"I Just Climbed a Big Arss Hill"

Like every other blog I write...this one is very long. Sorry!!!

So, I've been to Scotland and now I'm back! It's been quite an adventure to say the least (which I'm starting to notice is a common theme on these trips I go on...)

Anyways, where to begin? I guess the beginning would be the best place. Well, friday morning I woke up bright and early, before the clock struck 6 a.m.. It was still pitch black outside which meant my room was really dark, too. Unfortunately, I was the only one awake so I had to climb down from my top bunk, feel around on the floor with my feet, and hope to God my flashlight, excuse me....my torch, was in my drawer. After a second of feeling around, I finally found it! So, i clicked it on and started searching around for my clothes and everything I needed for Scotland.

At 6:10, I walked downstairs to meet everyone to get in the taxi. By then, the sun was coming up a little bit so we could actually see outside! We got there by 6:30 and had an hour until our train departed. We only left early because people needed money out of the ATM and we weren't sure how smoothly it would be getting there, boarding, etc. So, since it was a lot easier than we thought, we all sat and had a cup of coffee in the little cafe, and then walked over to our platform where we saw Daniel, Elaine, and a few other people from Harlaxton. A few of us ran out to where the tracks were to take some goofy pictures since it was going to be our first time on a train.




By 7:25, we were on our way to Edinburgh, Scotland. We were aiming for some seats with a table so we could play cards, unfortunately, there were way too many crazy people awake way too early in the morning, and they took all the seats with tables, so we had to settle for the other seats. However, about an hour or two later 8 of us grabbed two tables, right next to each other and a few of us were able to play cards. Along the way we saw lots of Sheep grazing out in the fields like we would see horses back in Kentucky. It was so strange to see little white fuzz balls instead of black and white cows or chestnut horses, scattered throughout fields. We saw the coastline move towards us then go further out as we raced along the tracks. The grass was really green and the blue water made it look even more inviting with blue skies. While sun light isn't a completely foreign concept in the United Kingdom like some people say, it has the ability to make a great day even better and make you twice as happy.




After a few games of cards, we were finally in Scotland!! Thankfully our hostel was less than a block away from the train station so we found in within a matter of minutes. However, we had to go down a dark alley in order to find it. My first thought was "whoa...psychadelic, dude." The sign was tye-dye and the smell of smoke was potent. We walked in and all there was, was a spiral stair case with paintings all the way up. They were even nice enough to paint how many stairs we had left to travel (75, starting at the bottom). After we signed in and found out which bed we were supposed to use, in which case my bed name was Jungle, then we went and unloaded all our bags. After we crammed 6 girls' valuables into my locker, it was time to explore.




Multiple sources told us the Royal Mile was one of the best and safest places in town, so that's where we started. When a street is placed on a slope, where is the best place the start? The top of course! So, that's where we headed: the top of the street, which is fortunately where one of the places we wanted to go: the edinburgh castle. On the way, we stopped by St. Giles Cathedral and we were thankful that we could actually take pictures because most old places we've been to either forbid photography or we can't use flash. After taking quite a few pictures, we noticed a sign that said we needed a permit to take pictures within the cathedral and it cost money! So, we all stuffed our cameras in our pockets or purses and high tailed it out of there.



Still feeling like a rebellious American, we walked up the rest of the Royal Mile and right outside the castle entrance there was a guy selling pictures he took around Scotland. I had been looking for some pictures like those for quite a while, so I was excited to see 3 for 10 pounds! Most of the ones I had wanted to buy were 8 pounds each or more. I'll let you guess whether or not I bought them...

10 pounds and 3 pictures later, we were walking into the castle. First, I had to fork out 12 more pounds just to enter the darn thing! They better be happy that I liked cannons and looking out over towns or else they would have had another thing coming! So, I enjoyed being at the castle, maybe not 12 pounds worth, but it was still pretty fun. We took pictures on walls, by cannons, cannon balls, under arches, and around various other things you would find at a castle. We did get to see some prisons where POWs were taken. There were drawings of ships in the doors, and one of them had an American flag etched into it. Touching it and tracing the flag and ships with my fingers made it so much more real. Seeing the hammocks and dungeons they lived in was really interesting but it made me a little sad.





By the time we left the castle, we were starting to feel the effects of waking up so early. Our feet started hurting and our bodies ached for sleep, but they weren't going to get it for quite a few hours. But, we were starving and decided to take a little rest and the security guard recommended we go to the Castle Arms, so we did. Our waitress was really nice and come to find out, she was from Canada! We all ordered our food (mine was chicken tenders and fries) and sat around for a while talking about the day.

Our next task consisted of walking down to the Grass Market, just to see what was down there. Turns out, there were quite a few pubs and shops. For some weird reason, shops in the UK don't stay open very late (6pm) even on the weekends, so most of the stores were already closed by the time we got down there. There was an upside to walking around even though everything was basically closed: we found the pubs! Of course, we ran back to our hostel to get ready because most of Scotland had already started pubbing by 6 o'clock. None of us wanted to get really dressed up because we were only going to sit in pubs, instead of going to an actual dance club, so we didn't.

The first pub we went to wasn't very crowded and so we just sat in there for a short while before hopping over to Biddy Mulligans (2 pubs down) which seemed to be the hotspot. Apparently there was a bachelorette party and all the girls not getting married were in little school girl outfits whereas the bride-to-be was wearing racy graduation attire. While they were jumping around and being loud in one corner, we strategically placed ourselves in the opposite corner so we could watch but stay out of the way.

It wasn't long until a french guy came up to us and started taking our picture. Had we ever seen him before? No. Did we even make conversation first? Definitely not. Was he way too drunk that he needed pictures to remember what he did that night? Absolutely. We only had to walk past him and he told us all to stop and smile. We weren't his only targets though. He walked up to couples, who were intimately talking and told them to smile. It was really quite funny to watch him. Before we knew it, he was over at our table talking to Adrienne, Sara, and Chelsea. His name is Johann (I think..., it sounds like Yo-Hahn). The rest of us tried to stay out of it, but we couldn't avoid him because every few seconds, he'd want another picture. A little while later, he asked all 6 of us what we wanted to drink and he decided to buy us all a Bacardi Breezer. Those suckers were about 3.50, too! Laughing at his stage of intoxication, we took the drinks and marvelled at the fact that we got a French guy to buy us a drink in Scotland! At some point he grabbed Meghan and kissed her on the cheek. While trying to hold her hands, she moved them away from his grasp and he seemed a little confused asking her, "You no like french kiss?" On that note, she walked away and we all decided to leave (partially because Sara was feeling sick and we needed to walk her back to the hostel).

Hanging out in Biddy Mulligans:


Johann


After dropping her off at the hostel, we were starving so we stopped in a little place and me and Chelsea decided to split a pizza while Jessica got some fries and a phone number from Issam, one of the guys who worked there. Walking down the street, we ran into Savannah, Nate, Elaine, and Daniel who were all going to a club. With nothing else to do, we decided to join them. They led us back to the Grass Market but up the street a little to a club called Espionage, which had 4 levels. The first two floors were basic pubs but the bottom two were like dance clubs with loud music and dark lights. Guess where we went? All the way to the bottom, where we ran into Colleen, Kelly, and the rest of them. It wasn't long before Jess took a shot and decided we all needed to dance. Thanks to us, that club started picking up! There was no one on the dance floor until our big group stepped out there, and after that, it's all history! It was packed and there were creepers everywhere! Good thing we had a good system going to save each other from the guys who lingered behind us, trying to make a move.

By one, we were worn out and ready to leave. We had a long day to look forward to. By the time we got back to the hostel, Sara was sleeping along with our two other roommates, who happened to be 2 guys from Seattle. Trying to be quiet, one of the guys was obviously having a little stomach issues and let out some very loud, silence piercing gas. Putting 5 giggly girls in one room with people farting, doesn't exactly scream "quiet." Meghan was trying to hide her laughter so much that she slammed her face into her pillow to muffle the noise. It was so funny! But by the time we woke up the next morning, they were gone.

Saturday meant shopping and climbing a hill. So, we went to the Prince's Mall first, where we did most of our buying. I bought a new plaid hat, which you will see in pictures, and a white/khaki color coat, which is very cute! I personally didn't buy anything after that but everyone else found a few things they wanted. We were supposed to meet Merrissa at 2, by the train station, so we dropped off our bags at the hostel and went down to meet her. That crazy girl was going to climb up a hill in a dress and a pair of flats. Insane!, but she said she could do it, so we set out.

There were two different hills you could climb: Arthur's seat, which was really high and quite a steep climb, and then what we liked to call, Arthur's footstool. It wasn't quite as high but it was still a bit of a climb and you could see all of Edinburgh from the top. We did the footstool. Jessica is afraid of heights, so it took a little convincing to get her to stand anywhere close to the edge for a picture, but towards the end I think she conquered her fear very well and we were so proud!




We stayed on top for at least an hour, just taking pictures and enjoying the scenary. We could see the coastline and most of Edinburgh. The castle we visited on Friday was clearly visible, sitting on a little hill of its own, and everyone below us looked like little ants. It was a fabulous feeling of freedom and wonder. We really felt like we were in Scotland. Meghan made a video with her camera and said "I just climbed a big ass hill" and i laughed and told her it was "arss" not "ass" since we had been corrected on the proper way to say it in London.

Out on a ledge!


Looking out over Edinburgh



Me, on the top of our hill, with Arthur's Seat behind me.


We made it down safely!



We climbed back down and changed before heading to meet Merrissa and Sara (they climbed down earlier because they were cold) at a pub called The Southsider. It was pretty cozy and as soon as we walked in there were a plethra of guys standing everywhere. Apparently they were a rugby team. Unfortunately, we didn't talk to them because they had been drinking there since 5:30 and were way too into the music that was playing to even try to hold a conversation with them. As long as I got to look, i was fine, haha! But we ordered food and ended up staying for about 4 hours, just talking and enjoying each others company. By 10:30, we decided we needed to leave because we had to get up early for the train and we were going to pack that night.




On our way back, we met three American guys who were interning at Parliament in Scotland for the semester. They were pretty funny to talk to because they were drunk. Matt, Robbie, and Andrew were their names. We ended up talking to them for at least half an hour, out in the middle of the street lol. Meghan had to run to the bathroom, though, so she went into this little Italian restaurant. A few minutes after she came back outside, one of the Italian guys that worked there came out and said that since he let her use the toilet that she had to give him two kisses (a kiss on each cheek). Well, for some reason, she forgot they turned their heads to kiss each cheek and she was just going to kiss the same cheek twice. Well, the guy went to turn his head and she kissed him square on the lips! It was sooo funny! His face lit up and he had the goofiest grin I had ever seen! She was so embarrassed... But come to find out, the guy was gay! Which made it even better! So, Meghan went to Scotland and got a French kiss, and kiss a gay italian! Oh, life is grand.

By the time we got home, we were exhausted and smelly, too. Hard to admit, but not one of us took a shower all weekend (well, we all did on Sunday). While the hostel was a decent place to live, no way was I going to shower. Hence the reason I have a hat on in the second half of all my pictures. I guess you could say I was going a little more European this weekend, due to the lack of hygiene. hehe....

Hope you enjoy the pictures. Go to my blog to check out the slideshow I made! Love you!