Thankful for Scotland

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November 26th 2007

Published: November 27th 2007

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Lina TdK

OHMYGAH

The face we made when we saw eachother...

I was lucky enough to be invited by my wonderful friend Amber to spend Thanksgiving with her in Edinburgh/Edinborough, Scotland and I immediately hopped on that train ... well I flew there, but was very very very eager to arrive. I had a direct flight and as I approached the city, I was very thankful to be able to see the lights as I was expecting to be greeted by rain. I could barely contain my excitement as I hopped on the double decker bus and instantly grabbed a seat up top, front row in order to take in what I could as the bus drove into the city ... wise decision as it was pretty dark ... but whatever, I was giddy with excitement. I couldn't help myself and giggled at the very young English boy next to me who kept repeating "I've got a BIG ticket"... After almost missing my stop, I was lucky in that Amber gave me fantastic directions so I sped walked to her flat and met another Thanksgiving go-er on the front steps and we tested out call buttons as we were both unsure which one belonged to our friends. As we climbed the stairs

Boo France...

The face we made when we found out Isaac couldn´t join us...

anticipation began to build and suddenly I hear, AMBER! Carolina's here .... WHAAAAAAAT! (thumping) and, as I had warned new friend from outside, a lot of screaming, hugging, and OHMYGAHIMSOHAPPYTOSEEYOUs followed. Best feeling ever. Amber and her roommates, and the rest of their study abroad group, outdid themselves in preparing Thanksgiving. Everyone brought an item to eat and it felt like we were very at home with all of the food we could want. We were quite somber with the sad news that our good friend Isaac was stuck in France due to train strikes and was not able to join us and we chatted with him on the phone as well as threatened France with a beat down for keeping our friend from us .... I nearly popped out of my pants as I ate more than my fill of food and did not move for a good two and a half hours until it was clear we were all cold and tired, so to bed we went.

Friday morning greeted us with sunshine and full bellies. Amber's flat is very well situated, so we started our day from there and walked all over town. She took me

THANK YOU

The face we made to show our happiness for the holiday...

through New Town, down Princess Street and we saw many markets, the Christmas one being our favorite as they offered us many free samples of yummy chocolates and goodies. The architecture is really different from that of Madrid and Paris but beautiful in its own respect. Everything had a very old, rustic feeling to it and I enjoyed that a lot. Amber was very keen and good about filling me on what everything was and any meaning it had behind it, best tour guide action I've gotten in a while. We crossed a bridge and we were suddenly in Old Town, which is very hilly....not to say that New Town isn't, but my legs definitely noticed it more when we got to Old Town. There are also many 'alley stairways' known as closes in Old Town which take you between streets in a convenient, work your butt off kind of way. She took me to the Royal Mile which led right to the castle, quite impressive. I realized this would be her 'up'th time seeing everything, so I passed on entering castles, churches, museums etc. so we could walk around more and save ourselves some UKpounds and did as much

Christmas Market

Down the street from Amber´s flat we ran into this slice of heaven ... we love free samples

'free' tourism as one can do. The outsides of things were pretty. We covered a lot of ground and then ran into the Parliament building which she informed me was built by a Spanish architect ... I wasn't such a fan as it didn't really sit well with the surrounding buildings and just looked out of place. Not as passionate as the Scots who apparently drove their cars into the buildng ... But sitting right across from this odd building is the palace the Queen still uses as a home, took a glimpse and quickly entered it's neighboring cafe as we were starting to get chilled. Right outside its windows we could see Arthur's Seat which we climbed after feeling had reached out limbs once more. It's the most exercise I've done since I've been here...there were parts it felt that were straight up, but it was definitely worth the awkward sweat/cold feeling when we reached the top and could see a 360 degree view of the land. It was breathtaking in more ways then one. Along our walk down, it occurred to both of us that we needed to use the restroom...badly. Yet we were surrounded by nature in

Your nose is like a tulip

couldn´t resist trying it on ...

the form of fields & no bushes/trees... We changed topics to take our mind off of our pressing matters and managed to make it back to town before it struck us again. We tried our luck at a four star hotel, but upon entry we were greeted by the concierge asking to be of assistance ... our awkward lie of a story that we were meeting a friend took an embarassing toll and we escaped that situation to a coffee shop next door where we purchased delicious muffins and used the facilities without hesitation. After we'd warmed up again, because even though it was sunny all day (thankfully) the sun provided little to no warmth, we headed towards another hill with interesting features/ruins/monuments. This one is situated towards the end of Princess Street/New Town and we had good timing and arrived as the sun made its slow descent. This area gave another great view of the city and its surroundings and it was nice to see just how much ground we had covered that day. As we watched the sun go down on the unfinished parthenon-esque ruin, we were again made known of the cold and chose to head home

Old Town

View of Old Town from across the tracks ... pretty

to warmth and leftovers. After resting up a bit, Amber and her friends took me out for a night on the town to a number of places which were rather enjoyable. Scottish people are VERY attractive and VERY aware of how they dress....It was nice to see a variety of skin tones, hair colors, heights, and styles while we were out. Amber surprised us at one point with a snack of fried cheeseburger and chips which was very warmly welcomed and quite delicious. Afterwards, the long day came to its end and we curled up for some rest.

Saturday started off with sunshine but as soon as we made it out to the markets for more free samples the random spouts of rain decided to make their presence known. We hopped in and out of a lot of stores, I found a very lovely cashmere scarf and immediately fell in love. We walked around more Old Town and I saw the Elephant's House where The J.K. Rowling began her famous Potter books, SO EXCITING! We encountered some other neat monuments and after getting rained on for a tad decided it was time for lunch. I requested a typical Scottish

Fun!

Entertaining part of the market + random steeple...

meal and man oh man did Amber provide. We went to this great place called the Standing Order. It is this large restaurant inside an old bank, the building was gorgeous and FULL of people. We managed to steal a table and we both ordered beef & ale pie ...... Biggest plate of food I've seen since America and probably the first plate that size that I have fully consumed in a looooong time. Needless to say, at this juncture after almost two days in Scotland, I feel a good 10 lbs. heavier. Sufficiently satisfied. We then went on a hunt for ice cream and after finding some Haagen-daas, we decided a nap was in order after our battles with the rain and our victory over our large meals. Having struggled with the acclimation to substantially different temperatures and weather, my nose and throat chose this nap time and afterwards to mutiny, so I was not feeling my best, so we laid around for a while. I finally decided this was no way to take advantage of the time there and that I should brave the cold and go try some beers with my friend...just near by. We headed to

Royal Mile

Huge fan of the feel of this town

a bar called Jekyll & Hyde (as the story/book was written by a Scotsman & recognized around the town) which was really neat and was the perfect place to chill and have some ales. Afterwards we walked back down the 'hip' part of town where many of the very attractive people of the city enjoy their nights out. We were beat and ready to get back to the warmth of Ambers flat and rest up.

On Sunday I had a later flight, so we took advantage of my last hours there and made our way to Rosslyn Chapel, which is about a 30 minute bus ride outside of the city. Famous for its ties to myths about the Holy Grail and connection with The Da Vinci Code. We lucked out that entrance was free on Sundays (or we're just very stealthy and snuck by any & everyone collecting tickets) and did a quick, read all of the informational signs tour around this small chapel, and went back to town. The chapel was beautiful and really interesting in that it felt very pieced together like a puzzle with its mixture of pagan and religious artworks/carvings. It was the perfect excursion

Gallows

Scotland used to be really big on hanging people...this is where that took place sometimes...eeks

to make for the time that we had. And best of all, free, as Amber's roommate was kind enough to let me borrow her bus pass. When we got back into town we ate a delicious pizza meal near Amber's flat and I grabbed my things in order to make it to the airport according to airport time standards of two hours.

I felt very content and fulfilled after having spent these three days with my great friend. She was an amazing host, tour guide, and companion. I absolutely LOVED Edinburgh and Scotland. It was nice to see a different sort of Europe, especially with all of the green and elevations within the city itself. My only dislike was the UKpound, but not much can be done about that and I think I made the best of it .... I was glad to make it back to warmer Spain and felt almost stronger than most here as I had just come from a very cold place and the 50 degree weather here was more than bearable. I have a lot to look forward to in the next month and have found myself to be more content, settled, and comfortable

This is one of the many closes people use to get to and from different levels of street-age

with being here since my return from my trip. I think it was helpful for me to be able to really talk about my anxieties and issues with a good friend in order to really help me realize what I'm doing and what I should be getting out of my experience. So in more ways than one I am forever grateful for Scotland and everything it holds.

I hope you all had a good holiday! I was thinking about you and hope to hear from you soon!! I have discovered that mail actually arrives to my apartment, so if you'd like to send me a letter or any pictures (as my walls are still rather bare) they would be much appreciated! I'll put my address below again. Take care, keep in touch, and have a great week!! All of my love!

Carolina TdK
c/ Luis Mitjans, 25 C 3ºB
28007, Madrid
Espana

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