Last weekend my roommate Emily and another friend Melanie came in from Dublin to visit. We went on a whirlwind tour of London in a little over 24 hours to make sure they got to see all the highlights. It was a blast to do all of the touristy things with them like visit platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross Station, go to the British Museum, and take plenty of Big Ben photos. I’m so glad they could come and it was so great to be able to show them London, which is definitely beginning to feel like “my city.” This week was incredibly busy with meetings, papers, and even a pub quiz (finished 3rd so I was proud of us!), so I am just now getting around to posting again.
Friday morning we left for Scotland by train at 9am. Word of advice: don’t split up with your group members on your way to the station. Olivia and I had a few moments of sheer panic before meeting back up with John and Cooper at the station. We boarded a very nice train sitting at a table and breathed many sighs of relief to all be on the train together on time. The ride up to Edinburgh was simply breathtaking. We got extremely excited when we spotted the sea, and enjoyed many of the lovely towns we passed through such as York and New Castle. We arrived in Edinburgh at 1:22 and were scheduled for a free tour at 2. Our first steps into the town from the train station were magical. There was plenty of people around but nothing like the hustle and bustle of London, and it gave off a much more hospitable and tourist-friendly vibe. There were steeples and clock towers and beautiful monuments every way you turned, in a charming way with picturesque hills all in the distance. We walked across a bridge and met up with a few more friends before beginning our tour. We had a wonderful tour and at the end went back to a graveyard we went past to find the graves that J. K. Rowling saw to base names for many Harry Potter characters off of such as Tom Riddle and Prof. McGonagall. After that we popped into the cafe where she wrote the majority of the 1st and 2nd books. Pretty soon after we headed back to our airbnb and met the nice family we were staying with. Our tour guide recommended a great pub right down by Portobello Beach about a 10 minute walk away from where we were staying, so we grabbed a delicious dinner there. I tried to be adventurous and order a new drink which was just terrible. Never get a fiery ginger hot cocktail. Unlike mine, Cooper’s risky adventure of getting a haggis burger paid off.
The next morning we set out to climb the famed Arthur’s Seat. It was a heroic feat to get to the top, but instead of the regular stunning view that met the brave hikers who made it to the top, all we saw was fog. It was a little disappointing but definitely a unique experience to climb so high up in the mist. I felt empowered after our climb but mostly exhausted, so we rested at a pub and watched the first half of the English v. Italy Rugby match, and John and I tried our very first haggis (pictured below).
We went to the Scotland National Museum and then headed to climb Carlton Hill. This time we really did get an amazing sunset view and climbed up the national Scotland monument. We were so exhausted from all the climbing and walking (15 miles worth) we called it in pretty early after exploring many cute tourist shops. This morning John and I woke up early to take a sunrise walk on the beach which was really wonderful and then met up with Cooper to go to mass in the city. It was a nice mass and then afterwords we met up with everyone else to go to the Edinburg Castle. This Castle contained more beautiful views and tons of Scottish history. My favorite part was seeing the famed Stone of Scone which my sister and I watched a movie on and ever since then loved to joke about it. It’s hard to believe such an unassuming regular rock could have such a colorful history. Seriously it couldn’t look more unexciting, but I was pretty pumped to see it. We spent a while there and then headed to the train station. I’m writing this on the train, but we should be back in Ole London Town soon. Scotland was incredible, the landscape was gorgeous, the city was inspiring, the people were wonderful, and the accents were….really hard to understand but still charming. I have many great pictures and souvenirs for family to remember it by, and a super sore body to remind me of the fun adventures. But I’m glad to be going home to my own bed and routine, and to London which I come to love so much.
love is the answer 
What fun to catch up on all your adventures in England and Scottland. Thanks so much for taking the time to log all these adventures so share with us. Love you soooo much and think of you and pray for you and John every day.