Edinburgh by Night

Over my first day or so, I really didn't expect much as far as night life in Edinburgh due to the quaint, historic architecture - Not the case. I happened to get to Scotland just as Burns Day (January 25th)  and Australia Day (January 26th)were in full swing, solidifying the fact that Scots will look for an excuse to drink whisky and beer (even if it isn't relevant to their country or people...).

Burns Day:

         Personally, I had no idea that Burns Day even existed until I got to Edinburgh Castle, and so I celebrated (a bit later than most) with whisky sampling, and later on, with a couple locally brewed beers. One thing I did notice were the random posters and signs written in traditional Scots (like this: A'd like tae veesit Scotland ae day.) Although most of the time, I couldn't understand what the signs were trying to communicate to me, I appreciate the throw back to ye old days.

Australia Day:

         Australia Day happens to fall on the day directly after Burns Day, and I found that many locals (and the Australians) tend to just keep drinking right through both days. That isn't exactly my preferred method of celebration, but hey, you only live once, right? After taking a rest and recoup break, I joined in the early afternoon with a few beers after my tour. Nothing like Bangers and Mash and a cold local beer after three hours of walking! Once the evening came, that's when the real fun started... look for my adventures in the Pubs and Clubs section!

Ghost Tour:

         There are options that don't involve alcohol in Edinburgh, although they're not as easy to find. I did, however, go on a great "scary" tour of the city, lead by good old James from earlier, which went through the darker side of the city's history. It involved ghosts and graveyards, witches and mythical creatures, murder and cannibalism and more. It didn't shake me out of my boots, but it was still very interesting and fun! This tour however is not free, but a pint is included in the ticket price (of course..), and there is also a Pub Crawl offered by the same company that is supposed to be awesome! On my to do list for next time.

Pubs and Clubs:

        I had some great experienced in pubs in Edinburgh! This is where the life of the city is, and you get to see so much of their culture pub hopping. Centred around alcohol, you can get a bit fuzzy toward the end of the night though. Clubs here close at 3am (very different than 12am in London) and the party keeps coming until then and after! It was a pub that I tried my first Haggis with my new friends and room mates - to my surprise it was actually really good (coming from an ex-vegetarian that means a lot). On Australia day, we decided to go check out the music scene and stopped in a few places with live music and cheap beer, and after some great (and not so great) pubs we hit a club called The Liquid Room, filled with people dancing and drinking and enjoying the night. One of my favourite night time hang outs now!

Any questions or if you would like further reviews of certain places, comment below and I'll do my best to help out!

-A

Edinburgh By Day

This is dedicated to all the beautiful sites I saw while in Edinburgh, and there are lost of them!

Edinburgh Castle:

        Edinburgh Castle was the first site I saw (considering that it had been staring me in the face as soon as I arrived at my hostel). Although there is a charge for admission, it was definitely worth the few pounds I paid. Once inside, I learned that there were free whisky and haggis sampling in honour of Burns Day (a celebratory day in Scotland commemorating poet Robert Burns) - a good start if I may say so myself. Also provided by the castle are free outdoor walking tours of the grounds, which I participated in (even though it was below freezing and snowing outside) and very much enjoyed. Sending love and thanks to my guide, Laura! Something to check out while in the castle is The National War Museum - very interesting collection of Scottish history.

National Museum of Scotland:

        I briefly walked though this very odd museum on my first night in Edinburgh, and it certainly left an interesting taste in my mouth. The museum itself is really fantastic, don't get me wrong, but the exhibits seem to be a bit thrown together and disorganized. The museum is very modern in comparison to the surrounding buildings, and stands out as something new and exciting. Particularly, I liked the exhibit on space and the animal kingdom, but there are many more viewing options ranging from the evolution of phones to ancient Asian war tactics.

Historic Walking Tour:

        Sandeman's tour company has been kind enough to set up a free historical walking tour of Old Town Edinburgh, readily available in the centre of town to all who wish to join. My tour guide, James, made the three hours (outdoors of course) incredible enjoyable - in fact I went back later that day to check out the Ghost Tour he was hosting. The walking tour takes you on a journey past the touristy sites, but also down more local streets such as Victoria St. and Grassmarket. Overall a lovely tour with lovely company - I highly suggest checking it out, plus it's free!

St. Giles' Cathedral:

        Although my visit to the cathedral was fairly quick, it didn't take away from the beauty of the building whatsoever. On my walking tour, James mentioned that this cathedral (which, in fact, isn't actually a cathedral... the Scots just liked the name) houses one of only three angels playing the bagpipes. The main reason for going into the cathedral was to find said angel, but unfortunately I didn't look hard enough!  If anyone finds the angel, feel free to post a picture in a comment! I'm dying to see.

The Elephant House:

        Many of you probably don't care about one little café surrounded by hundreds more in Old Town Edinburgh, but think again before passing this up. Famous author J.K. Rowling of the Harry Potter series was known to sit by the window in this lovely place for hours in order to write in peace and save on her heating bill at home! I thought that is was worth checking out and ordered a delicious pesto panini and bowl of soup, and proceeded to sit in the same spot as Rowling, pondering whether I should write a book (yeah right...). The Elephant House even provides paper and pens in the drawers of the tables in case your writers block spontaneously subsides.

Also checked out The Scots Monument and climbed all 200+ steps to the top. Victoria Street is full of cosy shops, vintage clothing, second hand book stores, etc. I walked down The Royal Mile and climbed to the top of Arthur's Seat, only to get rained on the entire walk back (but it was still a great view!). I looked at Holyrood Palace and the Parliament building (also very modern) from the outside in because the cost of entering was ridiculous, and so much more!

Pictures to come... still haven't found a USB port!

-A

A'd like tae veesit Scotland ae day.

dssssls

After being in Scotland for over twenty four hours, I have decided that it would be to my benefit to learn some Scottish phrases, because frankly the dialect hear is absolutely insane (in an awesome type way). Before I jump right in to the sites, I would like to do a quick review of my hostel for all of you who plan on visiting Edinburgh, Scotland.

Castle Rock Hostel:

Location, location, location:

        As most of you are familiar with, it's very important to find accommodations in a relatively "happenin" area of town (especially for the young ones out there). I believe that being directly across the street from one of the top attractions in the city qualifies as a good location. Edinburgh Castle is but the beginning of a long list which includes popular pubs, clubs, shopping, museums and more.

Staff and Accommodations:

       As soon as I walked in, the lovely girl at the front desk was very helpful and full of friendly, welcoming smiles. Turns out that a lot of the staff live in the hostel and work for their accommodations, so most know their way around pretty well. Provided for you are great lockers and safes in the room as well as breakfast, towels, and pretty much anything else you need for a minimal cost.

Company:

        I met some really wonderful people during my stay in Edinburgh and all of them stemmed from the hostel. My 6 new American room mates from Boston were all really nice and soon became good. Friends of mine! While pulling an all nighter on Australia Day I also met a dashing young New Zealander who sang me love songs all night and several Italians and South Americans who were equally good company. Tip: stay up until 5am and you'll know who hangs out in the lounge pretty well.

Parliament Square

Hello all,

These following events are a few days old, I just haven't had a chance to post them yet. I am currently in Edinburgh, Scotland, but I should probably finish up with London before I even get started on that! (I just got in today. Don't worry, you aren't missing too much.

Westminster Abbey: (no photography allowed)
        No picture in the world can prepare you for the incredible beauty that exists within this church. I am terribly disappointed that they did not allow photography in most of the church, which means you all must go see it in person (if you haven't already.) When you walk in, it's like nothing else in the world exists. Only you. Well, and of course all the dead royalty. Included in the ticket price is a free audio guided tour, which I decided to participate in, and it made the experience that much better! Walking around not knowing who's who can be very intimidating - with the audio guide I immediately flash back to 10th grade World History 101. Even if I didn't particularly like history, it was absolutely incredible being in such an ancient, holy place. Utterly surreal.

The House of Parliament:
        Now, I didn't actually go into the parliament building, particularly because the ticket was expensive and the line was really long - it was cold outside, can you blame me? I did however get some pretty awesome pictures of the fantastic architecture outside! I also finally saw Big Ben (that has been on my list for quite some time), and the day I went was the clearest day all week in London. (FYI: there is Persian rave music playing in the other room. Just so you all can visualize where I'm at... okay and now the Wicked soundtrack. Interesting.)

The London Eye:
        Everyone that I talked to before I left told me that I MUST go to the Eye. For once, I listened! It was very cool being up so high. I could see from a completely different perspective what I saw from the ground! However, there was a few people in the bubble with me that were talking rather obnoxiously in Italian to everyone in their contacts list. So that was fun, but other than that I really did enjoy it. Not as breathtaking as Westminster Abbey, but still worth going on!

The Tower of London:
        Okay, this was one of the sites I didn't have my heart set on seeing, but it ended up being one of my favorites. Similar to Parliament Square, this building had a whole lot of history attached to it. You stand in the place that the Prince was murdered in, and look at the same gate that those who committed treason were brought through to be sentenced. Call me dark, but that is pretty damn cool. Plus, the Tower of London  is where the Crown Jewels are held. Though very crowded, I almost peed my pants of excitement when I saw the Imperial State Crown (no photography allowed, unfortunately).

And that my friends pretty much wraps up all that I did in London. If you every go see for yourself, I highly recommend all that I saw, as well as King's Street (my favorite of all the shopping I did... which isn't much.). Shout out to my mate Bryan Sammis and his band The Neighbourhood. I got the privilege of catching up with him a bit before he left - have an awesome show tonight Mr. Sammis!

Rock on Earthlings.
-A

The Royal Treatment

All of my days are beginning to blend together here in London, and it is getting to the point where all I remember is where I've been, but not in which order! This post, therefore, will be dedicated to the royal grounds I have seen in England...

Hampton Court Palace:

        On Sunday (I'm pretty sure...), my sister, brother-in-law and I all went on a local outing. We had originally planned to head to Oxford and fawn over the countryside, but unfortunatly weather conditions did not permit. We did however find great pleasure in learning about good old Henry VIII's past. Hampton Court Palace is beautifully located on the outskirts of London, and was home to King Henry VIII and his 6 wives (not all at the same time). Of the wives, two were beheaded, two divorced, one died in childbirth, and the last widowed.

        We walked through the halls, rooms, apartments, kitchens and everything in between on our visit. Sadly, the Maze and the Gardens were closed due to snowfall, but that gives me something to see the next time around!

Odd wooden people were placed in the courtyard for "effect"

View through the gates into part of the garden

The royal "do not disturb room," as I like to call it.

The Royal Throne

Buckingham Palace: (no public entry) 

        Monday I was all by myself again and decided to go explore the Queen's side of town. Luckily, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and it was a perfect day for walking (although maybe not in my leather boots that I wore...). So I did, and this is what I saw:

Green Park

Gates of Buckingham Palace 

Victoria's Memorial

And so, with that I leave you tonight. More tomorrow.

-A