By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes...

Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomon'.
where me and my true love were ever wont to gae
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomon'.

O ye'll tak' the high road and I'll tak the low road,
An' I'll be in Scotland afore ye;
But me and me true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomon'.
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Such a good song. Give it a listen sometime. Somehow, it always makes me nostalgic. I'm not sure why...it's not like I listened to it all the time as a kid. Anyways, I love it. 


I left off last time in Scotland with the Ceilidgh. Scottish reels have a totally different feel than the haunting tunes of songs such as Loch Lomand, but they're fun, nonetheless. Actually, the Ceilidgh was brilliant. And if you really think about the idea of 300 college kids trying to spin a good reel who have no idea what they're doing...it's actually really brilliant. It was ridiculous, but so much fun. I got spun around until I was so dizzy I could barely walk straight and plus, I broke my sandals. If there's one thing I can say for BYU guys, it's that they can dance partner dances (thank you stake dances, efy, and youth conference). Better than most of the other guys, at least.

brooke and i right before the ceilidgh.
aka, pre-sweatiness.

The ceilidgh was done around midnight, I believe. We had decided we were going to hike Arthur's seat again, just to see the sunrise. Sunrise comes early in Scotland this time of year...like 4:40am early.


We sat around in front of the building for a while, just trying to decide what we were going to do. Being young folk, we knew there wasn't a point to going to bed...so we all decided to explore Edinburgh by night. We stopped by a fish & chips place and a kebab place because some of us were hungry...and we needed a way to kill time anyways. Sidenote: I LOVED kebabs in Spain. The one I had here was disgusting though. The lamb tasted way different...and I didn't like it. The boys did though!


We walked the royal mile. Stopped outside the Scottish parliament. Read Scottish poetry off of a wall. Talked to total inebriation in the form of two English gentlemen. Had a good time.

in front of good ol' Adam Smith (his feet anyways).
group of us + two drunk English guys.

The streets were almost empty except for us. We owned the place. It was cool--to see Edinburgh without all the tourists. Eventually, we headed back towards Arthur's seat. It took us a while to figure out how to get on a path that would take us to the top. The temperature while we were climbing was perfect. 


We finally got to the top, and realized that we had about an hour to wait until sunrise. It was windy up there. And once we sat down, we started to get cold. We got real close real fast. It was a huddle-fest, for real. We were sitting in the middle of a cloud. It was so foggy that we couldn't see anything except for the rocks that we were sitting on. 

el grupo.

We stayed there until sunrise. It was too cloudy to see the actual sunrise (thank you, Scotland), but we could see the fog gradually begin to lift, and pretty soon, we could see the rolling hills, the city, and then finally, the sea. It was still cool, believe me. It was tricky getting back down. For one thing, we were all so tired. And for another thing, everything was damp, and the rocks were quite slick. 


We all made it safely back to our lodgings, where Becca, Nick, Rob, and I decided to stay up until breakfast time at eight. That way we could eat, and then crawl into bed and die. We made it, even though everybody who passed us probably thought we looked like quite the pathetic foursome. 


I ate. And then I slept. And slept. And slept. I woke up around noon and met up with Becca. We were supposed to meet up with Rob and Nick as well, but somehow, we missed them. 


And here I guess is where Day 3 in Scotland really commences. 


Day 3:


Becca and I literally ate our way through Edinburgh this day. Every time it rained (and it rained quite a lot), we would escape into a cafe. And the experience was fantastic. 


As we left our lodgings, we decided to go back to the royal mile, wanting to see it in daylight. We were starving again, so we stopped in a little pastry shop to buy an apple-raspberry tart. 


The royal mile was completely different in daylight. We stopped in a few little shops...and then we found what we really wanted to find. The Elephant House.  


Where J.K. Rowling used to sit, look out at the Edinburgh castle, and write Harry Potter. Harry Potter, guys. Harry Potter.

elephant house.
elephant chair.
fitting.

I ordered a delicious hazelnut hot chocolate and a slice of mango cake. Becca ordered lemon tea and some other dessert. We sat there in the Elephant House for the longest time and just talked. It was so nice. I love the atmosphere of the pubs and cafes here! 


Matt and Brett came in when we were finishing up. Becca and I wanted to get some real food for lunch though, so we decided to go to a pub just down the street (Becca had been there the day before and the food had been fantastic) while Matt and Brett enjoyed the Elephant House. The pub was amazing. I don't remember what it was called...but I remember we made it just in time before it began to POUR. I had butternut squash soup and cheese bread--and both were simply heavenly. SO full of flavor and honest-to-goodness heartiness. 


Afterward, we met up with a bunch of people and we all went to Chocolate Soup for dessert. By this time I was absolutely stuffed. But you can't leave Edinburgh without trying Chocolate Soup...so I shared a chocolate smoothie/drink with Becca and Brooke. Glad we shared. I don't think I could have handled that much chocolate on my own--it was incredibly rich.

Chocolate Soup!
Notice my glasses...my eyes were so bloodshot
that I didn't feel like wearing contacts that day.

After Chocolate Soup, we did some walking and saw some more of the cool things in Edinburgh.

Scott Memorial--commemorating Sir Walter Scott. 

Edinburgh is beautiful.

Edinburgh Castle.

Picture 1: In front of the Edinburgh castle...
Picture 2-4: the royal mile.

We finished off the night with a ghost tour. We learned all about the morbid history of Edinburgh (and trust me, it was morbid). We also learned exactly how glad we are that we didn't live back then. We visited a couple of the "haunted" locations in Edinburgh. It was more history/disturbing stories than jump-out-at-you-and-make-you-pee-your-pants, but they got me good a couple times. Brooke and I were clinging to each other like no other. 

ghost tour! so sick.
becca, me, matt, guide, brett, brooke, katelyn, and dude whose
name i don't remember.

Day 4:


And pretty soon, it was Day 4, and it was time for our weekend Scottish adventure to end. We got back on the bus. Like usual, I tried to fall asleep...and this time I was very successful. I managed to sleep until we reached our lunch stop. This time, we had our two hour lunch break in Richmond, a cute little English town. 


We bought pasties, sandwiches, and chocolate muffins in a little shop. Then we went to the Richmond castle. It was constructed in 1071and has a 12th century keep. We had a picnic on the grass and then just ran around the ruins. T'was grand.

finishing up with lunch on the grass.

it was so bright we couldn't open our eyes.
overall, a very flattering picture, i would say. ha. 

Richmond castle and Richmond town.

pictures inside Richmond castle.

After our two hours of fun was done...we all got back on the bus and headed back for Cambridge. First week + fun weekend in Scotland was done. And that is when real Cambridge started to kick in. And I actually had to study and read and write and study some more. But hey, guess, I'm here for to learn, right?