Edinburgh, my favorite weekend so far

I spent last weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland and it was amazing. We were on a field trip throughout the city on Friday and went on a tour of the Scottish Parliament, the Queen's palace, and the Edinburgh castle before being let loose on our own. The city was definitely better than I had expected and it was so huge. I ended up staying in a hostel Friday and Saturday night with 13 other people from the group. It was quite an experience having so many people in one room but it was awesome. I took plenty of random cityscape pictures which I will post below, as well as some others. I spent literally all of Saturday afternoon in a cafe with three friends and it was the most fun I have had in a long time. Most people would look at such a thing and consider it a wasted afternoon in an amazing city but I disagree, memories were made that I will never forget. I ate breakfast Sunday morning in the famous Elephant House Cafe which is where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. After that I spent the day roaming around town soaking up the sites and sounds of bagpipes. To top off the weekend a few of us climbed to the top of the Scot Monument which involved walking up a narrow spiral staircase with more than 280 steps. It was pretty creepy but the 360 degree views of Edinburgh, the mountains, and the north sea were stunning. Right before hopping on the train back to Alnwick I stopped in a pub with some friends to try Scotland's traditional dish called Haggis. Most tourists are put off by the dish because its main ingredient is sheep stomach but I couldn't say no to the opportunity. I must say it was actually very tasty and it went down well with a Coke, I would definitely eat it again.

I am heading back to Newcastle for a day trip this Friday with some of my usual road trip buddies to do some shopping and sight seeing since I was only able to visit the city for a few hours the first time around. There is a coastal boat tour on Saturday so I am planning on getting in on that as well. It was gorgeous outside today so hopefully that lasts into the weekend. It was also 80 degrees in Paris today so I am crossing my fingers that it stays that nice for the next few weeks, I will be there soon!











Cheers!

A trip to Hadrian's Wall and the Lake District

Here are some pictures from this past weekend. The first few are from Hadrian's Wall and I have one picture of our Hostel in the Lake District (the pic with the boat) and lastly some shots from a mountain top. Leaving for Edinburgh tomorrow!