So
today (Nov. 6th), I went and bought a coffee-brewer (
kávovar). The poor sales person had to suffer through my poor Czech skills. Anyways, it was only 400CZK (20 US dollars). Not bad. I was hesitant to buy it though because I'll only have it for another month or so (which by the way is weird to say, and a bit sad--I'm already half-way through my stay here). However, the delicious cup of hot French roast has affirmed that it was a good decision. Sooo good. (Shout out to the rents for the coffee grounds). Anyways, I'm mentioning this because I want to work on my blog/uploading pictures to Flickr for the rest of the night hopefully thereby catching up to the present date. Thus the coffee is essential for the energy.
So on October 15th, I packed up my things and left for the airport. Going to the airport from where I live is a very involved process. I have to take the 12 tram to the Malostranská metro stop. Then, take the metro to last stop on the 'A' line. Then, take bus 119 to the airport. All in all about a 1 hour process. Anyhoos. I was about 45 minutes early so I sat in the airport reading waiting for the plane. I got on the plane, sitting next to some Scots on their way home from a holiday in Prague. The strangest part of the plane ride was when the steward asked if I wanted anything. I almost responded in Czech, which would have gone something like this:
Chtěl bych kávu, prosím. Fortunately, I caught myself and responded in English. Anyhoos, the plane ride was fine. However, when I landed, I had to fill out a landing card and explain what I was doing in Edinburgh and when I was leaving and where I would be returning. I was scared that I had done something wrong and that's why he was asking so many questions, but apparently it's pretty standard. After my interrogation session, I rounded the corner and there was Speas!!!
So we took a bus back from the airport and then embarked for her dorm, along the way discussing our wonderful times abroad. We stopped at a baguette shop, where we grabbed some lunch. It was really delicious. I got coronation chicken, which is a standard Scottish food. It's chicken with curry and other assorted spices. SOOO GOOD. So we dropped off my stuff and made our way to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Along the way, we passed Arthur's Seat, which will make quite the appearance later in the post. So the palace is the place of residence for the Queen and other royalty whenever they are staying in Edinburgh. Perhaps, more interesting though is that it was where Mary, Queen of Scots, lived when she was in rule.
 |
| The Palace of Holyroodhouse |
 |
We got really nifty audio-tour-guide-necklaces!
Don't worry. We know we're cool. |
 |
| The courtyard |
Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but needless to say it was immaculate per usual. The most interesting part was the exhibit of Mary, Queen of Scots. It had many of her personal items (including a lock of hair...creepy...). There was also the room in which she was held at gunpoint while her brute of a husband and his cohorts stabbed her Italian secretary 56 times. There was even a plaque commemorating where they left his body. CREEPY. So after dragging Rebecca away from all of the really fascinating/disturbing history that she was nerding out over, we went to the abbey (more like ruins of the old abbey). It was absolutely gorgeous.
 |
| The Abbey of the Palace |
 |
| So beautiful! |
 |
| The abbey with Arthur's Seat |
 |
| The start of the sunset |
After the palace and the abbey, we went to Red Box, a build-your-own Chinese Restaurant. Hands down. The best Chinese I've ever had. EVER.
 |
| SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD. |
That night we watched four episodes of Glee in her room. A very good decision.
The next day, we hiked Arthur's seat. And by hiked, I mean rock-climbed. So apparently there are very pleasant stairs leading to the top of this extinct volcano. We did not find them. Instead our path was pretty much foot holds in the earth. At one point, it was pretty much a vertical ascent up some rocks. We're pretty awesome.
 |
| The perspective doesn't quite lend itself to the sheerness of our climb. |
However, the views were spectacular and it was such a nice day.
 |
| Edinburgh!!! |
 |
| Panorama of the Burgh |
 |
| Victory Leap!!! |
So we figured for the descent, we would take the stairs down. Sounds easy enough. But since we didn't take them up, we weren't sure where they were. So we just chose a path figuring it would intersect or become the easy stairs. It didn't. We resorted to scaling down the mountain on our respective buttocks. Occasionally, there were some slips and scares, but we made it safely down.
 |
| Our vertical descent |
 |
| See. We're ok. |
After Arthur's Seat, we made our way to the Royal Mile to see the Edinburgh Castle and St. Giles' Cathedral. Both quite beautiful.
 |
| Edinburgh Castle and two tourists who got in the way |
 |
St. Margaret's Chapel, the oldest building on the Castle grounds
(and in all of Edinburgh, I think) |
 |
| Photo-credit: google |
 |
| St. Giles' Cathedral |
 |
| Note the color of the ceiling: Scottish Flag perhaps? |
After we explored the Royal Mile, we got a Scottish delicacy. A fried hamburger with fries and ketchup on top.
 |
Perhaps equally the most disgusting and delicious thing I've ever eaten
(Also, there was Dr. Pepper!!!) |
After we ate our weight in cardiac arrest, we skyped two friends from Wake, Brad (previous roommate) and Nathan. It was great skyping and learning the goings-on at Wake.
Summary of my favorite things in Edinburgh
1. SPEAS!!!
2. The abbey of the palace
3. Coronation chicken
4. The best Chinese food I've ever had
5. Terrifying ascent
6. Spectacular views
7. Terrifying descent
8. The Royal Mile
9. Heart-attack on a bun
