Edinburgh, Scotland in all its majesty

Stepping out of my dorm room this morning, I stretched my arms, looked out the window and smiled. Walking down the corridor of a castle that has become my home, I realized that, for the first time since I have arrived, I have no obligations today. I have to say, after yesterday, it’s a relief. Our first filed trip for our program was yesterday; Edinburgh Scotland.

My god, what a beautiful city. I can honestly say it is the most beautiful place I have ever been. I don’t know how many times I gasped and said some variation of, “oh, wow, gorgeous.” Unfortunately, I didn't bring the battery along to my camera (not I forgot the backup, I didn’t bring a battery. We left at 6am and i didn't have coffee…) and my phone died not even half way though, but I plan on taking a weekend trip sometime later on to a few places I didn’t get to see- the main one being The Elephant House, the café J.K. Rowling got her ideas and wrote some of the Harry Potter series. I spent so much time in the Edinburgh castle, I didn’t have time to make it across town to see it.

*sigh* okay, here come a million pictures...

The first place we visited was Holyrood House, the palace the Queen stays in when she is in Scotland. Most of the palace is pretty much a museum to Mary, Queen of Scots, but its pretty impressive nonetheless. This is the front gate. The name Holyrood comes from a story of an old king (Christine said the name, but I forgot) who was out hunting on a Sunday, which I guess you shouldn't be doing if you're a king. A crazy stag ran up to him in the forest, all foaming at the mouth and wild with murder- I guess stags can get pretty aggressive- and the king starts to pray like crazy. A cross appears between the stag's antlers and the king is saved. You can see the cross in the antlers on the statue on the gate.

The front of the Palace: we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the castle, due to all the old fancy things inside. Most of the paintings were already getting really dark from old age, and some places were lit with very low light.

My favorite part of the tour was a copy of an old illuminated bible in Mary's bedchamber. The thought that someone had the determination to hand-write (in beautiful calligraphy) the entire bible, and illuminated these amazing pictures left me in awe. You can still see the graphite grids they made as guides on the vellum pages before taking years to write the beautiful book. The next best part was the old temple ruins. You can see me above making a weird face, because although beautiful, it was very windy and about 9am, so it was around 30 degrees outside. 

Outside the castle sat an old bath house that to me looked like howl's moving castle (which is my favorite Hayo Miazaki film) so I took a picture. Edinburgh, by the way, is pronounced like “ed-in bra”- unless of course you’re Scottish, then its “ed-in ba-ra,” but NEVER “eed-in burrow.” You’ll be shamed in the street apparently, if the locals hear you say it that way.

Our next stop was the Scottish parliament building. Because Edinburgh has such a rich historical feel to the entire city, this building has been the cause of a lot of controversy in Scotland. The building is so modern, it pretty much clashes with everything else in the city. I, myself, thought it was really cool, but as a parliament building, maybe it was a bit too much, considering they went about $250 million over budget to make it. The inside is very impressive, though. The stairways look like you're inside an M. C. Escher drawing. 

This is the main debate room. I'm sure that's not what its called, but i haven't learned about it yet- we're still on Henry VIII...

 From there, we stopped at Calton Hill. At this point, my phone decided it was too cold to take pictures, and shut off, leaving me to wander around and expereince things. I did get a few pictures though, and we didn't really get to stay very long. Next time I visit this amazing city, I'll be going back to this point for sure. I'll have to get a sketch book before then- I see an entire afternoon being spend up there.

 The views were absolutely amazing. you could see for miles in any directing. On the top picture, you can see Edinburgh castle on top the hill, between the clock tower and the gothic church tower point. On the other side of the hill sits part of what was supposed to be a recreation of the Parthenon in Greece, but was never finished. Christine (our professor) says its one of the most shameful points in the city, but "at least they didn't go over budget." She's one of those people who hate the new parliament building.

The other side of the hill shows the sea port. It's pretty much just industrial land, but if you look closely enough, you can see Scotland's version of the golden gate bridge. They used to start painting it at one side, and when they reached the end, have to start over again, but I guess in recent years discovered a paint that lasts longer. The landscape is really why I took the picture- the mountains in the background, the sea, the clear skies- you can't really imagine how picturesque it was unless you were there. So, you know, be jealous. 

 Upon arrival to Edinburgh castle, I got my camera to work for a bit longer. enough time to catch this douche bag standing in the middle of the road to take a picture of a guy playing bagpipes. here, he had taken a couple of steps backward, but our bus still had to wait for this ass to get his picture before we could go any further. lesson being; Europe has dicks too, its not just the U.S.

This would be the castle. the picture sucks, but as I say, my phone was only back on for a few minutes. The bottom is a view off the side of the outside wall: I was then and am now running out of words to say "beautiful," but you get the idea. its was pretty freaking beautiful.

Inside the castle, there were not many places we were allowed to take pictures. In all honesty, I was kind of disappointed on the inside- the castle is over a thousand years old, but almost none of it it original anymore. Most of the castle feels like a modern museum exhibit- bright cardboard cutouts, wax statues, and gift shops and cafes galore. The prisons were pretty cool, but again, filled with plexiglas and wax figures. Perhaps the best part was the chapel- i did spend quite a bit of time in there. It had been made into a war memorial, filled with books of all Scotland's fallen soldiers in recorded history. No one spoke, just walked around and admired. 

After arriving at the castle, we were given the points and times in which the bus was going to be to bring us back to Alnwick, and set loose into the wild. As I spend most of my time in the castle, all i did afterward was visit one of the city's free art museums and do a little shopping. (I was with 2 eighteen year old girls- shopping was happening. 

Next weekend is Newcastle- Just as beautiful (I'm told) but much more modern, and about an hour and a half closer, so hopefully no 6am meeting time! Until then gentle reader, I am going to enjoy my day of doing nothing with some instant espresso and a giant kit-kat bar. Thanks for bearing with me. 

Cheers.