it's raining in scotland?

This past weekend I went to Edinburgh with some friends. It made for a really long weekend, but it was nice to get out of London, and explore another city. Saturday was quite rainy - typical - but Sunday cleared up some, and it made for a really nice trip.

 We started off at St. Giles Cathedral, off of the Royal Mile. There was a big statue of John Knox inside! This is of the heart of the city. We all spit in it; supposedly that means we will some day return to Edinburgh. Hope so! Maybe in the summer next time, though.

We toured the castle the first day as well. It was really misty, though, so my pictures didn't turn out very nicely. It was neat to see the castle, and they were doing reenactments, because it was some kind of celebration or anniversary. There were people firing off canons and guns, dressed in old traditional uniforms. The complex was MASSIVE. It was like a little village all within the castle grounds. I can't lie, it kind of reminded me of Hogsmead.

I got up early on Sunday morning to go to Holyrood Palace. The other people I was there with had gone up the day before me and had already taken this tour, so I did it before most of them were awake. I wasn't aloud to take pictures inside the Palace, but this is a picture of the front. After doing Buckingham Palace, this one seemed quite small, but I kind of enjoyed that. It almost seemed more realistic and more livable. I can't really imagine life in Buckingham Palace, and, not that I can see myself living here, this was more understandable.

We were planning on going to the John Knox museum after I went to Holyrood, but it was closed on Sunday. Instead, we went to the Museum of Scotland. We went up to the terrace and had an INCREDIBLE view of the city. I played around with the panoramic setting on my camera and was able to get the picture below.

 The museum itself was massive. I particularly enjoyed the part on religion in the area, but the artwork and stylistic areas were also interesting. It was one of those museums that is impossible to do in one visit, though, so I'm sure I missed some awesome items.

We had lunch at The Elephant House, where JK Rowling started writing Harry Potter! How exciting! And we met up with Emily, a friend from UNC who is studying in Edinburgh for the semester. It was a nice relaxing lunch, and the cafe was quite enjoyable.

The rest of Sunday afternoon was relatively relaxed. We did pretty much everything that I had planned to do, which is always nice. I didn't feel so rushed that I was worried I would miss anything. We walked around in a big park, that I don't remember the name of. It was a fun and easy afternoon. Then we took the massively long train ride back, and fell quickly asleep for class the next morning.

I don't know if I will do many more big weekend trips, but I am currently planning my fall break trip, which I am quite excited about! In a few weeks you will get posts about ITALY! But, in the mean time, I will continue posting about life in London.