Edinburgh-- the Grand Scottish Capital

Bonjour blog-reading friends! :) I hope this post finds you well and for my fellow Iowans, I hope you haven't turned into a walking icicle yet. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I do miss the snow!!

I had a great past weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland's capital city. A fellow student at ISU, my friend Liz is also on exchange but is studying in Edinburgh so I went and stayed with her for the weekend. I got there on Thursday night, and Friday we got up and upon observing sunshine and a clear day, we decided to go ahead and hike up Arthur's Seat. We were both struggling a bit with colds so we stopped pretty frequently on our way up to blow our noses and catch our breath. It was a BEAUTIFUL day to climb and the views from the top were gorgeous. We brought a sack lunch with us and had our lunch at the top. We also took a few fun pictures, as well as wrote our names in the grass at the top with stones. Here are some pictures from our Arthur's Seat adventure:











































































Our hiking fun lasted most of the afternoon and so we headed back to her flat where we got ready for a Ceilidh that was happening that night. I hadn't brought any dressy clothes with me, just jeans, but between Liz and her roommates they spiffed me up and we went out to the dance! It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO fun, probably the most fun I've had since being here. The traditional Scottish dances are great fun and it was complete with most of the guys there sporting their kilts. :) I can't wait to attend another Ceilidh!


















Saturday morning Liz and I went to get lattes at The Elephant House, an established delicious coffee/tea shop made famous by J.K. Rowling going there during the writing of the Harry Potter books. On the front of the shop, The Elephant House bears the slogan "Birthplace of Harry Potter".





























We then toured the Scottish Parliament Building, which was quite interesting. This fairly new building holds within it some amazing architecture, and presents a very contemporary look. Went and toured the Edinburgh Castle for most of the afternoon. It is packed with SO much history, it really is an experience.

We also walked the Royal Mile, explored Prince's Street and walked through a beautiful graveyard. Sunday was Valentine's Day and in the evening, they were projecting a Scottish poem across the side of the hill below the castle. It read, "Look to the living, love them, and hold on." by Scottish poet Douglas Dunn. It really was special walking to the train station getting ready to take off and seeing that. Below are also a few other random pics I took while exploring Edinburgh.