Scotland!

Good afternoon~
I slept in till 11 today. I know, a bit excessive. This weekend was thrilling, but exhausting. Edinburgh covers an extensive area. I covered just a small area in 2 days. Friday morning we took a bus from Alnwick to Edinburgh, just around 100 minutes. On our way up, we were fortunate enough to encounter a royal procession. Wade, our program coordinator still hasn't informed us on who it was yet.

Our field trip day began with a tour of the Holyrood Palace. This site has an eventful history. One of the museum guards was very kind and knowledgeable. He told us all sorts of interesting stories. It turns out that archery is a big deal there. Every June, a special competition is held on the back lawn of the palace. The winners then are awarded the grand prize and honor by HM the Queen in July at Holyrood. Of course, there are many other great stories, but I am afraid I would ramble on forever to do them all justice.

Next stop, the Scottish Parliament. This building was quite beautiful and very innovative. However, it was around ten times more expensive than originally budgeted. Total cost: 414m pounds. Yikes. Also, it has been having major structural problems since it was built only five years ago. A very controversial subject of discussion in the UK.

Calton Hill: Not much to say, but there were great views of Edinburgh.

National Museum of Scotland: Very overwhelming, there was so much to see. Learned a lot in a short time.

Edinburgh Castle: It was different from Alnwick in every way. It was more like a fortified medieval town than  a castle. We got to explore all the shops, museum, and famous sites. The royal honours of Scotland (their crown jewels) were an incredible display. 

Edinburgh at Twilight

Everyone on the program decided to stay over night in hostel to be able to explore an additional day, despite the "terrible" snowstorm that was predicted. UK terrible is not to Minnesota terrible. Ha! Most of us went out that night to Finnegan's Wake (I know an Irish pub while in Scotland doesn't make much sense). We had a fabulous time and slept great that night.
The following day started with a morning breakfast at the Elephant House cafe where J.K. Rowling started writing the Harry Potter series. Then, some friends and I went to a cemetery, the National Gallery of Scotland, the Scot Monument, High Street/the Royal Mile for shopping (I got a Scotland tee) and Waverly Station. It was cold since we had to be outside for most of the day, of course, I planned accordingly for that. Others did not. Needless to say, I think they learned their lesson.

Edinburgh's High Street: The Royal Mile

The Elephant House

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Scot Monument

Our return trip was via train versus bus. Their rail system is incredible. The trains travel over 100 mph and my seat was facing backwards. I had a bit of a headache by the time we reached our destination. Last night after settling in, we all went to the store to buy groceries. Then, we returned and cooked up a big spaghetti supper and watched Bridesmaids. Today, we are catching up on homework and relaxing. Unfortunately, due to the snow, our Homestay Tea has been canceled. So, we are rescheduling for Saturday evening. Alright, its time for me to start on that homework..