Adventures in Scotland

I just got back from Scotland today, it was so beautiful! Edinburgh is the most beautiful city I have seen. The old city is so historic and the Royal Mile is gorgeous. We stayed at Castle Rock Hostel, which I highly recommend. It was right next to Edinburgh Castle, the staff was really friendly, and it just had a really cool vibe. Our room had a Happy Days theme, and my bed was called Joanie.

The first thing we did was a free tour of the city. Our Australian tour guide was awesome. He showed us all around the city and told us historical stories such as Maggie Dickson, amusing stories such as the theft of the Stone of Destiny, and he even threw in a little Harry Potter tour (the cafe known as the birthplace of Harry Potter is in Edinburgh as well as a school resembling Hogwarts that is said to be J.K. Rowling's inspiration). The tour was great and very informative too.

After the tour we went to the Writer's Museum then took a quick break since we left Dublin at 3am. By the way, Ryanair may be cheap, but that was by far the sketchiest landing of my life.

After that we made a pasta dinner in the hostel since it was Friday and we couldn't eat meat. That was really cute to have a family dinner, and it turned out good. We were surprised by how many people actually live in the hostel and were cooking there.

After that we went out pubbing to Maggie Dickson's (£1.95 drinks for students and backpackers!) then next door for some live music. It was a good night.

The next day we started off with Edinburgh Castle. It was an awesome castle and it had a bunch of museums and memorials to see. It also featured and the crown jewels and the stone of destiny. The view from the castle was also amazing. We saw them fire a cannon at 1, which was also cool.

After that we walked down the Royal Mile and went hiking up Arthur's Seat. I hiked! lol. The climb was awful - we accidentally took the harder path. The effort was definitely worth it though because the views at the top were stunning. The climb down was also a little sketchy- I was really afraid I would fall down.

After that we went shopping up the Royal Mile. We went to a cute fudge shop which was great and then I bought two plaid scarves! We went out to eat afterwards at the Castle Arms, then we got fried Mars bars, which Scotland is apparently known for. It was so delicious!

When we got back to the hostel we watched Braveheart in the movie room. I think it's really cool that I can say I watched Braveheart in Scotland. I was sad when our tour guide telling us how historically inaccurate it is though. The big battle at Stirling should be on a bridge, Mel Gibson's too short, William Wallace's family was actually rich, and the face paint never would have happened.

All in all the trip was amazing - I highly recommend visiting Edinburgh if you ever get the opportunity!!