Earlier today we started off with a less than impressive breakfast of carbs, carbs, and more carbs in the university dining room. Then, we left our hotel at 8:30 and headed to the city center. However, we took a small detour for Mrs. Agundez who was determined to see a Highland Cow (pronounced "coo") before we left Scotland. We quickly found the wooly cows and were able to take a few pictures before moving on! They really were cute.
We picked up our local tour guide, Dave Stalker (of the McFarland Clan). He gave us a brief description of the clans and how each clan has specific colors they wear. He was dressed head to toe in traditional Scottish attire - including his "hunting" green kilt.
One myth we wanted to bust was that men don't wear anything under their kilts -- okay, that might have been something only the adults were wondering, but we asked our bus driver, Kev, after realizing that he was a fun guy. His answer: "If everything's in workin' order, why put a bandaid on it?" Of course, that was in a very thick Scottish sing-song accent. Enough said. Not a myth!
Our tour guide pointed out several beautiful old buildings, but really, the entire city of Edinburgh is full of beautiful old buildings. A new building to them was built in the 1800's! Dave let us get off the bus at Hollyrood Palace which is exactly one mile for Edinburgh Castle. We were able to see a few things inside, but we really only had a few minutes.
Then, we boarded the bus again and rode up the hill to the Castle. He did a nice tour of the outside of the castle, but we were so cold it was hard to pay attention! Then, it started raining on us and he kept talking! Thankfully, he finished quickly and we all dispersed into different areas of the castle. It was a shame we weren't able to listen more intently, but the weather was crazy - cold, windy, and rainy! Some people stood in line to see the Crown Jewels of Scotland. Others went to sit in a café for a bit. Many of us saw the area where the prisoners of war were kept during the 1700's. We worked our way down the hill in small groups and met up at the bottom where some of us were able to shop for kilts to bring home to family! Maybe we can start a new fad in the US!?! J/K
We walked a little further down the hill and spent a few minutes in St. Giles Cathedral - another beautiful church. From there, it felt like we walked 10 miles to a little pizzeria for lunch. After enjoying some pizza and pasta, we boarded our bus and headed to the train station.
Kev dropped us off, and we said our goodbyes to our big Scottish bus driver. He would have been fun to have much longer. He told us we would not have any fun in England because he wasn't there and it was full of Englishmen!
We got on our train without any problems, and now we are here! We will be in London three nights. So, we are excited to settle into our hotel rooms a little better than we have been. We're also all trying to figure out how we'll get all these souvenirs home!?! Hopefully we can find some cheap bags!!
Until tomorrow....
Jacqueline Hughes
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