Edinburgh or Bust

Scotland was amazing!!!

I'm not sure what expectations I had for the trip - its November, cold, rainy, and we were taking a 10 hour bus ride to go somewhere for just three days. Normally that kind of trip makes me grumpy.

Quite the opposite, I think it was one of the best trips I've ever taken. I'm sure most of that fact had to do with the company I kept - wandering around with 4 Brazilians is never boring. However, some part of my enjoyment came from the fact that I fell in love with Edinburgh. Its absolutely worth visiting if you ever get the opportunity (skip Glasgow, not nearly as charming).

We left last Friday night at 11pm and arrived in Edinburgh at 8am. The Brazilians were discouraged because it was cold and drizzling and we wouldn't be able to check into our hostel until 2. But we managed to walk around downtown a bit, grab a shuttle to the hostel, and keep warm there for a couple hours until check-in. Which didn't go so well as Pedro had accidentally made the reservations for a day earlier and they had cancelled it when we didn't show up the previous day. However, they were extremely nice and not only gave us free shuttle tickets back downtown, but called several hostels and let us know who had space. The weather cleared up and was beautiful for the rest of our trip; we ended up at a hostel directly in downtown which was nice because we could walk everywhere and didn't have to pay to take the bus. Love the way God works things out . . .

Our hostel was . . . interesting. Alice was terrified of the place, but I thought it was kind of charming. The people were really nice, the place was clean, but what freaked her out most was all the strange murals covering every single amount of wallspace. Our directions to our room were "Go up the stairs, walk down the corridor until you see Spiderman and turn left."

We spent two full days sightseeing in Edinburgh - beautiful old buildings, cute shops, Edinburgh Castle, Scotland National Gallery, and the big hill that overlooks the city. The people we met in the shops and on the streets were extremely warm and friendly - much more so than in London.

We took over 250 pictures, but I selected just a few to post up for your viewing pleasure here.

Overall, a wonderful and relaxing holiday. Especially when you have a Korean (even a Brazilian-Korean, they can't deny their blood) with you to get you everywhere and take the best pictures!