Edinburgh For the Weekend!!

So, since I am living in Scotland, some friends and I decided that we should get out of Stirling and see some of the other cities in Scotland! This weekend we decided to go to Edinburgh. It is only an hour train ride away, and it is much bigger than Stirling, which means more shopping! So we headed out first thing Saturday morning. After many things that we had to turn around and go back to our dorms for, we were off! We hoped on the bus and went to the train station. Now I had never rode a train before this, well besides a field trip in Elementary school where we went in a circle, and the Santa train at the train museum in Carson City. So I had never taken a trip on a train, so I was EXCITED!!!

So we rode the train for an hour and then we were in Edinburgh. It was really neat riding the train in, because on the right side of the train you can see these sheer cliffs and on top of the cliff is a castle!!! Edinburgh castle is positioned on top of castle rock in Edinburgh. It was a military strategy, seeing as it is nearly impossible to sneak up on a castle overlooking all of Edinburgh. It was breath-taking!!
So we got off the train, and had no idea where we were going. So we followed someone and came up on a bridge on "Calton St". So we found the nearest cafe and grabbed breakfast. We hadn't eaten yet, and they had coffee and muffins, so it was hard to go wrong. So we figured out exactly where we were and how we were going to get around. We got oriented to go toward the castle and headed out.

Some of the major streets that we hit when headed toward the castle were Princes St, where some of the major shopping is, including Princes Mall. We came to a garden, which supposedly maybe had a footpath to the castle, but it didn't end up being so easy. We walked around this park but were unable to get to the Castle from there. So we headed up a street with like a 35% incline!!! it was INSANE!!! but we finally made it to the "Royal Mile", aka High Street.

So we walked to the castle and when we got inside we decided to do an audio tour of the castle. Some of the sights within the castle were Mon's Meg, which is a huge old cannon. Also there was Margaret's Chapel which is actually the oldest building in all of Edinburgh.

the great room!

we did a sample of the scotch, and let me tell you,
it was AMAZING!!!

Mon's Meg ( a huge cannon)

We also saw the "Royal Honors" which were the crown jewels that were given to Queen Elizabeth at 9 months old. They were lost for some time, and found in a chest 111 years later. It was AMAZING seeing a real crown, scepter and sword. It felt very Princess Diaries....hahah. It's funny that that is the closest experience I've had to Royalty and it's customs. We also saw Mary Queen of Scots bedroom and closet, as well as an awesome Great Hall.
So we left the Castle after being there for 3 or so hours and headed down the Royal Mile. We were on the hunt for Mary King's Close. Which is access to a part of the underground city under Edinburgh. When The Royal Mile was built, rather than demolishing the old housing, they just closed it in and built on top of it. Resulting in an underground city. These skyscrapers were built in the 1600's and some of the original material remains in tact. So we meandered down Royal Mile and found a place for dinner. We stopped at Deacon Brodie's Tavern when we saw a menu and a sign saying restaurant upstairs!

So we had to make our way through this Tavern. But keep in mind that there is a huge rugby tournament going on, so the taverns are slammed. We hadn't been to the hostel yet so we all had our bags, so trying to squeeze through was kind of a nightmare!! lol. But we made it upstairs and ate a great dinner. Including dessert!!

plaid carpet!!!! inside the tavarn

So when we finished there we were still looking for Mary Kings Close. We did however find a Starbucks!! Which was exciting!!!!!! I hadn't seen a Starbucks in over 2 weeks! So that was a redeeming quality of Edinburgh. lol.
So we were walking around some of the little shops including tartans, kilts, Scotland sweatshirts and tons of CASHMERE!!!

we found Mary King's close but decided to come back and go tomorrow.
So we decided to head towards the Hostel seeing as we had a long walk and were already tired from the long day of walking, plus it was getting dark. We found a short way to go, but that included an alley and going under and overpass. Which sounded like everything that we're told to avoid always. lol. So we opted for the more lit and populated route.
We made it to where we were told our Hostel would be, and it was no where to be seen!!! I was pretty much losing it, but thank GOD Allie and Amanda were there. Being in a city already makes me a little anxious, so to be on foot, tired and can't find where I need to go made me anxious! but Amanda and Allie to the rescue, we got directions and got a new heading!!!
lol
We made it to the Youth Hostel in no time and got checked in. We were put in a room with like 5 other people and seeing as we came in later than the other people, we got all top bunks....yeah that's right bunk beds. lol. Sleep didn't come that night. Every time I was falling asleep, the girl in my bunk would roll over!!!! So I stayed awake trying to count sheep, count money, solve the problems of the world, remember where exactly we went, among other things. Well needless to say I didn't wake up feeling refreshed. We were woken at 7 when our alarm wasn't until 8. So, we decided just to get up and go find breakfast. We ate breakfast at a pub in the Omni, which is like a city center. It had a gym, theatre, pub, among other things.

Breakfast: Pancakes and Sausage 

We had to be at Mary King's Close at 9:50, and it was only 8:30 when we left. We walked to the Royal Mile and found the Starbucks!!!!

We went in and I ordered my FAVORITE DRINK IN THE WORLD!!! even after not sleeping, it made me a happy camper!!

Heaven in a cup!!!!

I got a peppermint white mocha, which is pretty much heaven in a cup! and they served it in a mug with whipped cream on top!! AMAZING!!!! We headed to Mary King's Close and had to wait a few minutes for our tour to start. They had an adorable gift shop with lots of silly fun things!!

One of the silly things in the gift shop!! Why did I not buy this???????

We went to Mary King's Close and it was about an hour tour underground, but it was amazing. They showed us paths that used to be open to the sky, and different apartments and what they looked like. It was pretty amazing to see the actual standards of living during the 1600's. There was one of the paranormal activity type TV shows that did an episode there, and it was dubbed one of the most haunted places in all of Europe. It wasn't too scary, but we went when it was just a historical tour. There are ghost and haunted aimed tours. But it was pretty amazing. They wouldn't allow us to take photos or video since it is a government building.

After Mary King's Close we went to find the Elephant House. Which is the cafe that J.K. Rowling went to write all of the Harry Potter books. There are a couple of signs and things on the outside that say Harry Potter was born here, but the inside is supposedly unchanged. It was very neat to go there, and Allie and Amanda purchased Hot Chocolates from there. But I was still pumped full of my Mocha!!!

Next we went to find the school that inspired Hogwarts. Which was just around the corner. As we were walking there, there was a man screaming and running with a broken beer bottle. which needless to say FREAKED ME OUT!!!!! All I could think was we need to get as far away as possible as quick as possible.
So we found the school that inspired Hogwarts, but it is interesting. The building across the street reminded me of Hogwarts more than the school itself. So that was interesting. Don't get me wrong it was beautiful, but it just didn't have any of the turits or iron work or roofing.

This looks like Hogwarts to me

Across the st

Building across from school, that looked more hogwartsy to me

This is the actual school

So after that we went down to Princes St, to do some shopping. We went into Princes Mall and didn't find much. The day before we had seen a girl with an Urban Outfitters bag and we were on the hunt for Urban Outfitters. But it wasn't in the mall. So we walked Princes St, but didn't find it.

Today there was also that same rugby match, only today Scotland and Ireland were playing. So needless to say there were TONS of Irish in town, and the match was being played in Edinburgh.
I wanted a "Scotland" scarf, I mean we're here for this event, so why not. But I couldn't find one. Scotland ended up losing anyway.
We went to the train station, conveniently named the "Waverly Station".  When I went there, all I could think is about Wizards of Waverly Place. Which is a fun show!!! lol.
So my weekend was filled with walking and fun!!!!
Really glad I was able to get out of Stirling for a few days and enjoy some time out. My feet and legs are sore, and bank acct hurting. But it was fun!!!

on campus!! BEAUTIFUL

Until Next Time,

Randoms throughout the week!

I had received some requests for a new blog this week, and since I didn't really do much besides go to school this week I had to get creative! So I have some random pictures from the week that will help to understand my life at Stirling!

Okay so first off I wanted to show more of my flat. I already showed my shoebox of a room, but i figured since I cleaned it really well I'd take pictures and put those up!!! lol.

So this is looking in my room from when you open the door. 

Oddly Enough, I have a sink an mirror in my room, but it's not an en suite bathroom. And it's great because then I don't have to worry about my toothbrush being near the toilet...lol
The only problem I have with this sink, is that the hot and  cold water come out different faucets. There is no middle
ground with the hot and cold. It's either boiling or near freezing!!! 

Ahh!! clean desk!! lol.  notice the new wall decorations...hahaha. 2 cards and a valentines card from my mom!! lol

long hallway, this is the majority of our flat. You walk in the front door (below) and take a left down this long hallway.
Behind me in this picture is the bathroom, The first door is Amy's Door, the second is my door, the third is Corrie's and the fourth door is the kitchen. But at the end of the hallway is this creepy locked door.......scary!!

bathroom....yay!

but there is always this mysterious puddle next to our toilet.....it never goes away. even if I mop it reappears. And I don't care enough to do anything about it! lol.....haha

door to the bathroom plus our hallway mirror....random

kitchen!!

view from my kitchen. It was so foggy that day that you can't even see Wallace Monument.

creepy door closer up...

well so now you've seen my flat at length now I have some random photos throughout this week of things that either caught my eye or I wanted to show someone this back home! 

There is a store here that we really like to go to and we walked in and there was a 

Nevada Lake Tahoe sweatshirt. It was almost so random that I would have bought it!!!

SUPER RANDOM!! LAKE TAHOE NEVADA in Scotland!!!!!

Good view of Wallace Monument from my dorm!!

BEAUTIFUL.....the first day of clear skies!!!

Haldanes is a lunch place that we go pretty regularly, we ate lasagna, and salad and garlic bread. 

Silly Sign I put up for Amy. This was up in the library.... they should put this policy into place everywhere. 

This made the library a little cooler. You know where else they have these? Disneyland!!

Jlyn I put this up for you. It made me laugh that I got a disgusting bloody 5!! ahhhh so I spent it asap

Using my precious Vias!!! I only have so many good cups of coffee left!!

So I decided to make spaghetti and couldnt' figure out why my water wasn't boiling. WELL in the UK they have switches for every appliance and you have to actually turn on the appliance for it to work. My switch for the oven/stove is behind my oven!!! 

I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working!!!! then i did...lol

Felt like an ass....hahahah

Well there you go, some random moments from the last week. 

Any suggestions for my next blog?

I am headed to Edinburgh tomorrow for the weekend. So the next one will be up shortly.