Adventures in Edinburgh!

Last Friday eleven of us packed our bags and boarded a late night bus to Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a weekend full of backpacking, bagpipes, and beer which turned out to be one of my favorite things I've done during this entire trip (so far!).

After a restless night on the bus, we arrived in Edinburgh at about 8 o'clock in the morning on Saturday, just as the sun was rising over the city. Right away we all noticed how incredibly different than London this place was. Walking through the streets was like taking a trip back in time - all of the buildings were very old and well preserved and there wasn't much modern architecture. We walked along the empty cobblestone streets and found a cemetery where we hunted for legendary economist Adam Smith's gravestone (our Scottish macro professor had told us to look for it!). While walking through the eerie graveyard, I looked down to find a tiny brick inscribed with his name! Quite underwhelming for such a prominent historical figure...

early morning city streets

tons of old architecture

found him!

the creepy old cemetery...

Next on our agenda was climbing to the top of Arthur's Seat, the peak of a group of hills in Scotland that make up Holyrood Park. The hill is about 800 feet tall and is known for its amazing panoramic views of the city - the GCP group last year highly recommended the climb! We each brought one backpack for the entire weekend (yes, mom and dad, I can pack light!) so we looked like a true group of backpackers making our way up. It was a relatively easy hike up until we got closer to the peak which was all rocky and slippery from the rain. All the way up I kept stopping to take photos because the views kept getting better and better but nothing could compare to the stunning views at the very top. You could see the entire city of Edinburgh all the way to the ocean. We stayed at the top for a bit taking pictures and admiring the scenery before making our way down.

the hike begins

can you spot Nicole?

such amazing views

made it to the top!

more views

classic roomie pic

and more amazing views...

part of the Paris squad :)

GCP fam takes Scotland!

After our climb, we headed over to the Scottish Parliament Building. This is one of the only buildings in the city that looks like it's from this century. It stuck out like a sore thumb among the historical houses and stores around it! The inside is really modern, too - a lot different than the British Houses of Parliament I visited a few weeks ago.

the Parliament building

After Parliament we walked down the Royal Mile, the main road in the city that leads all the way from Arthur's Seat to Edinburgh Castle. Along the way, we stopped for a picture with the monument to Adam Smith, saw a random Chinese New Year Celebration, heard some authentic bagpipers, visited a beautiful cathedral, got treats at the cafe where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter,  and saw a lot of kilts! We made it all the way to the end to see the castle before heading to the National Museum of Scotland for a quick visit.

Adam Smith!

sent this one to our Macro professor

Chinese New Year?

so Scottish

St. Giles Cathedral

incredible stained glass

the Elephant House...the birthplace of Harry Potter

Edinburgh Castle

another day another castle...

city streets

Afterwards, we headed to our Airbnbs to freshen up before heading to one of the highlights of the weekend: the Six Nations rugby championship England vs. Scotland game! We didn't know that this game was going on when we booked our bus tickets, but then we had to do some investigating when it was nearly impossible to find a place to stay! Of course we had to scope out the best pubs to watch rugby before we left (we ended up deciding on the Three Sisters Pub!). The rugby game was honestly one of the most exciting events I have ever been to and SO much fun! Since there is such a huge rivalry between the two teams everyone was super lively and excited for the match. During half time everyone was jumping around and singing traditional Scottish songs - which we of course had to join in on as if we were locals. The outcome of the game was disappointing for the Scots, but it was still such a cool experience to be a part of the local culture. After the game we got dinner at another pub before heading back to our apartments for the night.

the game drew quite the crowd!

supported Scotland by getting some face paint

The next morning we got up around 6:30 in the morning to catch yet another bus to St. Andrews for the day. We got some really beautiful, scenic views of the countryside on the way there. When we arrived (in what felt like the absolute middle of nowhere) it was freezing cold and pouring rain. Despite the horrible weather, we still trekked through the city with our backpacks and saw a lot of the campus where Will and Kate met, St. Andrews Castle, and the golf course where golf was invented: St. Andrews Links. We warmed up in the schools cafe (reminded me a lot of Holy Grounds back at Villanova) and then headed back to Edinburgh for the evening.

whats left of St. Andrews castle

this cafe claims to be the place Kate and Will met! (for coffee at least...)

rainy day at the golf course

We found ourselves yet another pub for dinner - this one had a student discount :) - where we enjoyed another delicious meal, laughing and talking about our highs and lows from the weekend. We took another relaxing (not) bus ride overnight back to London just in time to shower and eat breakfast before our 9:30 class on Monday morning. Quite the adventure!