Edinburgh: It's a Hell of a Town!

Day 1 - Exploring Edinburgh
We woke up super early to catch our flight. Like, woke up at 3am early. Stupid Stanstead (rants about airports and ryanair are a common occurrence in every household in England - especially the ex-pat ones). We got to our hostel however, by about 10:00 in the morning so we were able to make it to the walking tour in the morning!

We went on our free walking tour (I think I have done the New Europe tours in about 10 different cities now!) and saw all of downtown Edinburgh. Old churches, execution spots, Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, haunted graveyards, the whole shebang! We also experienced four different seasons in this tour! Spring - rain, Summer - sunshine, Autumn - wind, and Winter - hail. It was insane. This country can't decide what season it wants it to be!!

My favourite story that our tour guide told us was about "Greyfriar's Bobby". This was a story about a very faithful dog. When his master - the groundskeeper of the Greyfriar's Graveyard - died, Bobby sat by his grave waiting for his master to return. The townspeople fed him and sheltered him when it was cold, but he never left his master's side. He lived for like 15 years like that. When Bobby died, they built a grave for him and a statue of him outside the graveyard. People leave sticks and little dog treats / toys for him on his grave to this day.



The rest of the day was spent exploring Edinburgh on our own, even coming across a group of older Scottish men and women who were practicing traditional Scottish dancing in the park!

Day 2 - "Hogwarts" Castle
The second day was our day at the castle. We woke up and headed over to the castle after eating our deliciously simply hostel breakfast. All Dan had wanted to do in Europe was visit a castle, so obviously, the giant Edinburgh castle was a point of interest on our trip. We saw cannons and armour, prisoner cells and palace halls, fortifications and the oldest building in Edinburgh (the small church within the castle grounds). We even saw the Scottish crown jewels (a sceptre, sword, crown and stone of destiny). I don't' want to really get into the whole story of the Stone of Destiny, but I think it was pretty interesting, so here's the ever so informative wikipedia link. Dan was in his glory this whole day and I was so happy to have shared in seeing this great castle with him. :)


After the castle, we met up with my traveling friend Lucy! James and I met Lucy in Krakow / Prague when we did our Eurotrip in 2009 and she is currently living and working in Scotland! It was great to see her two years later and what had happened since those crazy nights in Poland! Lucy took us to lunch and then to the cafe where J.K. Rowling penned the first two harry potter books! It was awesome! You could see a perfect view of the castle that I am introducing Dan to Harry Potter, so he wasn't as excited as I was, but he still feigned support. :P In the evening, we went out to a jazz/live music bar and had a few drinks and good times.



Day 3 - Monster Hunting
The third day in Edinburgh wasn't actually spent in Edinburgh! We went on a day trip to Loch Ness to search for Nessie! I obviously slept the entire way there, but we saw some great views of the highlands - even though the weather was typically Scottish and rainy.



When we got to Loch Ness, we went on a boat tour and they explained all about the theories of Nessie and the sightings. And guess what? We saw her floating along the boat! Here's our proof! :P




Day 4 - Loose Ends
On our last day there, we tied up all our loose ends and did all the things we had left to do. One of them was to located an angel playing bagpipes in a church. It is the only church in the world that has a wooden carving of an angel playing the bagpipes. Pretty kitschy and cute! We also tried to tour the Royal Palace of Edinburgh (located at the other end of the Royal Mile with Edinburgh Castle on the top and the Palace on the bottom). However, it was closed as there were currently royalty visiting! We maintain it must have been Will and Kate. :P Finally, we HAD to try some traditional Scottish foods. I tried Haggis! Look at me, being all cultured now and trying crazy food! It was actually very tasty. Just like ground up sausage mixed with oats and spices. I just tried not to think about where it was cooked. We also tried the even more delicious delicacy of DEEP FRIED MARS BARS. mmmmmmmmm... Heavenly! I don't care how bad it is for you. it was amazing!

All in all, our trip was lovely. A perfect place to spend four days and really explore it all. I hope Dan had as much fun as I had! :

A Visit from Dan!

I got to play tour guide over the past two weeks and share my love of London and smartypants trivia that I've gathered over the accumulated 10 months I've been here!

It's sometimes confusing for my friends when I say that "Dan" is visiting because I have both a best friend Dan (Dan Grant) and a boy that I was seeing in Toronto before I left (Dan M. or "Dr. Dan" as he is finishing up school to be a chiropractor this year). Also, Dan Grant is moving to Edinburgh to do teacher's college in the fall and Dan M and and I went to Edinburgh this past week. Confused? Anyways, for clarity in the next few posts: Dan = Dr. Dan, not Dan Grant! :P

I was so excited for Dan to be coming. We've stayed in touch over the past few months and are very close now, albeit still in different countries. He came to visit for almost 2 weeks in between the end of his clinic rotations and his final exams. Things we did in London included:

- Watching the Champions Final between Man U and Barcelona at home with Fletch, Jade, Melissa, & Martin. Incidentally, I had picked Dan up from Gatwick that morning and there were tons of Barc fans singing songs and getting into the footie spirit!
- Sightsaw the whole Trafalgar/Parliament/Big Ben/Westminster/Buckingham area as well as a wonderful walk through Hyde Park and the Serpentine.
- Met up with Sophie and Kyle (who was in town for the week with work... He lived in England last year but now works for Barclay's NYC!) at the Shakespeare for Dan's introduction to the wonderful summer delight that is Pimm's!
- Went to Borough Market to have a delicious lunch. I had paella, he had a burger, and we shared a banoffee pie.
- Toured along the Southbank: Golden Hinde, Shakespeare's Globe, St. Paul's, Tower Bridge.
- Went in the Tate Modern and were amazed by the power and beauty of some of the pieces, as well as baffled by what some consider art
- Walked through Greenwich Park to see the Deer
- Took a Thames Clipper ride from Greenwich to Embankment
- Went to the London Science Museum and learned about "Energy", old medical tools and the creation of Plastic?? Random museum!
- Spent a night out in London (Went to Gordon's Wine Bar with Emma and Andrew and then off to the Porterhouse in Covent for some live music)
- Went on the London Eye. The first time I've ever been on it. It was fun, but a little boring. Great pics of London though!!
- Took Dan to Pub Quiz at the Fox. "Team Canaussie" came in last as usual.
- Had a fancy night out by dinner and a musical. We saw Chicago. It was great, minimalist set but excellent singing and dancing by all the cast members! Due to time restraints, we ended up eating at the "Golden Arches" (our posh name for a not so posh, well known fastfood joint, lol)

It was a wonderful time in London. It was the first time that Dan had ever been overseas and he said that he was falling in love with London just like I have! :) That's a pretty big statement from the boy from Chester, Nova Scotia. ;) We didn't just stay in London though, we also did a four day trip to Edinburgh in Scotland! But that, my friends, is another post.