Edinburgh

It was only one day after Prague that disaster struck. I had the worst stomach bug I think I've ever had in my life I'll spare you the gory details, but thank heavens it only lasted 24 hours. Once I was on the mend, I made the executive decision that I would be alright to go on the Edinburgh trip with my school. I had signed up to go at the beginning of the semester and it was already paid for, so I figured, why not? I couldn't be more happy that I did. Scotland, quite simply is beautiful. As the trip was organized through the school, we were accompanied by a teacher who was essentially our tour guide 24/7. I'm so glad I went on at least one trip through the school, because I learned so much more and visited so many more place than I would have been able to find on my own. The relationship between England and their northern neighbors is complicated. See Braveheart for evidence. Over my three days there I learned a great deal about the Scots struggle to keep their cultural heritage while belonging to a larger (greater) Britain. Also- Scots could not be more friendly. I thought Italians were helpful and kind, Scots were even more so. Here are a few pictures from my trip:

Our first view of the Edinburgh castle

One of many graveyards- we actually ventured into the underground vaults to do a ghost tour on Friday the 13th! We didn't see anything too scary, but we got to take around those machines you see on tv shows that click when paranormal activity occurs and mine started clicking like crazy!

Adam Smith's (the father of economics and author of The Wealth of Nations)

Edinburgh Castle (home to St. Margaret's Chapel, the Old Royal Palace, and the Stone of Scone)

Really pretty ceiling in the Royal Bank of Scotland

On the second day we were there, we traveled to Dunfermline where we visited the abbey

Cemetery outside of Dunfermline abbey

Tunnel to visit the cave of St. Margaret- they built a parking lot over it so you had to go down through this strange tube-like tunnel in order to see

We saw the shore!

This was the pub we ate lunch at- Great fish and chips!

On the course at St. Andrews- we went to the British Golf Museum, walked around the course (only the 16th 17th and 18th holes) and even his a few balls on the driving range! Sorry there was no documentation of me hitting balls, it would have been a good laugh! haha!

The next day we stayed in the city. Pretty much the highlight of my trip was visiting the Elephant House where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter!

I had a cup of hot chocolate!

Doesn't it just look magical?

View of Edinburgh Castle and the woods from the window- this inspired Hogwarts!

Me in front of the Coffee Shop!

I just thought this card was so funny!

Overall, I had a great time, even though I still wasn't feeling 100%. I made a ton of new friends and learned so much about Scotland's history and culture. I didn't take pictures (probably because they weren't allowed) but we also visited Scotland's national gallery, had Christmas tea, tried Haggis and viewed Arthur's Seat (which is super important to Geology).