Katelyn in Ireland: Kilts of Tartan, Wee Lads and Lassies

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged, but not much was going on up until this past weekend. I was just writing papers and hanging out until my trip to Edinburgh...Scotland, not the small college town in PA :).
On Saturday morning Phil, Kristyn, Krista and I met outside the GAA pitch (where kids play hurling and Gaelic football) to pick up the Patton Flyer to the airport. When we arrived in Scotland around 2ish, we got Sterling (that's Pounds or Quid) from the ATM in the airport and hopped the bus into the city centre or "Old Town" Edinburgh. The ride there was absolutely gorgeous. I thought Ireland was green! Man. All of the buildings were made of this old yellowish sandstone that's tarnished a grey-black color because of the soot from old chimneys over years and years. The whole place makes you feel as if you're inside a book. I wouldn't mind living there at all (especially because of the cute accents!). When we got into town we immediately were drawn to the carnival/festival they're holding in Prince's St. Garden (a valley-type lawn). There was a ferris wheel, a carousel, open-air ice skating, and a German Christmas fair. Krista, Kristyn, and I all got these fantastic venison burgers (the best of any type of burger I've ever had) with the most incredible Scottish cheddar cheese. Then to top it off we found these homemade donutholes covered in sugar and then melted Nutella. We couldn't not have them, they were divine! A few minutes later we met up with Phil who was enjoying a mulled beer, which is warmed and tasted like cherries. Quite delicious. By then it was time to head out to the enactment of "T'was the Night Before Christmas".
First off, it was chilllll-y. Once everyone started gathering around and we were all in a big huddle of puffy coats, hats, and scarves it warmed up a bit. Before the play began properly a jazz band played a few non-Christmas songs to warmup, and then once the play started they played some old Christmas classics to go along. The play was way better than expected! There were flying sugarplum fairies, Santa's sled flew over the audience, and toys were suspended from his sled and dropped down into Christmas boxes beneath a large tree. Quite a spectacle. All the while the actor playing "Papa" was narrating in an adorable Scottish accent. As the grand finale, fireworks lit up the sky not-so high (especially not as high as they would legally have to be in the U.S.) above us while everyone joined in singing "Silent Night". The whole evening really put me in the Christmas spirit. It was quite extraordinary that this was a free event, as well. Afterwards we were all freezing and quite tired from our journey and Nutella covered donuts so we decided to head to our hostel, which turned out to be very nice (we lucked out with our own room and fort-like beds with curtains), especiall since it was only 10 pounds and included breakfast and free tea!
The next morning Kristyn and Phil took a bus tour up to the Highlands to see Loch Ness and Krista and I slept in until 8:30, had breakfast at the hostel, and then began our day of wandering all around on our own talking about everything. We walked the "Royal Mile" which is actually a mile and 100-some yards and bought some souvenirs for family in the cute shops (I got myself a 100% lambswool tartan scarf for 3 pound), then explored some of the side-streets when we happened upon a very pretty graveyard called Grey Friars Graveyard, which we later found out is a famous graveyard during our walking tour the next day. Afterwards we found a chipper and had some delicious fish and chips, though definately not as good as in Dublin. We continued to wander around and take pictures, talking about everything until we met up with Kristyn and Phil around 8 to go to our next hostel. It was kind of a walk out of town, but was a nice hostel. An old church converted into a hostel. The next day we took a free walking tour of the town guided by a very well-informed Aussie who had just moved to Edinburgh. In the middle of the 3 hour tour (:sings: a 3 hour tour) we all stopped for lunch at a pub where Phil ordered haggis (a traditional Scottish dish of intestines) that he let us all try. It was surprisingly scrumptious. After getting all warmed up inside and absorbing some good travel tips about our next trip to London from some Londoners, we continued on with the tour until mid-afternoon. Our tour guide left us with a very intriguing story about the Stone of Destiny (ask me and I'll tell you to the best of my ability). From there we went into the castle to wander the different museums scattered among the grounds. Very informative and interesting. The best part was getting to see the crown jewels of Scotland and the breathtaking view! We spent the rest of our time wandering the German fair (ending where we began) until it was time to take the bus to the airport and wait for our flight home to Dublin.
It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend that I'll never forget. Scotland is an amazing country that everyone should visit. Just gorgeous. That's all now until next week when I'll be blogging about London! Eeeeee!
Cheers!
Katelyn
OH! P.S. Almost forgot...I saw the cafe where J.K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter in, The Elephant House, and the school that inspired Hogwarts!!! So exciting!