The Abbey

On our very last day in Edinburgh as a group we decided to go to our favorite, "usual" place- The Abbey. Here we had our first fish and chips and worked our taste buds up to daring to try "haggis,meeps and tatties", experience the glory that is sticky toffee pudding and had our first Strongbow. Today happened to be quiz night, so of course we decided to stay and with the help of the locals we ended up coming in 7th (out of 15 teams)- pretty good for not knowing any British pop culture- or gangster movies, which was the category. The locals and bartenders helped us through most of the game, which was really sweet. I'm really truly going to miss this city!

The Botanical Garden

Today we visited the Botanical Garden. Walking through the beautiful path and smelling all that flora and fauna made me realize that I missed nature! Although there are so many parks in this city, I forgot the smell of fresh-cut grass. The garden was very well manicured and secluded from the hustle and bustle of the city. The pond was my favorite part because all these cute little ducks were swimming about, wanting to play with us!

The Royal Mile

Our last weekend in Scotland and Courtney and I were severely behind on souvenirs. We got up bright and early to journey to the Royal Mile aka tourist town. Despite getting there at a normal hour the streets were packed. We did our best but in three hours bout about four items each. The merchandise was the same in every store and priced a little higher than you would expect. Later I found out that the Royal Mile is a sore subject with locals, they hate it just as much as us. It used to be filled with specialty shops, "the real Scottish stuff" as Marion Williams (a guest lecturer put it) but now a single entrepreneur owns 1/3 of the property :( I suppose there's a market for that "rubbish" I just wish it would move to the suburbs!

The National Galleries of Scotland and Princes Street Gardens

After class we went to the national Gallery of Scotland. After the bus dropped us off at Princes Street we took a lea-shurly (that's how you pronounce leisure here) stroll through the Princes Street Gardens. The garden used to be a North Loch until it was filled in the 19th century when the city expanded its boundary to build New Town. It's a really pretty, truly public space- both tourists and locals use it. It sits below Edinburgh castle so it's seems hidden although it's right in the middle of the city. The National Gallery was the best laid out museum I've been to. The collection started on the left wing and spiraled to the second floor. The curators were very polite, the men wore plaid pants and the women wore plaid skirts. I was really impressed by the number of William Turner paintings I saw, I later found out it's the largest WT collection. The Albrecht Durer collection also happened, his prints were even more detailed in life then in textbooks- crazzzy. I loved the museum.

Calton Hill

After a grueling day of hiking around the Salisbury Craig in Holyrood Park I decided to make the best of this beautiful sunny day and go up to Calton Hill. Sitting above Princes Street, it was built in the 18th century to connect the New Town with the Old Town. In the era of Enlightenment it's purpose was to highlight Edinburgh, to make it the "Athens of the North". The hill is home to the the Old Royal Highschool which was proposed to be the parliament in the 70s, there is also a conservatory, and not to mention a collection of statues.

Harry Potter

The premiere of Harry Potter is as big of deal here as it is in the United States. I decided to pay my respect to J.K. Rowling by visiting the Elephant House, a cafe not far from university (or uni as they say). Here she wrote most of the first two books. It's said that her inspiration for Hogwarts came from a local school that's visible from the cafe window in the back. After coffee we went to the movie, it was so good! The theater was huge, when you bought your ticket you had an option for VIP seating that meant you got to sit in a big comfy leather chair. They also had kettle corn, which is my favorite. No, actually my favorite part or the Scottish movie experience was that everyone was absolutely silent during the movie- the trailers before the movie were hilarious, my favorite is posted below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6CcxJQq1x8

Oban

This weekend we took a group trip about four hours north to a town called Oban. The train ride was absolutely beautiful, it took you through the woods and cliffs, you could see animals herding there was a waterfall. Thus picturesque fishing town is the last stop of the railway and from here most people take ferries to one of the many neighboring islands. The first day was rainy so we decided to do an indoor activity, we toured the famous whiskey distillery which existed before the town of Oban itself, it's sits right in the middle of the city. After dinner we hung out at the pub across the street called O'Donnell's which was highly recommended by the hostel manager. It was a fun night, there was live American music which we missed at this point and really great local beer. The next morning we took the ferry to the beautiful Isle of Mull, and ate delicious seafood at a locally owned food shack by the sea. I had a fantastic weekend!

Edinburgh Castle

Finally, after walking past it everyday and talking about it constantly during class we went to Edinburgh Castle! The views were spectacular because it's the central location- you could see new and old town. We toured each room of the castle trying too look for the things Bob Morris, a historian who we had as guest lecturer told us to look for- architectural relics that were actually as old as the castle next to 19th century attachments made to look old. Then we followed the clustering groups of tourists as they walked through several building and displays of medieval life to the crown jewel display which were beautiful. After learning about the restoration of the castle, It was really interesting to see the different layers of attachments to the castle through time.

Surgeons' Hall Museum

Another rainy day, another museum. This one was pretty awesome! The Surgeons' Hall Museum is sponsored by the University of Edinburgh and contains artifacts from the Medical School's rich history. It houses some pretty creepy diseased body parts, tumors, parasites, and skeletons. Every artifact is cataloged and tells a real life story abut the person/people that suffered with each particular infliction. The exhibits about the Burke and Hare murderers and about the real life CSI-esque inspiration for Sherlock Holmes were my favorite.

Glasgow

Sierra, Courtney and I decided to take our first independent journey to Glasgow. Famous for being a prominent industrial city, Glasgow was a major hub for trade between Britain, the West Indies, and Americas. Today it's a major business center as well as the most populous city in Scotland (third in the UK). Many people compare it to Cleveland because both have followed a similar socio-economic path after the pinnacle of industrialization. The Kevingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the Botanical Gardens, and a little restaurant called Taurus were the highlight of our stay.

Portobello Beach

Today Richard took us on a field trip to Portebello Beach which is just outside of Edinburgh. The temperature was warm and the clouds hung low. It was a weekday so there weren't too many people on the beach and there was a handful of residents walking on the boardwalk. We stumbled on the Recreation Center which included a public Turkish Bath- a series of hot rooms where the temperature gets higher until you go into the sauna and then go into a cold pool. Courtney, Laura and I were so intrigued that we went back a couple days later. It was really relaxing, highly recommended!

Leith

Going to Leith on a rainy day was perfect, zero tourists so we got an authentic feel for the city. It's a port city, historically home to generations of dock workers and recently office workers (new government building were built within the last decade). Because this part of the city was separate from Edinburgh until 1920, it's really a different feel.

Craigmillar Castle

On a the first sunny day which happened to be Sunday my friend Courtney and I decided to venture out to the suburbs of Edinburgh to visit Craigmillar home of the famous medieval castle where Mary Queen of Scots spent some time. Sitting on a hill and surrounded by tall grass and flowers the grounds were silent. We arrived early so the already secluded castle seemed to be breating as the winds carried throughout the tall grass and into it's abandoned walls. Unlike Stirling castle (and most of Scotland's castles) which include renovations to make the interiors look like they would at their prime, Craigmillar castle is preserved as a ruin. It's a really unique experience walking through the rooms and seeing the remains of what was actually there.

The Museum of Scotland

The first cold and rainy Saturday my friend Sierra and I decided to visit the museum. This modern building (constructed in 1998) stands out as a marker of the present on the corner of Chambers Street and George the IV Bridge. Inside it's absolutely huge, you begin in the left wing and tour each floor to the opposite wing as you make your way up to the terrace on the 7th floor. We spent about three hours at this museum because the setup and architecture continued to get better as we explored with our tour guide, James (he was taking a break when he saw two tourists in need). My favorite exhibit about the industrial revolution and transportation took up an entire floor. Another highlight was the royal jewelery collection and the clone of Dolly the Sheep.