Back again with an update! I must say, this weekend was absolutely unbelievable. I have sooooo many pictures and memories and overall feelings about this weekend that I hope to never forget! If you're wondering about the title of the post, you might reference the great Disney movie 'The Lion King' ('Everything the light touches is our kingdom') Haha! Laura quoted this this weekend when we were looking at the skyline of Edinburgh while the sun set on top of a huge hill.
So, this weekend, Laura and I traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland to visit her cousin and her cousin's husband, who live right in the middle of the city centre of Edinburgh. I was not at all expecting to love Edinburgh as much as I did, but it is an absolutely gorgeous place!
To get to Scotland, Laura and I flew with her host, Dawn, who was to be in Edinburgh for the weekend anyway for a ball game. Because the flight was so early and the airport was three hours from Derby, I had a sleepover with Dawn, her husband, and Laura on Friday night.
So, this weekend, Laura and I traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland to visit her cousin and her cousin's husband, who live right in the middle of the city centre of Edinburgh. I was not at all expecting to love Edinburgh as much as I did, but it is an absolutely gorgeous place!
To get to Scotland, Laura and I flew with her host, Dawn, who was to be in Edinburgh for the weekend anyway for a ball game. Because the flight was so early and the airport was three hours from Derby, I had a sleepover with Dawn, her husband, and Laura on Friday night.
Friday evening, for 'tea,' Dawn and Andy took Laura and I to Matlock, a town nearby that most closely resembled Gatlinburg to us. You can get on a chairlift there and there are lots of little shops, places to eat, and things to do. It was a very cute little town! We did 'British' things like eat fish & chips by the river and feed the ducks. We took a walk around the town and just had a relaxing evening before heading back to watch Gogglebox and eat McFlurry's!
****Gogglebox is a hilarious British tv show. It selects random families in England, places a video camera behind their tvs, and films them watching popular tv shows like Master Chef and Britain's Got Talent. SO funny! USA definitely needs Gogglebox. :)
So, bright and early Saturday morning, we headed to the airport in Stansted. After a quick flight, Laura's cousin, Rachel, met us at the airport and took us back to her flat to drop off our things, then we were right back out the door to look around Edinburgh!
Of course, the first place we see and want to go is the unbelievable Edinburgh Castle. If anyone reading watches the show 'Reign' or knows about Mary, Queen of Scots, the Edinburgh castle is her REAL castle. The show is filmed in Ireland. :)
Edinburgh is a very steep place. Everything you want to go to is either STRAIGHT uphill or STRAIGHT downhill. So, at one point, we felt like we were directly below that castle looking straight up and would never ever reach it. Really crazy!
The castle is just absolutely huge, immaculate, and very very old. It doesn't even look real when you're looking right at it!
The castle is just absolutely huge, immaculate, and very very old. It doesn't even look real when you're looking right at it!
We also saw the crown jewels and several rooms inside the castle but you were not allowed to take pictures of those :) Also, at 1pm every day other than Sunday, a gun is fired to notify ships on the North Sea of the time. This is a big ceremony every day, so we stayed to watch that too. I just loved the castle.
After leaving the castle, we went walking around the city and saw the St. Giles Cathedral which was very fancy and humongous. There was a fee to take pictures in there, but Laura's cousin paid them for us. :)
After leaving the castle, we went walking around the city and saw the St. Giles Cathedral which was very fancy and humongous. There was a fee to take pictures in there, but Laura's cousin paid them for us. :)
{We saw so many other fabulous things in Edinburgh it's hard for me to even describe. I have about a zillion more pictures that I will upload to Facebook because it's easier to upload pictures there.}
Also, as I was walking down from the castle with a huge throng of other people, a taxi cab came up behind me from NOWHERE and hit me in the shoulder! Taxi cab drivers, I'm convinced, are of a different breed.
We also tried the local food (haggis, steak and gravy pie), of course, which I can't say I was too big of a fan of. But I did try it. We did go to a shop called "Hotel Chocolat" though and... I sure can't complain about that. :)
Also, as I was walking down from the castle with a huge throng of other people, a taxi cab came up behind me from NOWHERE and hit me in the shoulder! Taxi cab drivers, I'm convinced, are of a different breed.
We also tried the local food (haggis, steak and gravy pie), of course, which I can't say I was too big of a fan of. But I did try it. We did go to a shop called "Hotel Chocolat" though and... I sure can't complain about that. :)
Sunday evening, after we had arrived back in Derby, we went out for tea and a few drinks and went to a pub quiz! I think Lauren and I were half the age of all the people there... but it was fun nonetheless. Our team was called 'Teachers R Us' and we were pretty awful... but still fun!
I'm very tired today after the really exhausting weekend walking miles and miles in Edinburgh. Couldn't be happier though! Never would've thought I'd love Scotland as much as I did!
Tomorrow I'm visiting Brooklands Primary school to get a perspective on another primary school here in Derby. Then, Wednesday, OXFORD!
I hope everyone has a great week!
Haley :)
I'm very tired today after the really exhausting weekend walking miles and miles in Edinburgh. Couldn't be happier though! Never would've thought I'd love Scotland as much as I did!
Tomorrow I'm visiting Brooklands Primary school to get a perspective on another primary school here in Derby. Then, Wednesday, OXFORD!
I hope everyone has a great week!
Haley :)