Hello! It is hard to believe that we left for Spring Break almost two weeks, but it's true! Here's a look at what we did in Scotland (I'm going to let the pictures tell more stories):
Day 1: Sarah, Mary, and I boarded our 7 am flight to Munich, where we would later get our connection to Edinburgh. We had some free time in the airport there, so we were able to enjoy a breakfast of champions! It had been too long since we had eggs at breakfast, so it was a highlight of the day. They gave us real bacon, wheat toast, black coffee, and separate checks! As we boarded our flight to Edinburgh, we noticed Facebook statuses and tweets mentioning something about Japan. From then,, our eyes were glued to BBC news as they were showing footage of the tsunami and earthquake that had devastated so much of the country. It was crazy to have to get on a plane as so many people were suffering. We did our best to find out more information through social networking and whatnot. It is such a tragedy! On a brighter note, we arrived in Scotland mid-day and let me tell you, the flight in was absolutely gorgeous as we crossed the ocean and saw the Scottish coast, plenty of sheep, and rugged buildings going into Edinburgh. After seeing that, I turned to Sarah and said, "I think I am going to like it here". Having all the signs in English was a definite plus! After being dropped off my the friendliest Scottish cab driver, we checked into our hostel, Brodie's Backpacker's Hostel, and enjoyed being able to speak perfect English with the receptionist. Out first stop was Starbucks (of course!) and then the Scotch Whiskey Experience, where we learned how whiskey was made, some of its history, and how to properly taste it. Too bad none of us like whiskey. Interesting, nonetheless! We also saw the largest collection of whiskey in the world with 3000+ bottles! After that, we explored the Royal Mile, grabbed a traditional Scottish dinner at Deacon's Tavern (we tried haggis! Try it before you find out what it is!). That night, we did a pub crawl that took us around the neighborhood we were staying it. We made some great new Australian friends and enjoyed some of the Edinburgh night life!
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| No, thank you. |
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| Flying into Edinburgh |
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| eh... New Starbucks logo |
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| Scotch Whiskey Experience! |
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| Can't you tell how much we loved it? |
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| Johnston! |
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| Yum! Beef and Ale Pot Pie! |
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| Pub crawl and new friends |
Day 2 (Saturday): We woke up to snow, got our Starbucks, and went to the Edinburgh Castle that morning after sleeping in a bit. After waiting in the rain to buy our tickets, we got in and spent a lot of time and enjoyed seeing some other parts of town. We took a long, leisurely mid-afternoon break in Starbucks (they had an entire upstairs for sitting and lounging!) It was great to just not have a plan and explore this gem of a city. New town is full of more modern building and lots of good shopping! We hadn't been inside a mall in so long, so that was a treat. The 1 pound store made our night. Our night was full of Subway and Bananagrams- we had to get up early for the tour the next day!
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| Good Morning, snow. |
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| Traditional Scottish breakfast= best way to start off the day |
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| Edinburgh Castle |
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| The coffee shop where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter |
Day 3 (Sunday): We took a great day tour that took us throughout the Northern Highlands. It was refreshing to see some countryside after being in a big city. Our tour stopped to see Hamish, in Ft. William, past Ben neves (tallest mountain in Britain at about 4000 ft), and to Loch Ness. We did our best to find the Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, but no luck... We also drove by a castle in Doune, where they filmed part of Monty Python, and Glencoe, where they filed Hagrid's Hut in Harry Potter. There were some areas covered in so much snow! It was very, very chilly everywhere. We got in a bit late and found an amazing restaurant called The Filling Station for dinner. they had American and Mexican-ish meals and I finally had some guacamole after craving it for the past 2.5 months!
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| Hamish! |
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| Delicious! |
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| It was a little windy... |
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| Loch Ness |
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| It was a little cold... |
Day 4 (Monday): We took the NewEurope free walking tour of Edinburgh (after Starbucks. obvi). It is a great tour group/concept- they work off of tips making it budget friendly, while still being informative and enjoyable (even when they are in the rain)! After the tour, we had to stop in Gap (it had been far too long!). We went Holyrood Palace, which is at the opposite end of the Royal Mile from The Edinburgh Castle. This is where Queen Elizabeth stays and hosts events when she is in the country! It was an impressive building with a lot of history- I just wished the gardens were in bloom and open! We later met up with some other GIF people who were in Edinburgh that night. Since there were only three of us traveling together, it was a nice treat to see some other familiar faces! It's pretty crazy being able to meet up with people no matter where you are in the world. After a delicious meal of fish and chips, we went back to the hostel to pack up our stuff in preparation for our early flight the next morning!
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| Add caption |
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Grass Market
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| Scottish Parliament Building |
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| Holyrood Palace |
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