Sept. 16
We left Inverness the next morning, taking a train back to Edinburgh. It was odd to leave the place. Even though were were there for only about 36 hours, I felt a little connected to the place. I am sure that Inverness is one of those places I'm just not ever going to forget. The train ride back was sad, in its own way. Watching the Scottish Highlands flatten back out into lowlands, as Edinburgh grew closer. But we all three loved Edinburgh, so it wasn't all that sad.
Once we got to Edinburgh, the first order of business was to find a hostel. All three of the hostels owned by Macbackpackers were full, so we had to find somewhere else. Eventually we ended up at the Cowgate Hostel, which was only 9 quid, cheaper than Mac's.
We went to Edinburgh Castle for a history tour. It was amazing. The castle was huge. In the castle there are hundreds of years of history. Wars, revenge, intrigue. It was absolutely fascinating. The Scottish Crown Jewels are held there (under some tight security. Oh, and they don't allow cameras into the Honours Room, lame).
One of the best parts for me was seeing the Stone of Destiny, or the Stone of Scone. On this stone there have been literally hundreds of Scottish kings and queens crowned, the stone itself being an integral part of Scottish history.
After the Castle closed, we went to Carlton Hill, one of the highest points in Edinburgh, and watched the sun set (obviously taking LOADS of pictures).
Then we dashed around the graveyard where David Hume is buried (actually stood inside his tomb).Before we went on the ghost tour, we went to a FOUL Fish and Chips place. Stacy had a deep-fried cheeseburger. Here's how you make a deep-fried cheesburger:
1) Make a cheeseburger (with cheese)
2) Deep fry the sucker... including the cheese.
It was absolutely disgusting, but my deep-fried chicken sandwich was all that bad.
Finally, we went to the City of the Dead ghost tour. It was pretty entertaining. Not really worth the 6 and a half quid, but it was entertaining. The best part of the tour is when I caught an orb on my camera. Check this out:
The tour people were significantly impressed. Another girl on the tour caught a few more orbs, but they were very faint compared to mine.
After the tour, we talked to the only other young people on the tour, who both ended up being solo backpackers... from America. So, sadly, the first night we went out drinking on our trip... was with Americans. Ah well, we'll survive. Nick was from New York and Stephanie (the other girls with orb pictures) was from New Jersey by way of Florida. We headed back to our hostel, which was just across the street from this club Opium, which had really cheap drinks.
Opium also ended up being a goth/emo/alternative bar that only played 90's rock music on the dance floor... completely lame. But with the five of us it was fun.
After getting slightly intoxicated, we wandered around for a bit looking for food. Seeing none, we just went back to our respective hostels and crashed, after making sure to share contact info with Nick and Stephanie.
The next morning we went to the Royal Museum of Scotland, which was pretty sweet. Luckily, it was free. Then we dashed down Canongate and tried to get into the Holyroodhouse Palace, which is the Scottish residence used by the Queen of England when she's in the mood to jaunt up to the Highlands. However, it was rather expensive, so Andrew stayed and Stacy and I went to the Scottish Parliament building across the street. The Scottish Parliament has a rather interesting political history, so that was entertaining. Stacy loved the interior decorations... wait, I mean the architecture. Right.
We went to a lovely little cafe on Canongate, and then trekked up the Royal Mile to the Elephant House. What's so important about the Elephant House, you ask?
THAT'S WHERE J.K. ROWLING WROTE HARRY POTTER!!!
Erhem... I mean... it has a rich literary history. Actually, news articles inside claim that at least three books besides HP have been written there as well, which Stacy and I, as wannabe writers, found impressive. So we subjected Andrew to several hours of us feverishly writing in an attempt to absorb the creative energies of the place.
At that point we wandered around New Town, found a bar called Hog's Head (at this ponit those of you familiar with Harry Potter will realize how much of Edinburgh probably ended up in good ole HP. There's also a drink at the Elephant House called "Fleur's Delight" which the barista claimed had been there since BEFORE HP4 was written). Eventually we ended back up at the train station, to take our train back to London.
Check out Stacy's post on our new flat, and look for The Second Week (or rather The Transition to Living), coming soon.
Peace and Love to you all.
Cheers!
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