Edinburgh, Scotland

Wi-fi is hard to come by I've discovered! Well, if you're too cheap to pay for it like I am. Needless to say it's caused a holdup on my blogging, but I've found a pocket of wifi I can access if I stand on the curb outside of my hotel.

Callie and I got into Edinburgh last night just in time for dinner.   We spent a good twelve hours traveling, but it was well worth it. I fell in love with Edinburgh the moment I stepped out of the train station!

We stopped to eat at an Italian restaurant right on the Royal Mile and sat out on the patio to enjoy the beautiful night and people watching. Then she went to check into Queen Margaret's University, and I went to check into my hotel!

I ventured out to the Grassmarket area right down the street from my hotel after I got settled to begin my exploring! It has a great casual vibe and it was fun just to walk around and take it all in.

This morning I got up and walked  back down to that same area and found myself some coffee before heading out to see the rest of Edinburgh. I ran down to Holyrood Park and walked all the way around Arthurs Peak. I made the mistake of not wearing a rain jacket though, and it starting drizzling about half way through. 

I decided to check out the Holyrood Palace while I was down there in hopes that the rain would stop while I toured inside. Unfortunately it got worse so after grabbing some lunch and arguably the worst cup of coffee I've ever had, I braved the rain back to the hotel to get my rain coat. Naturally it stopped raining about the time I got back to the hotel drenched.

Then I headed back out and over to the Edinburgh Castle in an attempt to get most of my touring out of the way today. As much as I enjoyed the tours and seeing the architecture up close, I have a hard time in crowded places! But, the view of the city from way up in the castle was awesome!

Afterwards I walked down to Prince's Street to explore the area they call New Town, though it is anything but! Truly the architecture in this city is phenomenal! Everywhere you turn there's a spire or turret or cute little stone breezeway. 

I think I managed to cover about  sixty percent of Edinburgh on foot today. I love that it is such a small big city! My favorite part of traveling is the exploring, I love getting to know a new place and all it's quirks!

Callie had orientation and group tours planned through her school for the day so we met up for dinner, which was an adventure in itself since neither of us have cell service or consistent access to wi fi! We found this cute restaurant called Creelers with delicious seafood and enjoyed some wonderful salmon. Now we are enjoying the wifi and trying to get caught up on our emails!

Despite the dreary weather it has still managed to be a great day, and I'm ready to do some more exploring in Edinburgh tonight (it doesn't get dark til 10) and throughout the week!