My First Look at Edinburgh

30/8/2010

            The Full Scottish Breakfast with haggis, potato scone, grilled tomato, baked beans, scrambled eggs, pork link sausage, and mushrooms. Needless to say the mushrooms and the baked beans were left untouched but I did try everything! Haggis is surprisingly tasty. However, the bed I am sleeping on is slanted and does not give me a good night’s sleep therefore I must drink lots and lots of tea to wake up.

            There are seven levels to the National Museum of Scotland. It takes you from the beginning to the current day, with a roof top terrace where you can view the entire city. All the artifacts and display items are old, some come from as far back as thousands of years before a.d.! Going through most of the museum took us around four hours…not counting the things we missed along the way. We started walking faster around the three hour mark because of the fact that it was taking forever to get through the museum! One interesting fact of the city is that it was built on seven hills, more like mountains!

            After the museum and a spot of tea, Karen came over to the hotel and we followed her in the rental car back to the airport. Mom was so excited to get rid of the car that she got in the wrong side. She deftly maneuvered around cars, buses, roundabouts, and taxis to stay in close contact with Karen’s car. This way she wouldn’t lose her and so we didn’t get lost! After dropping off the car Karen took us to see the places where I would be studying and staying. We saw the University of Napier Campus and my flat (which by the way is ridiculously nice and only on the second floor of the building which is convenient! The bus stop is only a block away and we can see the castle from the door steps.

            We were dropped off at a flower clock garden where this clock is made up of 70,000 plants and it keeps proper time. It was really neat! Another site we saw was a monument to some cool translator of books. We walked up 289 steps to the top of the tower where the spiral staircase only allowed for one person and the steps were narrow as well. Scary? I think so. Dinner of Steak & Ale Pie and dessert over at the Elephant House where JK Rolling wrote the first two books of HP! Delicious food.

            Exploring this city is going to be a full time job. Along with my classes and internship I think I will be kept busy!

            You stay classy…