Edinburgh!

What a weekend! I'm starting to really love everything about the study abroad experience, and I'm so glad I decided to come to Europe! Last week was pretty typical in that I spent Monday and Tuesday studying and had classes Wednesday-Friday. Thursday night I went out to dinner with two of the girls from my class, Danielle and Jenni. We ended up going to the Royal Exchange Grand Cafe for another ten quid dinner special, and essentially ate dinner in front of London's Tiffany's. I ordered poached salmon, Cheltenham beetroot, celery & apple, with horseradish yoghurt for my main. It was absolutely fantastic, and I'm so glad I got to have a classy night out with the girls. We are hoping to do something similar again soon, and the dinner was the perfect way to begin a truly memorable weekend.

Friday after class, I went out to the Borough Market with Danielle and Veronika for lunch. Again, I love having the market so close to my classes/my flat. I ordered fresh pasta and enjoyed talking with the girls. After lunch, I headed back to my flat where I started preparing for our weekend getaway. Jason, Jenni, and I had decided to go to Edinburgh, Scotland, and we determined that taking night buses would be our best option for the nine hour journey. Therefore, at 11:00 on Friday night, all three of us left London in hopes of hearing bagpipes, seeing sheep, and exploring castles.

When we arrived Saturday morning, the weather was misty, cold, and stereotypically Scottish. We headed straight for The Elephant House for breakfast, which was where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. It was a great cafe with a beautiful view of Edinburgh Castle. Also, since we got there shortly after the cafe had opened, we had the entire place to ourselves. During breakfast, we figured out our plan for the day, and decided that we should see the free three hour tour that the city had to offer. We then headed towards the center of town where we ran across a band playing Scotland's National Anthem. People everywhere were lined up and swaying to the music, and of course we really didn't know what was going on. It ended up being that there was a huge rugby match that weekend in Edinburgh: Scotland vs. France and everyone wanted to show there spirit. After hearing the band, we met with about 40 people and our awesome tour guide, Michael. He showed us around the city, and along the way he told us some of the history of glorious Scotland. He also told us some crazy stories about witches and hauntings, and I knew at that point that I didn't want to go a ghost tour that night. I particularly loved hearing about the Stone of Destiny, which is a rock that is a part of the country's crown jewels. According to legend, wherever the stone lies the Scots will rule.

After the tour, Jason, Jenni, and I decided to warm up with a cup of tea and cool down with a little gelato at an Italian restaurant. We then figured it would be best to check in to our hostel, and that became quite a journey. The place Jenni chose was about 15 minutes outside of the city, so we started off by trying to catch the hostel's shuttle. However, we quickly realized we had just missed it. Since it was about 5 o'clock, we figured we could just take a city bus and walk from the last stop. We went the wrong way after getting off the bus, and after figuring out where we needed to go, we ended up having to walk through a empty golf course at twilight. It was quite beautiful, but definitely a bit of an adventure. Once we got to the hostel, we quickly unloaded and then promptly headed back into the city. We ended up meeting up a few other people from Butler, and we also met other backpackers from around the world.

The next morning, we woke up in time to get a free continental breakfast and play a few games of rummy before catching a bus back into the city. We headed straight for the castle, where we spent the next four hours seeing the grounds and of course, the crown jewels. We also made our own afternoon tea, and ate scones with clotted cream and jam. Once we were done exploring the castle, we went to a free museum where we saw Dolly the sheep, who was the first cloned animal. While we went inside a few shops, I tried my hardest to avoid buying souvenirs since I know I will be tempted to spend money in every city. The cashmere scarves were my favorite, but since I have a dozen pashminas at home I was able to resist.

Before we headed back to the coach station, we found a great pre-theatre (or early bird) french restaurant called Mason Bleu where we enjoyed various french and Scottish foods. Jason was even brave enough to order Haggis balls, which is basically sheep liver, kidneys, stomach, and brain all mixed together with spices. While it sounds really gross, it is one of Scotland's traditional foods. I managed to have a bite, and all in all it wasn't too horrible. Since our coach didn't leave until ten, we enjoyed coffee at another Italian Cafe before beginning the bus ride home.

While I can easily say I was extremely tired getting back this morning, I cannot wait to keep traveling. Next weekend, Butler is hosting a day trip to the city of Bath, and I know that it will be equally memorable. As always, I'm sending lots of love :).