Wouldn't It Be Nice: Edinburgh

During my sojourn in Ireland, Melissa and I took a nice weekend trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. I had been wanting to see the city since I saw pictures from another friend´s travels, and Edinburgh surpassed all my expectations.

Saturday morning around 3am, Melissa and I dragged our tired bodies out into the cold to wait for the bus to the airport. I had gotten used to the colder weather in Bray, but I feared that it would be even colder in Scotland. As the plane landed, the pilot announced the local temperature as -1C and my jaw dropped as I looked at Melissa. I was not prepared for that! Luckily, seeing as it was still early morning, the weather was indeed tolerable and not too bad... still, being May, I had not anticipated needing to wear so many layers!

Our first stop was the hostel, but it was really strange because High Street/The Royal Mile was gathering people. We checked in and went to get some breakfast, as soon as we were finished, there was a parade right down High Street of the Scottish troops coming home from Afghanistan. It was really nice, it seemed like a lot of the city was there to support them.

At our hostel we found a FREE tour (they work on tips only, great idea), so that´s what we did all morning. Our tour guide Matt told us all about Edinburgh, it s history and legends for 3 hours. We learned about some really cool things like:
The Stone of Destiny, Burke and Hare Murderers, and the most loyal dog ever Greyfriars Bobby. I absolutely loved soaking in all the cool stories and the sights were just gorgeous. After a nice meal with new friends, Melissa and I went back to the hostel to take a nap. Saturday night we met up with our new friends and tried to discover some of the nightlife of Edinburgh.

Sunday morning we got a typical Scottish breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, sausages, blood sausages, beans, fried tomatoes, and haggis. I have to say it was quite delicious. From there we walked up the Royal Mile and took a seat near Edinburgh Castle. Sadly, the entry was 13 pounds, so that was not in our budget. Melissa and I spent the afternoon in Prince´s Street Gardens and then got a nice meal. Our last stop was Colton Hill where we bid farewell to Edinburgh, but not before seeing the most beautiful sights in the city!