My first day in Edinburgh!

Scotland Thus Far.

Yesterday I arrived in Scotland and it has been so much fun! On the drive up, the gradual change in landscape was so beautiful to watch. I went on three different coaches to get to Edinburgh, but all were pretty smooth rides. Now when I say that, I mean uneventful. Smooth would not be accurate especially for that last coach. My butt was sufficiently numb by the end of the day. When I arrived, I had no idea where to go. Never assume that a coach station has wifi. Most do, but some don't and it's a pain to figure out where you're supposed to go. Now this trip was something I wanted to do but was planned and executed sort of on a whim. I forgot to figure out what road my hostel was on... whoops. But I had their phone number, so it really wasn't that big of a deal. Getting only mildly lost twice and asking for directions about three times, I finally arrived. The gal at the reception desk looked up and immediately asked me “Are you the lost girl?” I guess after two calls they caught on that I had no idea where they were located, let alone myself. Oh well, it really wasn't stressful or scary. I checked in and picked out my bed. Once a bit more organized, I went downstairs to get dinner. That's right, my hostel has a full blown cafe/ bar in it!

Once full of delicious chicken Tikka Masala, I wandered around and met a few people. Turns out that every night there is a free pub crawl. Even though I was exhausted I figured that I should go on it for a bit of fun and to meet more people. That decision paid off in full! I met my new Aussie friend Mona, who was also looking around for a friend. Neither of us knew anyone at the hostel. We clicked and stuck by each other the whole night. Our fearless leaders Jimmy and Jeff were very fun and kept the mood up. Not too hard to do since they're both really easy to look at. Now at the first pub, I ran into two guys that apparently are in the police. They were just out for a good time and were entertaining to talk to. Now I say this night paid off I full because not only did I meet some new friends, but the two police/ military guys (Ollie and Max) offered to get me and Mona into Edinburgh Castle for free and show us around. I got both of their numbers to coordinate later. The castle tour is normally about 16 quid (slang for pounds) so of course I'm going to see if they'll follow through on their offer.

This morning I went on a free walking tour of Edinburgh with some other hostel people and Jimmy leading us around. It was very informative and fun. I saw a bunch of Harry Potter stuff and loved every bit of it! There's also a really cute story about a loyal dog who was made a citizen of Edinburgh by the city council. He was extremely loyal to his owner and for 14 years every morning and night, the dog stayed by the grave. This is a statue to commemorate him. The picture after is is grave inside the graveyard where his owner is buried. People put sticks on his grave for him to play with.

Throughout the graveyard there were a lot of Harry Potter related things. Many of the gravestones have names of the characters on it. The castle looking building is actually a school. It was very hard to get into so the children used to say that they rode brooms and learned witchcraft. This building inspired Hogwarts. I thought it was so cool! Following is the pub where J.K. Rowling wrote the first two books. She had no heating in her apartment so the owners let her sit there all day and write while she drank tea.

This is my new friend Mona and me at Edinburgh Castle.

Another part of today's beautiful Scotland is this gorgeous park. It is extremely green and used to be a loch in the days of the castle. The loch served as the main water source for Edinburgh for a long time. However, it started to grow increasingly disgusting. So in the 19^th century it was drained out. About 300 bodies were found at the bottom, most of them were bound women. The results of being tried as a witch. They were thrown off the cliff from the castle. It's amazing to see how something so beautiful can come from something so horrible.

The Scots have a long history of wanting to do impressive things and not quite doing it or being defeated by the English. It's kinda sad but funny. I'm sure it isn't funny to the Scots, but our tour leader Jimmy is Australian and none of the tourists are Scots. So for us, it was a feeling of wanting to pat the Scottish on the head and say “Awwww! It's alright, you tried. We still love you.” Obviously I won't actually say that to anyone in Scotland. If you're reading this and you're Scottish, sorry! The photos below are of a wall that was built to defend against an English invasion. At the time that an actual invasion came, no one was guarding the gates. So the English just walked in and took Edinburgh. Way to be soldiers, way to be. Next is commonly know as “Scotland's Shame”. It's a bunch of steps and columns. Originally the plan was to build a huge building for all the important people to be buried in. I'm sure there were other important meanings to the idea of this building, but I don't remember learning any others. Anyways, the funding ran out and nothing has happened since. But there is some beautiful scenery around it with other monuments! Those are the other pictures below. Enjoy!

Tonight I went out again with some fellow hostel people.  We went on the free pub crawl again but mainly went for the socializing.  Drinking two nights in a row didn't sound appealing.  I had an absolute blast and met a lot more people.  Some of which were Americans!  They're the first ones I've met while abroad that I didn't already know.  That's all I've done in Edinburgh so far. More to come!

Love and pixels,

Kaylen