A Weekend in Edinburgh!

FRIDAY April 3rd
We got up around 7:00AM, met everyone in Reid Hall about 7:15 and then left to head to King’s Cross where we were getting a National Express train to Edinburgh, Scotland. Our train was set to depart at 9:00 so we got there early to wait for the departure platform number to be put up, but since they didn’t put it up until like 10 minutes before the train left we had a bit of time. King’s Cross is where Platform 9 ¾ is (from Harry Potter) and we were going to try and find it but since they moved it, we decided to do it another day because the station is huge and we didn’t want to risk missing our train! So we decided to get breakfast instead (I know, priorities, right?). We took turns and Anitra and Lanette went to get breakfast sandwiches at McDonalds first and then Bridget and I went. Not only were they really good, but they were only £1.99! So we ate our sandwiches and waited some more. Finally they put the platform number up and we hurried to find coach ‘C.’ It was a good thing we hurried too because almost no sooner than we got on the train, it started to move. They weren’t kidding about not being late!

The train ride there was almost 5 hours. We read, listened to music, talked, laughed, slept, etc. All in all, it wasn’t too bad, despite the fact that I was still sick and not feeling all too well. We got there a bit before 2PM and walked to the hostel. Now bear in mind that this is Bridget’s and my first hostel experience as we stayed in a short-stay apartment in Dublin and are staying in a hotel (a cheaper one, albeit still a hotel!) in Venice next week. So we got to the hostel (the walk was all uphill! Scotland loves its hills!) and checked in. Bridget and I were on the 3rd floor! What a hike that was going to be for the next few days! We got up to our room (a 14 bed room shared with other Regent’s students), set our stuff down, etc. We made our way to the bathrooms on the 2nd floor and were immediately grossed out (the rest of the weekend was spent trying to go to the bathroom at pubs, attractions we were visiting, etc.).

Edinburgh Backpacker's Hostel

So Anitra and Lanette came up to find us (they were on the 2nd floor) and we decided to just walk around the city a bit. We saw beautiful gardens and the Sir Walter Scott memorial, the University of Edinburgh and the School of Divinity. We also went to the National Library of Scotland and looked at their Scottish Music Around the World exhibit. It was pretty neat! After that we split up because Bridget and I had tickets to The Real Mary King’s Close. It was a really fun exhibit. The closes were originally street level but the Scottish Government decided to build on top of them, making them underground and forcing thousands of people out of their homes. We got to see what the houses/rooms looked like in those days, we heard ghost stories of the close, and learned a bit about the history of the city in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was cool and we had a lot of fun!

After our tour was finished we headed to dinner. The girls had already eaten so Bridget and I decided to go to Jimmy Chung’s, a Chinese buffet chain that we also ate at in Dublin…okay, okay…so sometimes we do silly things…it was good though!

So when dinner was done we met back up with the girls and went to a pub called The World’s End. It was a really chill little pub! We ordered our drinks (vodka and cranberry for me!) and then sat and talked for a few hours about everything from pigeons named Penelope and Alexander who live in Bora Bora to more serious topics such as happenings in the states or mutual friends, etc. It was fun! However, I wasn’t feeling too hot by the end of the night and my tonsils were the size of basketballs (we had progressed from golf balls to tennis balls to basketballs throughout the day) and we were all pretty tired so we headed back to the hostel for bed.

SATURDAY April 4th
We got up around 8:00AM to go and grab showers. There was 1 left when we went down so I told Bridget she could have it and that I would wait (what a mistake that turned out to be, haha!). So Anitra got out and I went to get in. By the time I got undressed and hung all of my stuff up and turned on the water, there was NO hot water. AT ALL. Now keep in mind that I was not feeling well at all already and was also quite moody and emotional, this was not helping! I desperately had been looking forward to a nice hot shower! So after taking a (very) quick cold shower I got out and was freezing for the rest of the day. First off, Edinburgh was cold, damp, windy and rainy that day to begin with but now on top of it I was chilled to the bone and I just couldn’t manage to get warm. I was pretty miserable and snappy for the rest of the day.

So the four of us headed out for the busy day ahead of us. We got breakfast at the Southern Cross Café, the little café next door to the hostel. After breakfast we went to see St. Giles’ Cathedral. It was smaller than a lot of the other cathedrals in Europe, but it was still really pretty, and as tradition holds, Bridget and I lit candles for our Grandmothers.

St. Giles' Cathedral

From the church we headed up to Edinburgh Castle. Despite the cold, it was a lot of fun and there was a lot to see! At one point we got separated from Anitra and Lanette but decided we would all meet up later when we were finished looking at everything. Bridget and I finished first so we went into the bookshop to look around. They were giving free whisky (as they spell it there!) samples so we decided to try it. The one we tried had honey in it and it tasted nothing like whiskey! It was smooth and had no bite to it, you wouldn’t think you were drinking alcohol! It was also kind of neat because the woman told us that they don’t export it out of Scotland.

It was pretty cold and the girls were still going through exhibits so Bridget and I headed to the Red Coat Café for some hot chocolate and shortbread (had to have a piece of shortbread in Scotland!). Anitra and Lanette came to meet us but in talking we discovered that they did not see a few things, like the chapel. So we told them to go up and look and we would go and see the 1 o’clock gun being fired. 1:00, we had been at the castle for like 4 hours! It was so much fun learning about the history and stuff!

Edinburgh Castle!

After the castle we went to have lunch at Ensign Ewart, a pub. I had the BEST lasagna (who would have thought that lasagna would be pub food?!)! Before our food came, all of the girls gave me their student IDs and I ran up to the Scotch Whisky Experience to buy our tickets for the tour. The next available tour wasn’t until 3:00PM which gave us some free time after lunch. So we went to the Tartan Weaving Mill and Exhibition. It was really neat because we got to see the piece of tartan being made. It was cool! Afterwards, we headed across the street to the Scotch Whisky Experience. Now let me explain. When we were told about this place, it was described to us as “Drunk Disney.” There was a barrel ride and they made it sound like you got free samples all the way through. This was the farthest thing from the truth. The barrel ride at the beginning took you through a section with big television screens and explained how whiskey was made. Then you got off and stayed in a small room for a while waiting for the rest of the people to get off of their barrel rides. The room explained the different casks and how they affected the color and the taste of the whiskey, etc.

Then we headed to a room where we learned about the 4 different areas of Scotland that whiskey comes from and how the region affects the taste of it. After learning about and smelling the different types, we got to pick one that we wanted to try. They were: wheat/cereals/cookies, etc., fruity, floral, or smoky. I picked the Lowlands one which was the wheat/cereals/cookies one. We got our dram and then moved to the next room where we would try it. The room held the largest scotch whiskey collection in the world and literally glowed an amber color due to all of the scotch. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures but we were instructed on the proper way to drink whiskey. First you look at the color, then you look at the body (does it run quickly or slowly down the sides of the glass when you swirl it?), then you smell it a few times, then you taste it, and then you determine how long the taste lasts in your mouth after you are done drinking it. That was the end of the tour. It was alright but Guinness was 100 times better and I am looking forward to going on the Heineken tour in July when I visit Amsterdam.

After the Whisky Experience, we decided to go to Holyroodhouse Palace, the Queen’s official residence in Scotland. However, on the way, Bridget decided that she wanted to climb the Salisbury Crags and Arthur’s Seat, the main peak of a group of hills which make up most of Holyrood Park.

Arthur's Seat!

Now I was just excited about this hike as she was, except that we were supposed to do it the next day, when we were more prepared (with like knee braces and no purses,etc.). On top of it I had had to use the bathroom (remember we tried to use anywhere other than the hostel) and had planned on going at the palace…but we didn’t make it to the palace soo I was a bit more miserable. We didn’t start the hike off very happy with each other and at one point when I was wheezing really badly (despite taking my inhaler) she tried to get me to stop. Unfortunately I am stubborn and was pissed at this point, so after she exclaimed “I am not climbing anymore with you wheezing like that!” I said “FINE! Then DON’T!” and stormed off up the hill. It was less than 5 minutes later that peace was restored through a tissue offering and the rest of the time climbing the hill was a lot of fun with many silly pictures taken and lots of laughing done. It wasn't until later on that we realized that we never made it to Arthur's Seat. We had climbed a harder part of the Crags in the opposite direction but the views of the city and the Highlands were amazing from up there and it was just so pretty to see that we weren't too upset!

Part of what we ended up climbing. The pictures don't do it justice but it was pretty crazy and steep!

When we walked back down, Anitra and Lanette were just finishing up with the palace so we met and went to have dinner at the Royal Mile Pub. It was good and we hung out talking and watching a Fulham vs. Liverpool football game. We headed back to the hostel to hang out for a bit and figure out what we were going to do that night. We started talking to a couple of girls who told us about a place which serves giant cookie-wiches. Anitra and Lanette love cookie-wiches and Bridget and I love ice cream so we were all pretty game. However, the place turns solely into a bar in the evening and they were finished serving food for the night. So we went to Quiznos and got small containers of Ben and Jerry’s instead. Then it was time to call it a night as we were pretty tired and had to get up early the next day.

SUNDAY April 5th
I got up early to grab a shower. Luckily the water was warm and despite the grossness of the showers, I stayed in there way longer than I should have just enjoying the fact that I had warm water! I went back to the room to wake Bridget up, pack my stuff, and get ready for checkout. We had to be checked out by 10AM, and it was only about 8:30 but we were going to get breakfast and then head to the palace so we got an early start. We asked the front desk to hold our bags so we didn’t have to walk around with them, got breakfast from the Southern Cross Café again and then walked to Holyroodhouse Palace.

Holyroodhouse Palace! The Queen's Official Residence in Scotland!

The palace was great and I had a really fun time walking through and learning more about the history of it! At the very end before you exit and return the audio guides there was a section of pictures of Queen Elizabeth II. Her marriage to Philip, her coronation, with her kids, with her grandkids, etc. It was a really cool display!

After our tour we decided to do some shopping and eat lunch before catching our 2:30PM train back to London. We walked the Royal Mile a bit and then headed down to Prince’s Street, the big shopping street of Edinburgh.

Me and the bagpiper near Prince's Street!

We went into a few of the shops and just looked around. Bridget got a dress in one of the stores and another one of the shops had nothing but shortbread in different shapes and sizes, etc. Now I LOVE shortbread, it is one of my favorite kinds of cookies, but I almost felt like this was overdoing it! Granted, there were some cute designs like the sheep…

Sheep shaped Shortbread (say that 10 times fast!)! How cute!!

At this point it was starting to get late and we wanted to grab some lunch before getting on the train for another 5 hours. We went to the Filling Station, the place that the girl had told us about the night before. The inside of the restaurant looked like a gas station (hence the cute name!) and the food was amazing! So full, content and ready to head back to London, we got ready to head to the train station. Bridget stopped into the hostel to get our bags while I went next door and got postcards to send to some of my family.

We got to the train station and only waited a couple minutes for the train. It was PACKED! We found seats and sat not aware that the ride was going to be longer and more miserable than we thought. For one, according to the announcements there was a coach “missing.” Now how you lose a coach or how it goes missing is BEYOND me. They are rather big and even some of the more scatter-brained people I know couldn’t manage to LOSE a train car…but whatever…So due to this, there were people standing/sitting in the aisles for the entire trip back to London. To make matters worse, they had to change the route that we took to get back, and we would be arriving later than we though.

Finally almost 6 hours later we returned to King’s Cross and got the tube to make our way back to Regent’s. After skyping the parents and doing some homework, it was time for bed. It was a fun, busy weekend in Edinburgh but we had to return back to the reality of classes!