bite of Rachael's haggis. A traditional scottish meal, it's basically a mixture between meatloaf and sausage and you're not supposed to ask what kind of meat it is. After dinner we went back to the hostel to hang out and meet up with Hayley's friend Diana who knew where the best local pubs were. We hung out in the common room, drinking, half-playing Jenga, but mostly chatting with a new friend. His name was Kevin and he was from England. He had been traveling the world, mostly alone for the past four years and had a plethora of great stories from his adventures. We also talked about issues like gun control, gay marriage and abortion, which always stew up great discussion. When Diana arrived, we invited Kevin along and took off toward the new town side for a night of bar hopping.

The next day we woke up to beautiful sunny weather and decided we needed to spent the morning climbing King Arthur's seat. We walked back down the Royal Mile, stopping again at St. Giles Cathedral, where the nice ladies in the gift shop warned me that the hike, despite it's greenery, would be a little muddy from the rain yesterday and to be careful. I took these words with a grain of salt and when we got to the hill, I took off running in excitement. Sure enough, I slipped and my entire right leg was covered in mud. We laughed and began going a little slower, being careful not to slip down the small mountain. The hike is basically up a large hill and ends with amazing views of the entire town of Edinburgh. The top was extremely windy but absolutely breathtaking, and we spent some time taking pictures and soaking in the fresh Scottish air before descending back down.

On the way down, I managed to slip yet again. Rachael, who was behind me, thought this was hilarious and proceeded to point and laugh hysterically until just a few seconds later SHE fell too! HA! That is what I call karma my friends. It was a funny moment and one that we won't forget anytime soon. You can see me doubled over laughing at her in the picture below.

After our morning hike, we knew we needed to make one more stop before catching a cab to the airport. We made our way to The Elephant House (aka "the birthplace of Harry Potter") for some tea and a light lunch. For those of you who don't know, this is the cafe that J.K. Rowling spent her time writing the first couple Harry Potter novels. Our tour guide told us that she lived in Edinburgh, but would bring her children to this cafe because she couldn't afford to heat her home for the entire day. Sitting in the same place she sat, I waited for inspirational and brilliant ideas to flood to mind. I got nothin'... so I just sat there enjoying my elephant shortbread and reflecting on the past few days.

We still had a bit of time to kill before our flight, so we walked around and stopped at the castle for a few last pictures. Our cab picked us up about an hour later and our driver must have thought he was Jeff Gordon, because we were green in the face after 20 minutes of twists and turns at high speeds. Megan even fell out of her seat during one turn, which cracked us up and reminded us the importance of wearing seat belts!

Next thing we knew, we were in the air headed to Dublin for the last leg of our 10 day tour!