Those who journey can easily understand, the more you see, the more you learn, the more that you will be.

Alright girls and boys get ready for the longest blog entry EVER- can you handle this? This blog entry is not for the faint of heart, it's length requires stamina that some people only dream of aspiring to.  Consider yourselves appropriately warned. 

This past weekend Courtney and I decided to check out Edinburgh, Scotland.  After some pretty intense/ frustrating hours planning how we were going to get there and where we were going to sleep, we were ready.  Filling our backpacks to the absolute brim (I actually also had clothes in my purse), we set out to explore on Thursday night.  We caught the 9:00 train from Coleraine to Belfast with very little difficulty and then attempted to find our "classy" 5 pound a night hostel- The Linen House. Ya. We got in and immediately had an amazing impression when 3 extremely dirty and sketchy looking mid-thirties European guys awkwardly looked us up and down- multiple times.  Then another great sign that this hostel was safe was that the guy checking us in couldn't find the key to our 18 person mixed gendered room (ya, what were we thinking???) and just told us that we didn't need one anyway.  Already feeling really safe in this hostel (did I mention that it is located in the middle of a dark alleyway outside of the center of town) we ambled up to our room to find that there were already people sleeping in it (it was around 11:30) so we had to use our phone lights to find our bunks which were conveniently the farthest from the door in a very dark back corner.  As we were trying to get all of our stuff into our different beds with us (so that it wouldn't be taken... or at least we would hopefully wake up while someone was taking it), we realized we were being watched.  A woman whom we assumed was sleeping was actually just lying in her bed staring at us- so creepy.  I don't know how I did it, but I actually fell asleep and slept pretty much the whole night (I honestly know that God has His hand in calming me down because there was no way that I would have even stayed there let alone slept there without Him).  

Ok, well the plan was to catch our ferry (from Belfast to Stranrear) that left at 7:30 and then catch the 10:00 train from Stranrear to Edinburgh and then arrive at Edinburgh at 2 (ish) and start our touristy domination.  However, that plan got slightly altered.  We left the hostel at 7 and got a taxi and arrived at the ferry port (station?) at 7:13... to be told that they closed the door at 7:10.  Then we were informed that the next ferry didn't leave until 12:30, which effectively took away any chance we had at touring Edinburgh that day.  Doing a pretty good job at maintaining my optimism (I kept retorting Courtney with lemonade), I proceeded to read (still working on Velvet Elvis- and it's amazing) and journal for the next 3 hours, while Courtney slept (she is one of those people that sleeps anywhere and I'm one of those people that can't sleep anywhere- it was a really funny combo).  We were then told that we could go upstairs to the cafe and wait for the ferry to start boarding, so we went upstairs and got some scones and tea.  While I was trying to figure out the different train schedule (b/c we had already missed everything we were supposed to take), Courtney all of the sudden got up and ran to the bathroom- where she threw up.  So now it's around 11 and after debating whether Courtney was well enough to go for about 30 min we decided to bite the bullet and got on the ferry.  So we are sitting in the waiting room trying to collect ourselves when all of the sudden some kind of silent signal goes off and all of the people in the waiting room stand up and start racing towards the ferry.  Scared of missing the ferry, Courtney and I in a panicked state jump to our feet and start our own version of the amazing race- it was intense.  Then we got on! To preface, I've never been on a ferry before so I really don't know how they are supposed to be, but it was SO nice- it literally felt like we were walking onto a mini cruise ship- there were coffee shops, nail salons, shopping centers, live music, movies, a kid area, and a silent lounge (which we made a beeline for).  After a very comfortable ferry ride, we got off in Scotland (woot) and made our way to the train station, got two tickets to Edinburgh and jumped the next train.  The train ride was pretty long where the majority of it was spent reading, listening to music, and journaling while Courtney slept (are you starting to see a pattern?).  However, after a few hours, we met a little girl who I like to dubb "clips" after the 20 or so very sparkly clips she had in her hair.  She promptly sat in the seat next to me and stared at me, without responding in anyway, while I tried to make conversation with her.  Courtney woke up and together we tried to get her to play a game with us, but then ended up just playing squares (or boxes- I don't know what to call it) while she sat staring.  Then, clips started spouting gibberish which made no sense at all and kept asking the same question even though we answered her.... ya it was interesting.  Our train then stopped in Glasgow where we then were told that we had to change train stations in order to catch the 6:00 train to Edinburgh.  After grabbing dinner (the last thing we ate were those scones) we grabbed a shuttle that took us across Glasgow to the other train station.  The shuttle took longer than we expected, so we ended up running through the train station trying to catch our train... just as Courtney jumped on... the doors slammed shut..... with me on the other side of them.  I think my heart literally stopped as I stood furiously pushing the open button trying to get onto the train (her phone was dead, so there would have been NO way for me to get in touch with her).  Then my heart rapidly sped up to a jolting thumping as the train starting inching forward.  It was shortly after that moment of utter despair that I realized that I wasn't the only one standing on the platform, I looked behind me and was calmly informed by a Scottish boy that the train would open it's doors again soon.  So, needless to say, I got on the train a few minutes after that- humiliated but grateful.  We finally pulled into Edinburgh around 7:30 that night and it was raining (of course), we had booked a ghost tour that started at 8 so we went straight there with all of our stuff to find out that it was a 2 hour WALKING tour in the rain.  The turning point of our trip was deciding to not do the tour, getting a refund, and walking to the most wonderful thing I had seen that day- a cafe named Chocolate Soup.  Oh yes, they served a type of hot chocolate (obviously there were multiple flavor options) in massive soup bowls.  We joyously consumed a brownie sunday and a bowl of chocolate soup- each. We then randomly met these two American guys who we talked to for the next hour while downing our chocolate.  Then, the guy working at the cafe gave us free croissants and sandwiches- it was glorious.  Exhausted, we decided to find our hostel and pass out.  Although our hostel was completely outside of the city (as we found out after a 12 pound cab ride), it was so nice! We only had 4 other people in our room (a really sweet Hungarian couple and then another anti-social couple) and we got lockers to store our stuff in and CLEAN bedding!!! It was amazing.  And, coincidentally, their mattress was the most comfortable one I've slept in since getting here (mine at school is kind of like an air mattress that is really low on air... ya).  Oh, and did I mention it was only 8 pounds a night??? 

Alright so Saturday was probably one of the longest, craziest, and most fun days of my life.  We saw more of Edinburgh in one day than I think most people would fit into 3 or 4.  We started our day by catching a 9:30 shuttle from our hostel (Globetrotter Inn, btw) to the center of Edinburgh.  After walking around admiring the amazing architecture, we stopped into an adorable cafe for breakfast and map out our game plan for the rest of the day.  After the cafe we walked down the Royal Mile towards Edinburgh Castle stopping in at St. Giles Cathedral (which was mesmerizing) and looking at the Adam Smith monument.  We also would stop in at souvenir shops and check out cool street vendors.  We checked out Edinburgh Castle and then took a tour of the Scottish whiskey museum.  It was ridiculous how much they obsess about whiskey, but it was actually really interesting at the same time (like did you know that there are only 8 people in Scotland who are allowed to blend whiskey).  Courtney and I then got lunch at a cafe where I had the best tuna sandwich I've ever eaten- it was incredible.  After that, we went to the National Library of Scotland (where there was this really cool literary exhibit that had letters in it from Lord Byron, Jane Austin, and David Livingstone) and then on to the National Museum of Scotland, which wasn't really that exciting.  We stopped in at the Elephant House where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter (I think I enjoyed this a LOT more than Courtney- I'm such a nerd).  While we were walking around the museum, we realized that there was no way we could physically walk up Arthur's Seat the next day b/c we would have all of our stuff. So, we decided to go from the museum straight to Arthur's Seat.  At this point, we really thought that Arthur's Seat would be this nice nature walk with a paved path that wouldn't take more than 20 minutes to get to the top..... we had NO idea what we were getting ourselves into.  Just to let ya'll know, we were wearing skinny jeans, ankle boots, flats, scarves, and in NO way were prepared for the hike that lay before us.  I don't know how we made it, but after many falls, breaks to catch our breath, and taking off many layers of clothing, we got to the top.  It was breathtaking.  You could see all of Edinburgh and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  After admiring the view for a while and making the painful trek down, we made an executive decision to head back to the hostel to take showers/ nap (for Courtney) before our 9:30 ghost tour and 11 candle-light dinner reservation at the Witchery by the Castle (it was around 6 by this time).  This was a VERY good decision.  So after resting, we took the 8:30 shuttle into Edinburgh for our 9:30 ghost tour.  Because we had time to kill, we popped back into our favorite cafe- Chocolate Soup! The guy, of course, remembered us and even though we were only going to split one brownie sunday he gave us two for the price of one- he loved us. :)  After fulling stuffing ourselves with chocolate (again) we walked down to Marcat Square to meet our group for the ghost tour.  When we signed up for this tour, we were thinking that it would be kind of funny like a historic tour with a few silly twists designed to freak out children. We were wrong.  This tour was probably the scariest thing I've ever done in my life.  We went into these abandoned vaults under the city with one candle and listened to stories about how people have had "supernatural" experiences in these vaults.  At one point, this crazy girl standing next to me grabbed me and started saying I have to get out of here over and over. Ya, creepy.  I don't believe in ghosts, but the whole thing was just creepy and definitely got our adrenaline pumping.  After the vaults we walked to this ancient graveyard and heard more ghost stories.  We loved it- our guide was fantastic and such a character (ironically, her name was Faith).  Our tour ended at 11 on the opposite side of the Royal Mile than the Witchery at the Castle (restaurant where our 11 dinner reservation was).  So, we ended up sprinting/ jogging up the Royal Mile to make our reservation (after hiking all the way up/down Arthur's Seat- it hurt).  Thankfully, we made our reservation and got to eat at the most beautiful restaurant I've ever been in.  Walking down the candlelit stone steps to get to our table was like entering our own little secret garden.  There were beautiful sculptures, plants, candles, it was amazing.  We both had a glass of wine (I tried rose wine- a mix of white and red- and actually really loved it) and had wonderful deep conversation until 12:30.  It was probably the most romantic thing I've ever done... except it was with a girl :) Next time I'll have to make Pieter travel with us! I'm not going to go into details about the next two hours or so b/c they were pretty awful, but let's just say that there is a severe shortage of taxis in Edinburgh and the buses were all over an hour late at their pick ups so we spent the next two hours sprinting around Edinburgh trying to find some sort of transportation (and we were the only two sober people in the entire city).  But we did get back and crashed into our beds around 3. 

Sunday.  We dragged ourselves out of bed around 9:30 in order to check out of our hostel at 10 and then took the shuttle into Edinburgh.  Where we (after consuming the largest breakfast known to mankind) headed to the Palace of Hollyrood for a tour! It was such an interesting tour and it was really cool to be able to walk through the rooms where people that I've learned about throughout history (like Queen Mary of Scotland) actually lived.  Although, it would have probably been a better experience if Courtney and I didn't have to lug ALL of our stuff with us throughout the entire tour... the tour ended in the abbey that is connected to the palace.  Not gonna lie, this was by far my favorite part of the tour.  The abbey is basically a ruin, the roof is non existent and there are very old graves throughout it, but there was something so sad and beautiful about it that it took my breath away.  Our audio version of a tour-guide informed us that the abbey had inspired many writers and musicians- it just had that feel about it, I could have sat there all day.  However, we didn't have time in our schedule for sitting (we had some serious domination via tourism to do) so after our tour was over we booked it to Carlton Hill, which is kind of like Arthur's Seat in that it looks over the city, but it also has different monuments on it as well.  It was a really cool place to take pictures from and I basically walked around and tried to be a much better photographer than I am :) Then we ambled back towards the train station- checking out the Scottish Monument on the way.  Thankfully, we got on the train with NO hiccups (although in the train station I did get VERY intensely hit on by a drunk 71 year old Scottish man- at 2 in the afternoon).  4-plus hours later, we arrived in Stranrear and were picked up from the train station by this adorable man from our B and B.  He and his wife were probably the cutest people I've ever met.  The B and B was INCREDIBLE!!! We had our own private bathroom (with a bathtub), really clean nice sheets, bathrobes, chocolate, teacups/ scones... it was like a little piece of heaven.  

Well I could go into the details of our trip back into Coleraine (including a 4 am ferry ride and a few more interesting mishaps), but I think I'm going to wrap it all up here. If you have stuck with me this long, I'm very thankful.  And you are a very good friend.