Around Edinburgh

Alex visited this weekend and we did a lot. We even went a couple places I hadn't been before so that was cool.

Thursday night we went to Sandy Bells (pub with live music) with some people from my small group. On Friday, we went to St. Giles Cathedral, then Alex went to the castle while I went to a lecture. After the castle we got lunch, then walked around Princes Street Gardens and Princes Street, then went up Calton Hill. We did Calton Hill graveyard after that, then went to Greyfriar's Kirk followed by the National Museum of Scotland. We made dinner at my flat then went with Lauren and another girl to Ruddigore, a Gilbert and Sullivan musical that was being put on by the Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group. One of my friends was in the pit, and it was really, really good! I really enjoyed it, I thought the play was great and that everyone did a really great job.

On Saturday, we went up Arthur's Seat and it was a beautiful day so that was really nice. After lunch at my flat we took the bus to Craigmillar Castle. It's only about 15 minutes, if that, outside of the city, and it's a really well preserved castle. It was so cool! The keeper didn't charge us to go in, and we only saw like 3 other people there while we were there. The whole place was open so you could walk anywhere. There were lots of spiral stone staircases and side rooms and stuff; it was really, really cool. Here's a short tour, more pictures on my facebook:

You have to walk a bit through a field to get there from the bus stop:

First view of the castle:

Castle entrance:

Dozens of rooms similar to this one (bedchambers, kitchens, dungeons, cellars, etc):

Gorgeous views from the top:

It was really awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Check out the pictures on facebook!

On the way back, instead of waiting for the bus that we knew would take us back to the city we got on the first bus that came and that bus went everywhere except the city. We were on it for at least half an hour and we saw lots of places that I hadn't seen before, so that was cool. We stayed on it until the last stop, hoping it would eventually end up back in the city, but it didn't and we ended up in Leith, the shipyards. I hadn't been there before but I've been wanting to go and it was a really cool part of town! It's right on the water so that was beautiful, and when we got on the right bus to go back to the city we saw more of Leith and Ocean Terminal and they're both just really cool areas. Here are some pictures from that stop on the shore:

We got back in time to watch the last half hour or so of the Scotland vs. England rugby match online (a big game). It ended in a tie which was too bad but Scotland was supposed to lose so I guess that was exciting.

We went to dinner at the Elephant House after that, then went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D.

Today we walked around New Town. New Town is the more "posh" part of the city, with beautiful Georgian mansions, parks, squares, and a river running through it. We walked through a few circles of houses then along the river for a bit. Here are some pictures from that excursion:

On a side note, spring is coming in Edinburgh! We've had beautiful weather and the flowers are coming up. Soon the trees will start budding too and it will be beautiful.

We went to lunch at Elephants and Bagels then Alex took a train back to London. I will be spending the rest of this week writing my last essay (philosophy) and planning my whole spring break. 4 more days of class, and Dillon comes on Friday!