I should probably post something about Edinburgh...

Last weekend was the final subsidized trip of the semester, to Edinburgh! We got up around 5 Friday morning, because we had to be at King's Cross no later than 6:40. After a 4 and a half hour train ride, we arrived in Scotland! Just so you know, pictures will all be at the end of this post.

After checking into the hostel, we all went on a walking tour with Bill, the director of the ICLC. He has infinite knowledge about almost everything. The tour ended at Edinburgh castle, which was pretty cool. We had an awesome view of the city from up there, too.

When we had finished at the castle, we went on another walking tour (with Bill, of course) of the 'New Town' We saw the two cafes where JK Rowling wrote some of the first Harry Potter book, among other things. The walk wasn't too long, and we headed back to the hostel to eat dinner before heading to a Ceilidh.

A Ceilidh is a traditional Scottish dance, with awesome traditional music and the kind of dances where everyone does the same thing. I went from 8ish until after midnight, and we danced almost the entire time. It was one of the best experiences I've had in the UK this semester, and there is no way to accurately describe it.

Saturday was a very full day, especially considering some of us had spent half the night dancing. We walked across the city and down the Royal Mile to Scottish Parliament, the building of which was completed in 2004. It's designed after a tree branch, because the people in charge of getting it built wanted it to look like it was meant to be there or was growing out of the city. It was a really neat building, don't get me wrong, but their Parliament was not in session, so I didn't get to listen to any cool debates or anything.

Across the street from Parliament is Holyrood House, the royal residence when the Queen (who celebrated her 85th birthday just two days ago!) is in Edinburgh. Holyrood dates back pretty far, and was even the home of Mary, Queen of Scots, as well as where she gave birth to her son James. The palace is open to the public (for a fee) and is essentially a museum, with a lot of original or replica furnishings and what not. One bed is so old it is kept behind glass in low lighting, and Mary's bedroom is still (more or less) intact. You can even go into the room and see the spot where her secretary/lover was murdered by her husband and his friends.

Outside of the palace itself are the ruins of an abbey and marvelous gardens. All the flowers and trees were in bloom and it was quite lovely.

Now for the real challenge. After a night of dancing and a morning of tours and walking, we conquered Arthur's Seat. (want to know more?) Don't be fooled when you see it's only 800 something feet... it was tough. Not so terribly difficult that we were dying by the top, but hard enough that all of us were winded.  At the summit it was incredibly windy, but the views were incredible. You can see all of Edinburgh plus a lot of the North Sea from the top.

After walking back down, we decided we needed some nourishment, so we headed to Rose Street for the healthiest thing we could think of: deep fried Mars bars. That's right. Scotland takes candy bars, batters them, and fries them. I know America deep fries twinkies and pickles, but the deep fried Mars bar reigns supreme. It had a coating that was crispy but soft, and the chocolate was gooey and warm.

Mars bar, however delicious, are not enough for dinner, though. We walked down the street, looking at menus on windows until we found a place we wanted to eat. It was called The Auld Hundredth, and it was pretty sweet. We went up a little spiral staircase to the dining room (downstairs was a pub) and got some dinner. I had (please don't judge me) macaroni cheese. I justify this action by virtue of the fact that the menu said "Scotland's favorite" in the description. Well, it was delicious and cheesy and just what I needed after a long day.

Casey and Christina, however, were a lot braver in their choice of food. They ordered "Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties." Translation: Haggis, mashed turnips, and mashed potatoes. I was feeling slightly under the weather because I had eaten the Mars bar on an empty stomach, so I didn't try any, but they said it was good. It didn't look nearly as gross as I thought it would (it looked like taco meat or something) and they ate all of it.

Sunday morning was our last time to explore on our own, and when we heard from Bill that there was a car boot sale (like a flea market) going on nearby, we decided to go. Everything was super cheap and amazing. Somehow I managed only spend 1.50. My first purchase was, well, I actually don't know what they're called. They're little balls things that you put in water and they grow to be the size of big marbles. You can use them with flowers or just for decoration, and if they dry up or shrink you can just add more water, for a whole year! A packet of about 25 in London is like 2 or 3 pounds, and I got mine for just 50p. Andrea invested in 7 (one of each color) to decorate her on campus apartment next fall. Moments later, we happened upon a person that had a foot bath for sale. It was only 3 pounds, so we decided to buy it. It is now sitting in front of our fake fireplace.

Thus ended the Edinburgh trip. There were several rounds of 'Happy Birthday' for Bill, who turned 65 on Sunday, but mostly we all slept on the train ride home.

Here are some pictures:

Casey with her Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties

Queens of the car boot sale

what champs

Andrea, Rachel, and I at Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle on Castle Rock

Flowers in the garden at Holyrood

Andrea, guarding the palace

Scottish Parliament

"Scottish" Macaroni Cheese

The elephant house, where JK Rowling wrote some of HP

View of Edinburgh and the sea from Arthur's Seat

Part of Holyrood Abbey

Ceilidh

Holyrood Abbey