Mmm...Haggis

Last weekend, Chris, our two friends Shaun and Dmitriy and I all took the train north to the beautiful Scottish city of Edinburgh. We arrived late on Thursday night and went to check into our hostel. This being our first time staying in a hostel, we weren't sure what to expect. It was pretty bad, but at least the sheets were clean.

Moving on from that unpleasant memory, the next morning we woke up bright and early to walk around the chilly, gray city. After walking down the history Royal Mile, we decided to stop at a local restaurant in order to experience what every tourist must try once—the dreaded haggis. Luckily, the menu offered an appetizer portion of the traditional Scottish food. So, before I dug into my sausage and mash, I tried one bite. And I didn't hate it. But I didn't really like it either. Chris, however, was a different story. He at the whole thing with relish, and I respect him for it.
















After lunch, we found ourselves walking up to the most prominent of Edinburgh's sights, the Edinburgh Castle.The volcanic rock on which the castle sits juts up in the middle of the city and has been home to a royal fortress since the 12th century.






















Now, Edinburgh Castle is a very popular tourist destination and contains many museums within its gates. From the main castle courtyard, you can see beautiful panoramic views of Edinburgh, which are particularly scenic when accompanied by bagpipe music floating down on the wind.
















After spending much of our day wandering through the labyrinth of museums, cafes and shops in the Castle, we decided to browse through the very stately National Gallery of Scotland before it closed for the day.
















Then, I managed to convince the boys to let me do a little bit of shopping at the historic Jenner's department store (it's like the Harrod's of Edinburgh) before heading back to the hostel. I bought two very cute dresses, and they were both on sale. Score!

On Saturday morning, we awoke to a beautiful but windy day so we decided to hike up Arthur's Seat, which is a long-dormant volcano located within the city. It was like a little taste of the Highlands in the midst of a metropolitan city.






































After we descended from the wind-blown heights, we discovered a calm lake at the base of the volcano that was home to a very large swan population. It was all very scenic and grand.
















On the way back, we passed by the Scottish Parliament building, which was just built in 2004 and was designed to look like the modern Scottish landscape.
















The next morning, it was back on the train to London and we were all pretty exhausted.
















I have to say my favorite thing about Edinburgh was how old it looked. It wasn't like Boston old or even London old, it was a sort of grey, sooty, medieval old. The whole atmosphere of the city made you want to curl up in a plaid wool blanket and drink tea, and that's all right by me.