Edinburgh, Scotland!

This past weekend checked one less country I haven't been to off my list, Scotland!Friday morning my CIEE Study Abroad Group, myself, and our two leaders boarded the 4 hour train ride to Edinburgh at King's Cross Station.

After our very long ride, we were glad to discover our hostel was just around the corner from the train station. James and Elizabeth, our leaders, walked us over and checked us in to our quite comfortable living quarters for the next two nights. After dropping off our bags, we grabbed our cameras and hopped on the city bus.

Claire and I on the bus

Wish I knew what all these monumental buildings are called.....

Edinburgh Protestors

Our bus tour didn't last too long. Majority of us hadn't eaten lunch and were pretty ravenous at this point. It's was approximately 4:30. 

Claire and I shared steak pie, mashers, and peas

Myself, Katrina, Andrew, and Kara cheering to Edinburgh

We had roughly three hours until our Ghost Tour at 8:30. They were filled with more sight seeing and pub crawling. 

Myself, Kara, Molly, Erin, Tara and Max before our let down of a ghost tour(not scary at all!)

The ghost tour was an interesting way to learn about some of the gruesome details of Scotland's history but definitely did not live up to its super eerie status. Basically we walked through a graveyard, heard a few semi scary stories, and then a guy popped out and screamed with a mask on. Regardless, it was fun doing it with the whole CIEE group. 

Day 2

After complimentary free breakfast we got at our hostel, we headed out to the beautiful day in Edinburgh. Same as the bus and ghost tour, our CIEE packets included tickets to the Edinburgh castle.

Castle and Max taking a pic

The Edinburgh Castle is over one thousand years old and sits on top of a huge hill overlooking the whole city.

Claire and I touring the castle

Claire, Kara, Myself, and Andrew listening to our headsets in St. Margaret's Church in the castle

Kara and Huda 

After we were done touring the castle, we decided to relax and take it easy before going out for the night. We also took an hour trying to find ice cream. Still not use to most ice cream places closing down in the winter. Carmen Harjoe, you would die......

Found it. 

I'm happy. 

After gorging ourselves on ice cream, we went back to the hostel to nap. Then it was another night out in Edinburgh. 

Molly, Huda, and I

By Sunday morning, we were all very exhausted. We checked out and tried not to think about our four hour train ride ahead of us. Although it appeared even longer than it was before, a few of us entertained ourselves by answering riddles and playing mental games. Finally we arrived at King's Cross Station. Whether it was the fun group or the city itself, Edinburgh might just be one of my favorite cities now. 

Oh!And happy birthday to my amazing mother!Wish I could spend it with you as you tried to make it as least big deal as possible: )Love you. Have fun at Auburn Homecoming this weekend. WAR EAGLE!

Last Christmas, can't wait for this Christmas!