Here MOM...I only skipped blogging for one day and she gets so demanding...
Well here we are on our last night in Edinburgh. We have fallen in love with this place! Yesterday, we woke up, had our usual Scottish breakfast courtesy of our host Shaun, which includes eggs, bacon, baked beans, toast, porridge, tea, orange juice, and sausage. And yes, I do eat it all. Don't judge. After breakfast, we hiked up to the Edinburgh Castle and spent the morning touring it. It was BEAUTIFUL! Seriously, such an amazing experience. After the castle, we ate at a little restaurant called Amber where we just had soup and sandwiches. Then we trotted down to Arthur's Seat and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The Palace is Queen Elizabeth's official residence whenever she visits Scotland. She usually comes in July for a month and this is where she stays. Other members of the Royal family also use it frequently. Just outside the palace is Arthur's Seat which is an extinct volcano that you can hike up. Matt hiked to the top of Arthur's Seat while I sat in the palace's cafe, drank hot chocolate, and read. He snapped some incredible shots from the top!
After the hike, we walked to Cadenhead's Whiskey Shop, a recommendation of Rick Steves (don't even get me started on how much I love Rick Steves...I walk around with his book in my hands reading all the time...don't travel without his books, seriously!) This was the coolest little hole in the wall place. There are many gimmicky, touristy whiskey (scotch) stores around Edinburgh but this one was just the opposite. Matt bought some single malt scotch straight from the barrel. He is enjoying a glass as we speak. After scotch buying, we trotted down to Princes Street and ate dinner at 1780...a Scottish Pub. We enjoyed a DELICIOUS meat and ale pie with some toffee pudding...as well as a few brewskis. End of day 3.
Today, we woke up early and took the bus to St. Andrews. It is the coldest and windiest...most windy?...day yet. We bundled up and braved it to walk the Old Course although. This was an amazing experience. It was so green and beautiful with the waters of the North Sea just to our east. We toured the museum of the British Open beforehand and then enjoyed a rainbow over the course as we walked the 18th hole. Matt enjoyed pretending he was a famous golfer... we kept thinking about both of our dads wishing they were there to enjoy it with us.
For lunch, we ended up in some hotel restaurant that was owned by a Scottish woman and her Texan husband. They had photos all over the walls of their famous and not-so-famous guests that have visited their eatery over the years. It was fun to spend some time in there imagining the golfers coming in for a cold beer after a long day on the Links.
And now for my favorite part of this entire vacation...stalking Wills' and Kate's old stomping grounds at the University of St. Andrews. Yes, I'm that person...went to see their dorm rooms, etc. Quite enjoyable for me, not sure what Matt's thoughts were but I had no shame in doing this!
On the way home, the wind was so horrible that the bridge to get back into Edinburgh was closed to the buses so we got dropped at a random bus station and had to wait there for the next bus that was willing to brave the wind. We ended up getting home only about 1.5 hours later than expected so it wasn't too bad other than the fact that I thought we were going to tip over a few times.
We decided to spend the night in Edinburgh again instead of taking the overnight train to London. So, we are just about to hit the hay and we will travel south to London tomorrow! Exciting but slightly bittersweet to leave this new little place we have grown to love in just 4 days...goodnight!
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