This weekend was a very relaxing one in Scotland. Instead of the feeling of rushing to get everything done in just two days, we spent lots of time walking around the cobblestone streets and listening to the many bagpipe performers. We arrived in Edinburgh at 2 p.m., which means we left London at 9 a.m. (yes, it was a five hour train ride). I tried to sleep some on the train, but it was so bumpy, that it proved to be difficult. We were met at the train station by a man in a kilt (typical, I know), and he proceeded to take us on a short bus tour to see some of the many sights in the city. We were all so exhausted, but that didn't stop us from grabbing a nice pub dinner and going on a haunted ghost and ghouls walk. It wasn't too scary, but we did end up going deep underground to some old vaults where our guide told us of all the paranormal encounters. The fact that it was almost pitch black didn't help too much either. On Saturday, we slept in a little bit because our original tour to Loch Ness was canceled. For some reason, the Anderson tour company forgot to reserve seats for us, and every tour was already filled. I was very upset about this because Loch Ness was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Scotland. However, we still had a busy day in the city. I ended up touring Edinburgh Castle and seeing the crown jewels, which are not as stunning as the England ones. Then, we walked around and shopped in the city. I bought quite a few souvenirs during this trip. In the evening, we went on a Harry Potter walk where our guide took us to some of JK Rowling's inspirations. We walked through a real life Diagon Alley and even saw the real Tom Riddle's grave. For dinner that evening, we went to The Elephant House, which is where Rowling wrote much of Harry Potter at a table overlooking the castle. It had delicious food, and it was so cool to be at a place famous for the development of Harry Potter since I am such a fan! Sunday, we got up early to climb a volcano. Yes, that's right, a real volcano. It was much more difficult than I thought, especially since I was wearing heeled boots. However, the view from it was absolutely stunning. You could see the beautiful water surrounding Edinburgh as well as the rolling hills and many buildings. Natalie and I decided to stay up on the mountain a little longer, so after that, we had dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant and headed back to the train station. We didn't get in to London until after 10 p.m. last night, but the weekend was definitely worth it!
-L
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