Special Lady

On our second day in Edinburgh Mariah and I spent our day with Irene.  We had the best time just walking around the city.  We wandered up the the castle and took in the view from the top of the wall, then wandered to the National Museum.  We also had breakfast outside the National Gallery, and a midday snack in the National Library.  She was so nice and fun to be around.  I'm so glad that we got to spend time with her; the day we spent with her was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

All of the Food

Haggis!  I tried it!  It was delicious! 

We ate dinner at Mum's, which was the best decision we could have made.  We had Haggis, an onion pie, sticky pudding and a rhubarb tart with custard.  All the good things.

To make up for all the good decisions we made while in Edinburgh, Tuesday I ate some not-so-stellar food, which somehow was still delicious.  For breakfast and lunch I ate 3 oranges and snacked on a 70 pence package of shortbread.  For dinner I had a sack full of fish and chips, which was wonderful until it started getting cold.  Greasy and delightful.

Edinburgh: National Monument

While in Edinburgh, Mariah and I made our way to the National Monument on Carlton Hill.  The view from the top of the hill was pretty incredible.

I like this message.  Also, hidden poo-ers.  Haha. Ha.

This one.

Two nice Spanish guys were kind enough to take our picture for us.  Actually, if it hadn't been for them we would have never made it up on to the monument.  I'm sure you're technically not supposed to climb it, but it seemed like everyone was doing it.  The problem is that there's a ledge about 6 inches deep, 3 or 4 feet off the ground, and then the next step is another two feet or so up.  Other than that narrow ledge, there aren't really any toe holds.  

The Spanish guys were from Salamanca, which is about two hours west of Segovia.  I got to practice my Spanish with them a little; they said that that area is really good for learning Spanish, since "there's no accent, it's pure Castilian .  That made me laugh.  My teachers say the same thing.  I understand that learning Castilian Spanish while in Castilla means learning Spanish that's as close to the roots as you can get it; but everyone has an accent to someone else.  

Edinburgh: National Museum of Scotland

Alright, I can't make up my mind about this museum.  First off, the building itself is gorgeous   And, there are different things everywhere, which means that no matter where you turn, there's something interesting there.  At the same time, I've never been in such a disorganized museum in my life.  There was really no logical progression to anything.  Sure, things were grouped generally with similar things. But for people trying to follow the exhibits in an orderly sequence   Forget it.  

One: kilt loom = cool.  Two: Lady in the blue jacket = cooooolest.  More on that later.

Edinburgh: Cemetaries

What does one do with free time in a strange city? Wander through old cemeteries  of course!  We went to two, and found some pretty places and some famous people.  

Lincoln!?

Edinburgh: Wander downtown

Birthplace of Harry Potter; We ate there twice, first as tourists, and then again only because the food is delicious.  

We found two different corners with regular bagpipers.  The locals that we talked to confirmed that this is mostly a tourist gimmick; nevertheless, what's a trip to Scotland without a real, live piper playing the Star Wars theme at ten in the morning?  

Oh hey, a castle!