Here we go...Scotland update

So Scotland was absolutly beautiful. For our five day adventure to the land of the kilts and an accent that makes english sound like a completly different language we managed to visit 3 towns, Edingburgh, Dunblane and Glasgow.

Edinburgh. It was absolutly amazing. It was a city but still had a very old world charm about it. It's kinda how I would envision Boston to be, I hear thats how Boston feels. Anyways so we get to Edinburgh at like 7 oclock at night, so its dark out. And we try and find out hostel. Turns out its like 20 minutes away from the city and we have to catch a shuttle there. Great. Ok so we get to where we think the shuttle picks up and its under construction and all buses have been rerouted to a new station. Ahhhh. What to do? So we walk around. For ages. I think we crossed one intersection like 8 times. That might actually be fewer than what we did. I think the construction workers were actually laughing at us. So we finally get to the point where we are like, well lets just wait at the stop they said and maybe it will still come. As we are walking up we finally see the shuttle pulling up! Thank goodness! So we meet the nice shuttle man and he gives us tips about what to do the next day in the city and such. Super nice and he had such a cute accent. So we get to the hostel, which was absolulty gorgeoues, probably the best one we have stayed in thus far on our adventures. And it was so empty that we had our own room, a room that was supposed to have 6 people in it. So nice. Then we had dinner in the hostel becuase we were to tired to do anything else.

The next day we decided to go to Edinburgh castle and walk around the rest of the city. So we get to the castle as it opens, and get a tour and then proceed to walk around for the next 3 hours in side the castle. Thats just how big it is. Its so crazy. Like I cant even explain it, there are like 7 museums inside and it also holds the Crown jewels of Scotland, and a memorial dedicated to all soliders of Scotland. It was awesome. If you ever make it to Edinburgh I totally suggest going there! Next we walked around the Royal Mile, basically an old street with lots of old stuff and bunches of Kitchy toursit shops. We proceeded to go into all of them. Hey we are american tourists we can do it! Then we went to the Elephant House. Which for any of you Harry Potter nerds, was where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book on napkins while sipping coffee! HOW AMAZING! It was so cool. And we met the owner as I was taking a picture of the place. So I got a picture of him too. He was soooo sooo nice! He talked to us and got us a table and told us to have a wonderful time in Scotland. It was really nice and we had a wonderful view of the castle outside of the window. Just think I could have sat at the same table as her! Wow! You could just feel the vibes. Anyways, after that we went to the Royal Museum of Scotland and had a very interesting tour about the Alliance between Scotland and French against the British. It was very cool. After the museum we just walked around town more and stopped at a grocery store to pick up pasta so we could make dinner at the Hostel. Back at the Hostel me and Rose made a delcious meal of Pasta and bread. Talk about carbo loading. It was delicious though! Yumm.

The next day we decided to go to Dunblane, becuase it is the place of Dunblane Cathedral and Rose's dad's namesake. So we took the bus up to Dunblane and walked around and took pictures of one of the most beautiful Cathedrals I have ever seen. It was so pretty and me and Rose found a little stair case in the back that we climbed up and could get a few of the church from a higher level. (Pictures should be up later today, if I find the energy to walk in the rain to the pub). After the Cathedral we just walked around the town and got lunch at the cutest little cafe. I had the most delicious sandwich ever, A panini with mozzerella chees, pesto sauce and red onions. Omgoodness so good. Next we went to the tesco(supermarket) and bought peanut butter and bread, that way we could spend less money on food. Then we got the train to Glasgow. Btw trains are so cool. I wish the ones in the states werent so expensive!

Anyways, Glasgow. It was pretty, like architecture wise, but it was soooo dirty. For a city that is under a million people you would think they could keep it a little cleaner. It was so gross. Anyways we get to glasgow and try and find our hostel. Once again its one that is five bazillion miles outside of town and we have to go to the toursit office so they could help us find it. So we get on a city bus and get to where we think the hostel is, key word think. Turns out the address they gave us was wrong, 80 Firhill street is actually a Rugby stadium. Yep so at this point we were freakin out. So we walk around and then finally finally find it. The hostel is actually in a student aparment building, and the only sign letting you know that is a little computer printout. So we finally get in there, which turned out to be a fairly nice room and then get the bus back into town.

Once back into town we meet up with other girls who were traveling in Scotland because everyone is going to the Dave Matthews concert, except me. Im not a huge Dave fan so I didnt get a ticket. So me and my friend, who also didnt have a ticket, walked around the city and took pictures and then went to a pub for a pint till the concert ended. It was all fun, and Im happy I didnt buy the concert ticket, I think it would have been a waste of money. So me and Rose try and find a bus to get back to the Hostel as we walk by creepy old men, and drunkards. I have to say Glasgow maybe the drunkest city I have ever been in. Like seriously it was rediculous. We also saw a man get searched by the Guards(police) because they thought he was selling drugs. I know crazy, I felt like I was back in North Philly. Finally we got back to our hostel and had a nice sleep.

The next day me and Rose walked around the city, went to another cathedral and the necropolis. Which is basically a huge cementary. Very pretty but also very creepy. It was the tallest point in Glasgow so it had wonderful views. I liked it alot. Next we just proceeded to walk around. Glasgow we took as more as a vacation then a we need to go here, here and here. And if we dont see these thinsg we will be upset. We also did alot of window shopping. Next we went to our hostel for that night (we changed hostels to one more in the city) and dropped of our stuff and napped before dinner. For dinner we went to the Goose. Super cool pub that had great deals. A sandwich, chips(fries), and a pint all for a £3.50. So awesome. So we ate and talked. It was nice. Next we walked more and then went back to the hostel to sleep. It was a nice relaxing day. As was the next, where we basically did the same thing.

The last day we went to the goose, again, becuase it was so good. And then we got the train to the airport to catch our 10 oclock flight back to Ireland. When we got back however there was not another bus to Galway till 1:15. So we slept in the airport for awhile, and then slept on the bus till we finally got home at 3 in the morning.

So overall a very fun trip. Im very glad we went becuase not many people make it to Scotland and it definatly had some pretty things to offer. The only thing I wish is taht we could have spent more time in Edinburgh. But overall it was awesome.

Ok thats it for now kids I have to run to class! Love and miss you all!

Slán agat