Edinburgh, Scotland: The Best City EVER!

Lunch Spot at Calton Hill!

Ok, I know I am really late on this, but here we go! Last weekend, I went to Edinburgh, Scotland for three days, and it was absolutely AMAZING and will be a very hard trip to top.  I remember telling my travel buddies in the train station before we left that I just had a really good feeling about the weekend.  Little did I know how great the trip would really be.  During the meet a family program the night before, our “dad” told us to look at the windows about an hour from Scotland because the view would be beautiful.  The train ran along the shore, and we could see light houses and waves in the ocean!  And, of course, lots of sheep.  Upon our arrival in Edinburgh (pronounced by the Scots as Edinburuh), we checked into the hostel and then headed off to find a place to eat our packed pb&j lunch.  We walked to the top of Calton Hill, which overlooks most of the city, and found a great place for our picnic!  That afternoon, we met up with several friends and hiked to the top of Arthur’s Seat, which essentially is a steep climb to overlook the city.  We took lots of pictures at the top, and then hiked down to a pond we saw below where we skipped some stones and had swans eat right out of our hands!!  After the hike, we wandered down the Royal Mile and walked into many of the little souvenir shops and boutiques.  For dinner, we found a pub called “The Tron” that was fairly reasonably priced.  I had my first Belgian waffle there for dessert, and it was so good that I went back and got another one on Saturday! It had chocolate, whipped cream, and vanilla ice cream on top.  Delicious.  After dinner, we went to bed at eight because we were all exhausted! 

Me on Top of Arthur's Seat

Group Shot from the Castle

Sunset Run

Day two began with a sunrise run in attempts to see the harbor; however, we ended up near the water in a very industrial area that wasn’t exactly picturesque, but we got a good run in and saw the pretty colours in the sky!  We then showered, ate breakfast/ lunch, and went on a three hour tour of the city!  We heard all sorts of historical, cultural, and as our tour guide phrased it, “just plain weird” stories about Edinburgh.  My favorite story was how the stone of destiny (a giant stone used as a throne for coronation of all Scottish kings) was reacquired.  It had been moved by the English king to Westminster Abbey when it rightfully still belonged in Scotland.  A group of college students from Glasgow University (around thirty minutes from Edinburgh) heard the story of the stone and decided to steal it back one night.  When they were on their way back, they heard on the radio that there were extra inspections at the England-Scotland border because the stone had been stolen.  The students decided to bury the stone in a field and come back for it later.  Then, realizing that in the cold and under the weight of the ground the stone could crumble, the group leader Ian went back for the stone.  Bad luck continued to strike when there was an Irishman’s caravan on top of the exact spot where the stone was.  Ian politely asked the man to move the caravan, but the man slammed the door in his face.  So Ian went back to Scotland and came back later the next day with some whiskey.  He then told the Irishman what he had done and if he would move his caravan so that he could get the stone.  The Irishman loved the story and since the Irish are not a fan of the Brits, he was overjoyed to move the caravan.  Bad luck continued again when Ian dropped the stone and cracked it in two; however, he managed to hide it under the front passenger seat of the car and drive it back to Scotland with the Irishman.  They then celebrated with it before finally telling the government what had been done.  The stone now is in its rightful place in Edinburgh castle.  This is just one example of the several stories we heard.  It was a very cold day, but really enjoyed the tour and warmed up with some tea afterwards.  After the tour, I went to the castle and was able to actually see the stone, which has been pieced back together.  The castle tour was wonderful too!  The view on top of the castle was one of the best views of the entire city.  We got to see various different parts of the castle including the prison, chapel, great hall, and dungeons.  After exploring the castle, we again went to Calton Hill after to watch the sunset.  Later that night, we had dinner and then partook in a “pub crawl.”  Basically, the pub crawl was a guided group that took us to various different local pubs and allowed us to get to know different people that we may not have met otherwise.  Within the first thirty minutes, I had met Scots, a guy from Australia, a girl from Argentina, and another girl from Chile.  We had a lot of fun talking to them, seeing the different cultural differences that we all had, and coming together over a common love for traveling in Europe. 

Me in Front of the Castle

Sunrise at Arthur's Seat

In the morning, I again rose early for a sunrise run, this time the destination being the top of Arthur’s Seat.  It was quite a climb, but we watched the most beautiful sunrise I have ever witnessed.  The rest of the day was spent wondering around town and doing some shopping.  We went to the Scottish national museum (home to Dolly the sheep), the museum of childhood (full of old toys!), and walked around the beautiful campus of the University of Edinburgh.  I even at the end of the day decided to buy myself a Scotland shirt as an early birthday present.  Before heading to the train station, we walked all the way to Papa John’s (a little farther than we remembered it being) and got pizza for dinner.  Because of how long of a walk it was, we literally had to run all the way back in order to get back to the hostel, get our luggage, and to the train station on time!  It was a close call, but we made it and were finally able to eat the pizza!  On the way home, we all enjoyed talking about the trip, but then got the thrill of reading our Shakespeare piece, Henry IV, on the way home.

So far, Scotland has been my favorite trip and it will be hard to beat.  I loved the beauty of the outdoors, the castle, the strong Scottish pride, and just the overall feel of the town.  Edinburgh was a fairly large city, but small enough to have the unity of a small town.  I actually felt like I could live there, not just like a tourist.  This trip is one I will forever remember and have truly enjoyed.

Top of Arthur's Seat with the XC girls