In the "Country" of Scotland

So here's the ACTUAL blog entry for my weekend in Scotland!

On Friday morning we all arrived early at King’s Cross Station and took a National Rail train up to Edinburgh. Although I slept most of the way, the northern England and southern Scotland landscapes were beautiful. We even saw a little bit of the North Sea .

Upon arrival in Edinburgh we checked into the Castle Rock Hostel, located on the Royal Mile within a few steps of Edinburgh Castle .

Naturally, our first stop was Edinburgh Castle . The castle dominates the skyline of Edinburgh (or at least the Old Town ). It’s sort of like the Acropolis of Edinburgh (the irony of which I’ll explain later). The castle has been there since the 12^th century and was a royal residence until the Union of the Crowns and formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1603. It was also used as a military site for a long time. It now hosts many exhibits and museums, including the National War Museum of Scotland. My favourite exhibit was definitely the one featuring the crown jewels of Scotland , which are much older than those of England . The most unique part of the castle had to be this little pet cemetery for soldiers’ dogs.

And of course, the castle offered marvellous views of Edinburgh.

That night a big group of us went on a “ghost hunting” tour. A tour guide dressed in a dark cloak took us around the Royal Mile and told us various ghost/horror stories of Edinburgh ’s past, including the cannibalistic son of the Duke of Queensberry. We were then taken into the underground vaults of the old South Bridge to encounter ghosts. Although we encountered nothing scarier than the sound of shuffling in one of the corridors, it was definitely very creepy, especially considering it was midnight at the time!

The next day everybody trekked over to Palace of Holyroodhouse , the principal royal residence in Scotland.

It has been a royal residence since the 15^th century and was home to many famous royals, including Mary, Queen of Scots. It was very beautiful on the inside and the gardens, where an annual summer garden party is held, were gorgeous. There were also the ruins of an old abbey attached to the palace (built in the 12 century).

After the palace we took a tour of the Scottish Parliament building across from the palace, which was actually built very recently. The new Scottish Parliament was formed in 1999 and the building that houses it is very modern in architecture, with the exception of the old (haunted) Queensberry house attached that houses some offices.

A few of us then chose to hike Arthur’s Seat (for a video of the adventure, see previous blog post).

It wasn’t a hard hike and the views at the top were amazing, especially when the sun and blue sky made an appearance for the first time that weekend. We spent some time relaxing at the top before venturing back down.

From Arthur's Seat we could also see what they like to call "Edinburgh's Folly." Since Edinburgh is called the "Athens of the North," they set about building a replica of the Parthenon/Acropolis on this one giant rock in the city. But they ran out of money so it sits unfinished, hovering over the town.

That night several of us went to the student union on the University of Edinburgh campus for a ceilidh, a night of traditional Scottish/Gaelic/Celtic dancing. It was loads of fun; I learned quite a few Scottish dances and we all enjoyed jigging, twirling and swinging to the best of our abilities.

Sunday morning a few of us went for tea at the Elephant House, the café where JK Rowling did many of her early writings for “Harry Potter” as she looked out the back window at Edinburgh Castle .

Afterwards we went for lunch at the Cannon’s Gait pub, where Hannah and I split a “wee taste of haggis.” It was VERY gross. It was basically grey cat food. Scots don’t eat it anymore; it was originally made back in the day from whatever cheap ingredients the Scots could afford.

You know it's bad when you start to miss London food! :-D