Edinburgh, Scotland!

Friday, May 17th

It was quite difficult to wake up at 5:30 in the morning! Fortunately, I was full of excitement - which kept me going for a couple hours. My travel group and I rented a taxi to the Liverpool train station - from which we departed a little before 7:00am. I was a little nervous, as I had never taken a train before. Luckily, it was nothing to worry about...I loved the train ride! The views on the way to Scotland were breathtaking! I felt like I was in a movie. We finally arrived in Edinburgh around 10:30am and off we went! The weather was absolutely perfect - sunny and warm - so we decided to walk around. We first stopped at The Elephant House, the cute little cafe where J.K. Rowling began to write Harry Potter. During our stop, we grabbed some brunch to hold us over. The food was amazing...and the window view of the Edinburgh Castle was even better.

The Elephant House ~ "Birthplace of Harry Potter"

Edinburgh Castle

After brunch, we walked over to Greyfriars Church to explore the graveyard in which J.K. Rowling found inspiration for Tom Riddle (Lord Voldemort) and Professor McGonagall. We walked around for a while - and we still hadn't found the gravestones. When we were making our way towards the exit, we ran into a retired historian. He was so kind and proceeded to give us a free tour of the graveyard! He directed us to Riddle's and McGonagall's gravestones while discussing Scotland's history with us. It was amazing. We couldn't have had any better luck. Here are a few things we learned during the tour:

• During WWII, Hitler personally selected Edinburgh Castle as his future home of residency. Fortunately, he didn't make it there.
• Being buried in a church is the highest honor you can receive.
• Since people were buried inside the church, the smell would become unbearable. Therefore, whenever ceremonies or weddings took place, people filled the church with flowers and that's how that tradition came about!
• Freedom of Religion, which is stated in our Constitution, originated in Scotland!
• The gold color of the church, named King's Gold, symbolizes rebellion against the King and Freedom of Religion.

Greyfriars Church

Greyfriars Cemetery

When we were finished with our tour, we checked into our hostel and then explored the Royal Mile - which is basically the Main Street of Edinburgh. Along the Royal Mile, you'll see all sorts of tiny shops and restaurants, as well as multiple churches that all look so neat! At the end of the Royal Mile, you arrive at the Edinburgh Castle. While we didn't pay to go inside the Castle, we walked around...and the views were still amazing. You could see the city down below and it was absolutely phenomenal.

View from the Royal Mile

St. Giles' Cathedral ~ the Royal Mile

For dinner, we stopped at Tron, a neat little pub near our hostel, before heading back towards downtown for a City of the Dead tour. We learned about this tour while at Greyfriars Church and were really interested in participating. The tour took us underneath Edinburgh into various chambers where prisoners were kept during the 1800's. It's supposedly supposed to be haunted with ghosts since so many people died in the chambers. While I don't believe in ghosts, I was still a little nervous about the tour...as it was pitch black everywhere! While the tour leader was trying to freak us out about ghost stories and "real" encounters tourists have had, another tour leader jumped out and scared us all to death. That proves how real and haunted the chambers are, right? It was quite the joke. Fortunately, our tour leader provided some historical background information throughout, so that made up for the fake ghost stories.

Upon completing the City of the Dead tour, we enjoyed a fantastic night - definitely one for the books! - before making our way back to the hostel.

Saturday, May 18th

We originally had plans to travel to Glasgow today, however, we learned that it's not really a city tourists can explore like Edinburgh. It was also down-pouring. So we decided to stay in Edinburgh and explore the National Museum of Scotland. Good thing we didn't really have anything planned, because the museum was so big! We were literally in there for a good three hours or so - going from floor to floor and exhibit to exhibit. It was really fun though! We were even able to see Dolly - the sheep that was cloned! Since it was still raining when we finished, we had some lunch, stopped at The Elephant House for some dessert, and took an early train back home to Liverpool!

Edinburgh was an amazing first trip! The city was absolutely amazing - and we still hadn't even seen a majority of it! The city has officially made my "to return" list. I will most definitely go back! :)

My travel group and I ~ the Royal Mile