Thus my trip to Scotland commenced. Arriving in Edinburgh at 11h20 in the morning on Thursday, I had already been awake since 4, had a 2.5 hour bus ride, a 2 hour plane ride, and I was in desperate need of something hilarious. The Scottish newspaper did not disappoint. That was the headline on Page 1. Yes...page 1.
Once I arrived at my hostel, I sat down and had a delicious breakfast of pancakes and fresh bacon. Amazing. After breakfast, my friend Frederico and I started out to do some hiking around Edinburgh and see the various castles. Edinburgh was full of activity. Apparently there was an annual street festival going on, so we were bombarded with flyers for comedies, magicians, serious theatre, and a massive concert in the courtyard of the palace.
After fighting our way through tons of people, we made our way to the Castle only to find out that it was 24 pounds to get in. That was just a bit much, so we headed down the Royal mile to see what was on the street. We walked past St. Giles Kirk and the John Knox house to make our way slowly down to Holyrood Castle (the queens residence in Edinburgh)and the base of Authur's Seat.
Authur's Seat is a huge mountain in the middle of Edinburgh that used to be a strong point for the town. All that is left on the mountain of the old fort's are a wall of an abbey that used to be on the east side. After hiking all the way to the top of the hill, the two of us were exhausted. So we decided to head back to the hostel and relax before heading to dinner. For dinner, we went to a small restaurant called Mum's Great Comfort Food. It was Great comfort food. For 8 pounds (13 dollars) we were able to get 2 huge meals with mashed potatoes and vegetables followed by a Bailey's milkshake. It was incredible and incredibly delicious. Following dinner, we headed back to the hostel for a huge glass of Magner's Cider and as much sleep as we could get.
This morning, I said goodbye to Edinburgh until monday and headed for the Isle of Skye. The trip by bus was incredibly beautiful. The Scottish Highlands are some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen. They are huge mountains covered in fields of grass and waterfalls and everything is a deep color of green. The enormous Lochs go right up against the base of the mountains and are surrounded by large manor houses and old castles. It's incredibly beautiful. So far in Skye, I have found my hostel and am planning on going to get some great seafood tonight. Skye is right on the sea and the whole place smells of salt water. Tomorrow, I'm planning to do some hiking and have my first solid sleep in 2 days. Right now, it is raining pretty steadily and the BBC is on TV.
Cheers :)
-Pondhopper
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