Edinburgh--Part 1

Ok, so! Edinburgh! Let's start with: I am completely in love with that city. I just felt an immediate connection to it (in a way that I also distinctly remember feeling with Hawaii when I first went there...though those couldn't be two more different places!), and my love only grew as I saw more of the place! I stayed with my good friend Ratna, who was kind enough to house and feed me for two days, three nights. I started out my stay with a 3 hour free tour of the city. Such a great deal, and a great way to orient myself for the rest of the trip. Well, actually, I really started out my stay with a cup of coffee and a panini at Black Medicine Coffee Co. (apparently frequented by JK Rowling) and then went on the tour.
The tour was, as I said, great. We walked along the Royal Mile, into little alleyways or "closes" like this one, with a great view of the Sir Walter Scott memorial tower...:...through Grassmarket, by the Castle, down to Greyfriar's church/cemetery, by St. Giles cathedral, and other places that I now can't remember! Our enthusiastic guide gave us great history along the way and surely kept me entertained the whole time. Look! A Castle! More on that later...
A cute story from the tour was of Greyfriar's Bobby, a little terrier whose owner was a nightwatch policeman. After his owner died and was buried in Greyfriar's cemetery, Bobby apparently sat next to his grave for the next 14 years! He was looked after by the whole city practically, and they loved him so much that they buried him just outside of the cemetery, and gave him a monument on the street in front:
Edinburgh/Scotland in general, it seems, is very serious about its pets. In addition to the Greyfriar's Bobby memorial, I also saw a small cemetery at the castle for the dogs of military officers and a sign in a pup saying "please keep dogs off the seats." Yup, not out of the pub, just off the seats, please!

After the tour I took to wandering some more on my own, walking all the way down the royal mile to Holyrood Palace and Arthur's seat. Look its me! I'm so happy to be there!
That night I went out with my friend Ratna and her flatmates and had a great time at a pub and later at club that, honestly, played pretty awful music, but oh well!
Thus ended day one in Edinburgh. I'll save the rest for the next post.

Sorry to be a few days behind on updating, but I guess I'll just have to blog more about Dublin when I'm already in Cork, and then do Cork when I'm in the US! Leaving for Cork tomorrow morning, but before that I just have to go out on the town and find me some dinner! :)

A few days ago...

Ok, so I FREAKING LOVED Edinburgh. Absolutely amazing city. Now, I'm in Dublin, which is honestly a bit of a let down from Edinburgh, but c'est la vie. But, I need to back up a little bit....here's what I wrote on the train on the way to Scotland, seemingly a good place to start:
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After hauling ass to the train station because I was sure I was going to be late (there was a slight mishap involving an open water bottle, a backpack, and a laptop…don’t worry, all parties eventually emerged unharmed), I managed to get there just in time and get my butt on that train. Switched trains in Ely, and then again in Petersburgh, and now I’m happily sitting on the train to Edinburgh. However, I managed to pick a seat whose view is mostly obstructed by an entirely unnecessary piece of plastic, so I’m craning my head out of someone else's window to get a load of this awesome scenery. And, it really is awesome. The sun just came out a moment ago, so now its all green and golden fields, cute little farmhouses and towns were the biggest building is either the church or the pub, blue skies, and puffy white clouds. The whole areas is pretty much a lowlands as well, so there are lots of little fens and rivers and whatnot along the side of the tracks. But, most importantly, there are horses wearing, well, horse pajamas I guess (to keep them warm in the winter) and there are sheep and sheepdogs, and that just makes my day.

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I’ve just spent the past two hours reading thebloggess There were at least two points in which I was laughing so hard (silently, so as not to completely freak out the other passengers) that I was in tears. Which probably lead to me freaking out the other passengers even more, because there I am shaking and crying in the corner, but don’t worry, I’m actually just laughing. Anyway. She’s hilarious. Thanks to my sister for the link.

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This train has outlets for your computer. Win!

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We have gone through Newcastle. Joke about coals.

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We just started going by the coast, which was so beautiful! By the time I got smart enough to grab my camera, however, we’d turned inland again. Boo. Hopefully we’ll turn back out one more time, because the glimpses I got of those cliffs and the sea were definitely picture-worthy. Its getting more hilly here, and there are sheep all over the hills. This is exactly why I took the train. I’m loving this.

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So, Edinburgh rocked. But I will save the post about what I did there for another day, because hopefully my random train musings are enough for now...

As of now, I'm in Dublin, which, like I said, is...meh. I think I would like it loads better if I were with other people, as it is a very "sit in a pub with a friend" kind of a city. Alas, this is one stop on my trip during which I am alone. Today I walked through St. Stephens Green park, which was very nice, and it was sunny out, so I sat there a while and just soaked it up. Then I wandered about the city, around Temple Bar and little back alleys, finding lots of cute stores to window shop in, followed by a crepe and some coffee. Oh, and lunch in there somewhere too! I tried to go into Christ Church cathedral, but alas I got there just as it closed for the day. I am quite tired because I woke up at 6:30 this morning to get to the airport, etc., so now I'm just chilling in the hostel. Will go out for dinner later. Until then!