My Scotland Adventures - Days 101-104

Tuesday, December 3:
After a terrible night's sleep, (thank you owl that hooted outside my window for the better part of five hours) I had to wake up at 6:30 to grab my stuff and make my way to King's Cross Station. At the station, I attempted to get a Starbucks coffee until I threw it all over the floor, making quite a scene. Clearly, I was an un-caffinated and uncoordinated hot mess after a night of no sleep! Man, you can't take me anywhere. Finally, I boarded my train en route to Edinburgh's Waverly Station at 9:00 and settled in for a 4.5 hour train ride through lovely England. Here's what I saw: the back of my eyelids, lots of grass, tons of baby sheep, and ummm... yeah, that's about it. But I've decided that the train is my preferred method of travel. Eff airplanes and airports. So stressful and annoying. The train is where it's at!

My eye mask and a water bottle ... ready for a snooze!

A little city we passed through - it looks like Pittsburgh!! 

I love this! How cute is everything that the Brits say?? Gah!

Speedin' up the coast.

Sheep galore! I want one!

Finally made it!

I grabbed a cab to my hotel, threw all my crap down and then bundled up to go exploring for a bit before sundown (which is at an astounding 3:30!!). I walked about a mile to the city center and spend some time milling about in the Edinburgh Christmas Market, which is very similar to the one that they have in Hyde Park! I walked up to George Street and just back and forth around the town's center until around 6:00.

Only in Scotland do they have Scotch soup. Hmm...

I walked back to my hotel and washed up for dinner. I had made a reservation at Al Dente, an Italian restaurant that had been recommended to me by a friend. Dinner was DELICIOUS! I had a venison stew over papardelle! Whoa, so good. I walked back to the hotel, showered, and tucked into bed early so that I could get some good sleep in order to maximize my day tomorrow. A nice start to my trip!

Wednesday, December 4:
I woke up nice an early to get a good jump on the day and began my adventure by heading up to Edinburgh Castle, which is pretty much at the summit of the city, so it was a nice hike on up there. Though it was cold, the sun was shining brightly and it was a super clear day, making the views from the Castle pretty spectacular.

Wait, that's not the Queen! Ummm... ?

Cobblestone streets?!? How cute is this city?

Some Scottish fashion and traditional Tartan plaid.

St. Giles' Cathedral during the day.

Royal Mile/Castle Hill... heading on up! 

Can anyone tell by the look on my face that it's FREAKIN' FREEZING!?!

I then walked down the street to the Tartan Weaving Mill and Exhibition, which was pretty cool. At this point, I still hadn't eaten anything with the exception of my morning Starbucks coffee that I did NOT throw on the floor, thank you very much. So I went in search of The Elephant House, the cafe where J.K. Rowling was rumored to have written parts of Harry Potter while eyeing Edinburgh Castle from her cafe table. I found it. Sat at her table. Looked out the window. Shed a little tear. And drank delicious peppermint tea and had a very tasty bowl of soup. Perfection.

Graffiti in the bathroom. Yup, this made me tear up too! Such a nerd. 

At The Elephant House, I met a guy named Jefre who was sitting at the table next to me and we got to talking and ended up hanging out the rest of the day. He took me to the famous Greyfriars cemetery, which is also rumored to be where Rowling got some of the names that she used in the HP novels. We went to the National Scotland History Museum and walked around the city a bit more. He told me about a fantastic day trip he had taken to the Highlands and Loch Ness the day before and convinced me that it was worth the money and the time to go and see. So we walked to the tourist company's office and signed me up for tomorrow's tour and then headed to Grassmarket to grab some dinner at the Fiddlers' Arms. Nope, not brave enough to try Haggis. Nope. Can't do it. 

McGonagall!! Professor!?? 

Grassmarket Square

Salmon, veggies, and mash!

Traditional UK dessert: Sticky Toffee Pudding = BEST DESSERT EVER!

Me and Jefre after dinner!

St. Giles at night.

Walking home!

We said our goodbyes and I began to walk home, but wanted to stop back at the Christmas market before going back to my hotel because, now with the tour planned, I didn't know if I'd get a chance to get back there before I had to leave on Friday and I saw some items that I wanted to purchase before leaving. While shopping, I met a guy named Sean who was working at one of the shops and we got to  chatting a bit and decided that if the tour got back early enough that we should meet up for drinks tomorrow. I love nice people. Yay. Then I headed back to the hotel to try and get some sleep before my early wakeup for my next day full of Highland adventures!

Thursday, December 5:

I was kept awake all night because of the most wild rain storm I've heard in a while. 

Crazy howling winds + items tossed about outside + loud rain = zero sleep. No bueno. 

I actually was dreading going on the trip with the weather as it was. I didn't want to walk the mile and a half to the travel office. I didn't want to get in a van and drive on country roads in those conditions, etc. But I already paid, so I had to suck it up and get going. But instead of walking to the office I had to call for a cab. No one wants to sit in a bus for 8 hours while soaking wet. I arrived at the office a bit early, went next door to get some tea from the neighboring cafe and then boarded the van at 7:55 for our prompt 8:00 departure. We were then introduced to Paddy, our tour guide and driver. Let me just tell you, he might be one of the funniest people I've ever met in my life. I would have been content driving in circles just listening to him tell stories all day. But it was even better - he told stories AND we saw the Highlands. So great. I can't explain what exactly about him was so hilarious, but I'm pretty sure he must moonlight as a comedian. His humor and energy really pulled us out of our foul-weather-funk and we were ready to tackle the day. 

Paddy at the wheel! Go Paddy! 

The Three Sisters.

Hail! Like actual pellet sized hail! Whaaaat?!?!

St. Augustus at the base of Loch Ness

Nessie! (J/K!) It's an awesome window sticker that you line up with the water. So funny.

You can see the top of Glencoe Mountain! That happens only like 50 times a year! Lucky me!

Paddy - like a rockstar! Buy this man a pint or a dram!

Testing out the whiskey with my tour buddies, Alli, Christine, and Max at The White Hart.

After grabbing a drink with my tour friends, I met up with my new friend Sean at Milnes Bar for a couple of pints. Clearly from the pictures below it is evident that we had a few more than a couple. Haha. 

Aside from fearing for my life on a few occasions as Paddy took to two wheels through the snow, rain, and hail, I had ONE HELL OF A DAY. One of the best days of my whole trip. I met so many fun people. I saw soooo much. And just had a lot of fun. Man, what a great and serendipitous thing it was to meet Jefre who convinced me to take the trip. I wish I could do it all over again. 

Friday, December 6: 

I wanted to climb to the top of St. Andrew's seat today (the highest point in Edinburgh), but sadly, not having anywhere trustworthy to store my luggage, I decided against it. Hiking up a mountain with 30 pounds of luggage sounds like a terrible idea. So instead I did some shopping. Yay! That's always fun - except all I kept thinking is how the hell am I getting all this shit home?!?! With all my shopping bags in hand and my luggage in tow, I then sat at a cafe and drank tea and had some soup in an attempt to thaw out from the bitter cold. Thankfully the sun was shining again, but the temperatures were below freezing and I didn't mind the warmth I found in the cafe. 

All in all, Scotland was one of the best decisions I made with in Europe. It was so last minute. It was completely unplanned. And it was so much fun. I just had to go with the flow and enjoy. And that's exactly what I did. I really can't wait to go back!