Visions of Plaid

We got to Scotland and the first thing you notice, a HUGE temperature drop! It was really, really cold! I had bought a scarf and gloves back in London because it was a little bit chilly there, but thank goodness I had, or I probably would've been frozen in Scotland! Beyond being cold though, Edinburgh was gorgeous!!! Before we got there, people compared it to Boston, and while I would say that is accurate as far as size and activity is concerned, nothing else is quite like it! Boston is beautiful, don't get me wrong, but this place was out of this world! The architecture was tall, sharp and dark, and it was seriously breathtaking. And it was so green! Not only could you see the city portion of it, but in certain sections of the city, you could also see the gorgeous green mountains! And there was an enormous park in the middle of the city as well!
The first thing we did, was head to the castle of Edinburgh. We walked up the Royal mile past some really amazing looking churches and one that had been renovated into a shopping center I believe. The castle is situated at one of the highest peaks in the city and even just the view on the way to it was magnificent! And once we were inside it was even cooler. We took a tour with this older Scottish gentleman as our tour guide and he was awesome! He was really passionate about the castle and the history that he was explaining to us, so that made it all the more interesting. He told us all about the castle and its uses and the royal families that used to live there. He also showed us to where the crown jewels were kept (which were also beautiful - though they wouldn't let you take pictures of them, so sorry no photos for you!) And the views from the top of the castle, were unreal! You could see all the way to the ocean and to the pictures totally don't do it justice. If you ever have the chance, get yourself to Edinburgh! After that we wandered back down the Royal Mile and off to one of the main streets in the city. And we passed by this awesome Scottish band performing on the sidewalk! They had bagpipes (have I mentioned that I am oddly, mildly obsessed with bagpipes?) and huge drums and they were awesome! Then we did a little bit of shopping, because the main street was lined with really awesome stores. I was actually quite surprised, because I managed to restrain myself from buying anything! which is very unlike me! And then the next thing we knew, it was night time! We split up for dinner and most of us regrouped for a roommate's birthday celebration. So we got to experience a little bit of the Scottish night life. It's tantamount to most other European nightlife's I've experienced, pubs are open for a certain amount of time, and they're sparsely populated, mostly with locals and then when those close, the dance clubs open (though we did not end up at one of those!) and most people dance into the wee hours of the morning. We didn't stay out too, too late because unfortunately traveling doesn't really allow for reckless abandon as to amounts of sleep you get, and we had a lot we wanted to accomplish the next day!
So it was up again in gorgeous Edinburgh and our first stop was to climb a small hill on the outskirts of the city and let me tell you, it was also unbelievable. The view from on top of this hill was astonishing. You could see the mountains again, but you could also see the entire downtown area of Edinburgh and the castle way up on the hilltop! And the air up there was so wonderful! So fresh and clean and music to the lungs! I may have done a few twirls - Sound of Music style - just to soak in the amazingness (yes I made up a word) of this hill!
Afterwards we wound our way through the giant garden in the center of town. It was both breathtaking and emotionally stirring. Each of the benches that sat along the path next to the garden each had their own adorable dedication and inscription, mostly to people who had loved the garden and have since passed on. Being the sap that I am, one actually almost made me cry. It was to a woman from her husband and she had been a musician and conductor who had performed in this park and the inscription read "If music be the fuel of love, play on sweet Fiona". Well after several inscriptions like this, I was nearly in tears. I was so moved by the generosity and love of these family members who dedicated these benches to their loved ones, it was incredibly sweet.
I had to get it together though, because at the end of the park, we were headed into the National Gallery, and we had lots of artwork to look at! There was a number of gorgeous paintings and sculptures contained here, though studying in a country known for its art, other museums and galleries sometimes fail to compare. After the museum we went in search of a place called the "Baked Potato Shop". We were told that if we were in Edinburgh, we were not to miss this place. Though, it was so small, a mere hole in the wall place, one very well might have missed it! We finally found it and it was probably the best baked potato I've ever eaten! You could get literally ANYTHING you wanted in this potato, most of us were pretty standard, cheese, veggies, sour cream were our choices. I ended up with chili and a friend got artichoke. They were so delicious! And I urge anyone who goes to find this shop, because it was amazing!
After lunch, we went off in search of the cafe that J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter novel in. It took us some hunting, but after what was probably several hours of searching and literally walking in circles, we found it! The Elephant house is an adorable little coffee shop that proudly displays a "Home of the Harry Potter" book sign in its window. And when you sit in this little cafe, you can almost feel J.K. Rowling getting her inspiration all over again. You have an awesome view of Edinburgh Castle, that looks remarkably like Hogwarts and in the area is a Potter street and all sorts of magically named places and streets. It is no wonder her creative juices were flowing! This cafe was seriously the best possible place to write those books!
Later that night, most of the girls I was traveling with went on a haunted tour of the city, but unfortunately I don't do well with being scared, so I opted not to go, instead I stayed back and napped, because that night was game one of the world series! And we stayed with a friend so that we could watch it, at 1AM our time! So once the girls got back, it was about game time, so we sat up and ate hot dogs and chips (true American baseball style) and watched my Sox get a huge lead early on! Unfortunately, most of us fell asleep before it was over, but from what I hear I wasn't that exciting of a game anyway, with a Sox win of 13-1!
And then just like that, my time in Scotland was over! We were flying out of Glasgow, so most of the next day was an attempt to get to Glasgow and get to the airport. We got to see a bit of Glasgow, but we only spent a few hours there, so we didn't see much, and unfortunately nothing of too much note! But it was in Glasgow that we had our worst mistake of the trip! We thought we were flying out of Glasgow International, when really we were flying out of Prestwick, a 45 minute cab ride away! And so by the time we showed up at Glasgow International, there wasn't time to take a train to the other airport and we had to pay a HUGE some of money to get to the other airport! A GIANT pain in behind. Luckily we made it in time, but it was very, very stressful! Luckily there were no other glitches in the plan that night, and at 9 something, we touched back down in England to finish our last few days in London!