so, the final leg of my european adventure takes place in edinburgh. the train ride up from newcastle is amazing. running along the sea for miles, you get to see some pretty spectacular views. i always love being so close to the sea. there is something quite interesting about the distance between the tracks and the water. being so close is a good idea.
anyways, pj and i made it up and checked into our hostel, which seemed pretty cool. then we went on the search for food, which ended with us going to pizza hut. i know what you're thinking, you go all the way to scotland and get pizza hut? well, yes. but we were starving and pizza buffet sounded so good. oh, and they have FREE REFILLS on pop. one of the perks of america that i miss oh so much. then, we proceeded to explore edinburgh. we were staying on the royal mile, which to me seemed like probably some of the nicest parts of edinburgh. street performers galore. pj got some really good shots of the many performers, while i mostly just watched. i did manage to snap one shot of the lovely bloke you see below you. nothing like bagpipes to make you feel like you're in scotland.
^ the bagpipe gentleman outside st. giles' cathedral.
so, after a bit of exploring and a visit to st. giles' cathedral, we went on the search for dinner. it brought us to a little place off the beaten path. just a nice pub. pj and i are just starting in on our meal when megan and jeff (from the hostel in dublin) come walking in. of all the places to come to, they came in there. it was pretty neat to see two familiar faces. the funny thing was, pj and i were just talking about my embarrassing moment in the hostel right before they walked in. fate, i guess. anyways, after dinner, we went to the hostel and just sort of chilled a bit before we decided to go on the night ghost tour. i was a little skeptical about doing a ghost tour, but the description of the one pj and i choose was more about the actual history of edinburgh and not one with actors and crazy stupid stuff that i wouldn't want to waste my time on. our tour guide, allen, was pretty awesome. we later found out that he has written books about the history of ghosts in edinburgh. pretty smart dude. and the tour was pretty cheap and we got a free pint out of it at the end. nothing wrong with a pint of beer. megan and jeff were on the tour as well, so, again we had more people that we actually knew.
day two began with pj and i trekking up towards edinburgh castle. this was something of a must do in edinburgh. we had seen the priory ruins in tynemouth, but no actual castle, yet. and the castle is just amazing. a lot of really neat exhibits and history of edinburgh and england as well as the crown jewels of scotland. pretty neat stuff to see.
^ edinburgh castle entrance.
we then made our way back to the city center to go on a free walking tour of edinburgh, similar to the one we did in dublin. i highly suggest going on these free tours. they are amazing and the tour guides are usually pretty damn awesome. we heard a lot of neat stuff about dublin and then went to a pub where i had to try the national dish: haggis. let's just say that i am not much of a haggis fan, but at least i found out. we then poked around a little bit and wandered towards the salisbury crags.
^ the crags.
pj and i had planned on doing the crags in the morning, but we decided to do the castle and then the walking tour instead. we had to get our train around 9pm, and still had time left when we walked down the royal mile towards the crags. once we got right under them, we knew we had to climb up to see the fantastic view of the city. we had seen some pretty great views before, but we knew that this would be the best of all. the trek up the crag was long and a bit difficult (especially in chuck taylors) but we made it, and, well, it was well worth it. probably the best part of the trip. to be that high up and be able to see everything was breathtaking. pj and i just hung up top and soaked in the view. a great ending to a fantastic spring break trip.
^ on top of the crags.
we then made our way back to the hostel to get our stuff and then get on the train towards york, where our paths would part. we had about two hours once we got to york, so i made sure that i took pj around to the lowther, my favourite bar, as well as outside the minster so he could just see the magnificence of the place. then, it was back to manchester for pj and back to langwith g block for me. i was so glad to have pj come out and be able to explore the uk with him. one of the best parts of being abroad so far is being able to share it with the important people in your life. my parents come out in a week. it should be just as amazing.
Ahh. You met Allen. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, his mother owned a little gift shop in the Shambles. I wish I'd known you were going to Edinburgh -- I would have suggested that you take in luncheon at The Witchery.
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