Castles, Whisky, and Hiking | Weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland

When I first found out I was accepted to study abroad in Ireland, not only was I excited to see Ireland, but also to travel to Scotland as well.  My last name is Scottish, and I enjoy learning about the history of Clan MacNeill (or MacNeil, as it is more commonly spelled).  My family and I originally planned to go to the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, but most things on the island are closed after October, so we decided to just go to England and save Scotland for a time when we can really explore Barra.

So my friend and I decided to go to Edinburgh for a weekend.  We arrived Friday night, and checked into our hostel.  Let me just start off by saying Edinburgh is the windiest place I have ever been in.  Like I ran into my friend at one point.  This was also the nicest hostel I had stayed in my entire time in Europe- and the most centrally located.  You walked out of the hostel and turned left and right there was Edinburgh Castle.  We went out to dinner and then called it a night because we were pretty tired and wanted to get an early start the next day.

Edinburgh Castle- with a telephone booth!

We woke up Saturday morning and walked only a minute to Edinburgh Castle, which is kind of expensive, but definitely worth it.  It was super windy and a little rainy.  We took a 30 minute tour, and were then left to explore the castle on our own.  The cool thing about Edinburgh Castle is that there are a lot of museums within the castle itself that you can access.  First, we went and looked at the Scottish crown jewels, which consisted of a crown, a scepter, and a sword, and the coronation stone (aka stone of scone or stone of destiny) which was used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs for centuries until the English stole it in 1296 and was not returned for 700 years.  Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures there, but I will include a pic from google.

Honours of Scotland

We then went the apartment of Mary, Queen of Scots, where her son, James IV of Scotland (James I of England) was born.  We also went to the Scottish National War Memorial, which contains books with the names of all Scottish soldiers who have died in WWI and WWII and recent conflicts.

It was then lunch time, so we got pork sandwiches with haggis!  Haggis is a tradition Scottish food, containing sheep's heart, liver, and lungs, stuffed in its stomach with a lot of herbs and spices.  It may sound gross, but it is so tasty.  As it was pointed out to me, the Scottish are very open about what haggis is made of, whereas who really knows what hot dogs are made of.

We then went of a Sandeman's tour of Edinbugh which is a free tour (they have them all over Europe).  It was about 2.5 hours long, and very interesting.  It ended in Greyfriars Kirkyard, a graveyard famous for the story of Greyfriars Bobby.  Greyfriars Bobby was a skye terrier who sat at his police officer owner's grave for 14 years after he died.

Statue of Greyfriars Bobby

After that, we went to the Edinburgh winter festival, where there were vendors and carnival rides.
It was really fun and looked so beautiful all lit up.  Upon recommendation from the hostel, we ate at a pub and got haggis stuffed chicken, which was really good.  I also got the best beer I've ever had: Caesar Augustus.  I don't really like beer (especially dark beers like Guinness), but this IPA/lager hybrid was actually really yummy.  We stopped by another pub on our way back to the hostel to get some whisky, because we were in Scotland so it made sense.  I don't really like whisky and the bartender kind of laughed at me when I ordered some (I think I must have said something wrong) but it doesn't really matter.

So festive

Surprisingly good

The next day we got up bright and early and hiked to the top of Arthur's Seat, which is the highest part of the hills in Holyrood Park.  It was quite the climb, but gave beautiful views of the city.  at the summit, it was so windy, I thought I might get blown off the hill!

This view.  Incredible.

Later, we stopped by some gift shops to get souvenirs.  Because there are so many MacNeill things to  buy, I of course had to get a few.  I got a little Clan MacNeill history book and a scarf made of the MacNeill tartan for me, the same scarf for my brother, and a mug for my dad.

We then got lunch at a very expensive hotel restaurant that J.K. Rowling allegedly wrote some of Harry Potter at, where I had haggis, neeps, and taddies, which is a traditional Scottish dish of haggis, turnips, and mashed potatoes.  We then left for the  airport to return to Dublin!

                                 "O ye'll take the high road, and I'll take the low road, and I'll be in Scotland afore ye..."

I had an awesome time in Edinburgh; it was one of my favorite cities I went to in Europe.  It was really great to go to another country that my ancestors are from, and it was cool to see my last name everywhere.  I know I am putting this up like a month after the trip, but I promise I'll have post up about my week in London soon.