I Left My Heart in Scotland

I could hear the craggy lowland hills of Scotland calling out to me once again, so for the last couple of days of my half-term holiday, I took a quick trip up to Edinburgh. The city never ceases to take my breath away, with its tall, dark stone buildings, rough cobbled streets and endless charm. Back in August, I had declared to Christy: "I'm over Edinburgh." But I was wrong. I realized later what I was "over" were the raging crowds we were fighting through at every moment the weekend we visited the famous Fringe Festival. What I'll never get over is friendly and lovely this city really is.

For all my previous trips north to Scotland, I've flown, so I decided to take the train this time to see the gorgeous countryside. What a great idea that was! The train took nearly five hours, but it was comfortable and much more relaxing than trying to get to the airport, through security and past all the other crazy EasyJet passengers. The train is definitely the way to go! Here are some of my favorite  (slightly blurry) views:

Friday I was on my own until late that night when Christy was free, so I took a walk down the Royal Mile to go tour the palace, shopping here and there along the way. The palace is beautiful, and the audioguide that comes with your ticket is quick and interesting. There's nothing worse than an audio tour that drags on! You're not allowed to take photographs inside, but the palace is really beautiful, and visitors get to see quite a bit. My favorite room was the formal dining room where the queen entertains her guests. They even had past menus on the table so you could see what the royals served up for dinner!

Pretty view of Edinburgh from the North Bridge where I walked across
from the train station. Edinburgh has a "new town," which is where the train
station, malls and other more modern Georgian buildings are. Then it has the
"old town," the more dated (and gorgeous!) part of town by the castle and the
palace. The Royal Mile is the road that connects the castle and the palace.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland.

Arthur's Seat cliff 

Chapel ruins behind the palace

Learning stuff

After touring her home, I had a little snack with the Queen! :) 

After walking around some more, I stopped in to check out a neat little place called the Museum of Edinburgh. It's in a funky, old, rickety house, and as the name suggests, it tells the story of the people of Edinburgh. My favorite display was the part of Grey Friar's Bobby, a very loyal dog who sat on his dead owner's grave for 14 years. I heard about Bobby back in August and bought a postcard of him, which is still on my wall. I'm just a sucker for a good story about a devoted puppy dog and his owner. 

Bobby looking a bit sad

There's Bobby's collar, food bowl and the water cup the town kept chained
up near the kirkyard for people to fill up for Bobby. 

Then, I was walking past this wiskey shop, and would you
believe it?! There was a real life dog who looked just like
Bobby sitting in the window! And he was real, too!!  

On Saturday, Christy and I headed back to Edinburgh from her flat in Bathgate, which is a small town about 25 minutes away from Edinburgh via train. We spent the day wandering, shopping, checking out a few cultural things, and just having a good time. We also met up with Rebecca and her friends from back home who were visiting this week. 

Edinburgh Castle. I've visited the castle twice, so I skipped it this trip.

One of my favorite stops on Saturday was in he Elephant Cafe, which is where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book! We stopped here for lunch and mostly just the novelty of it. The graffiti in the bathrooms was amazing to read and made the stop here even more fun. It was great to read the words of so many other devoted fans who'd been genuinely touched by the wonderful world of Harry Potter.

Never taken a self-portrait in the toilets before...

Check out this collage of some of my favorite messages to JK Rowling and the rest of us crazy Harry Potter fans:

After lunch, we continued our wander/shopping/sightseeing. We stopped in front of the Bobby statue for a photo. I was lucky to have dinner in the pub last August, but I couldn't resist another photo opp here! Then we popped around the corner to see Bobby's famous graveyard and were surprised to find his grave there. It's very sweet how visitors leave him little sticks and treats.

Then we made our way to the National Museum of Scotland, which I was excited to check out because Rick Steves has a nice blurb on it in his Edinburgh writeup. The museum was an interesting contrast of starkly modern design with ancient artifacts. We just stuck to the Scottish history section, as I tend to get a bit bored and distracted if I'm in a museum for more than an hour. Here's a few highlights:

St. Andrew, patron saint of Scotland

The Lewis Chessmen 

My new boyfriend

Christy's new boyfriend

The ever-evasive puffin--a national treasure in Scotland

Bonnie Prince Charlie 

But the best part about the museum was the amazing views of the city you get from the rooftop terrace!

Later that evening, we met up with Rebecca and her fabulous friends from home. We had dinner in a little pub and then just hung out, having some good laughs and being annoyingly American with each other. It was a great night!

Fulbright friends: Rebecca, me, Christy 

I had an early train to catch Sunday morning, but the day was gorgeous, so sunny and bright. It made my train ride down even more enjoyable than on the way up. I was pretty mesmerized by all the stunning views, which unfortunately meant I didn't get much marking done. But I suppose that's ok, and my students can wait a little longer to see their results. Afterall, Scotland's rolling hills and seaside cliffs have called to me, and I must answer.

Farm house on a cliff overlooking the sea...my absolute dream home!