Exploring Edinburgh

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!. I'm just really happy because, as of today, I am no longer a teenager! That's right. Today is my 20th birthday! I hope that you all have a fantastic day. I have, and mine has barely even started! But more on that later

I arrived in Edinburgh on Sunday night after a day filled with the stress of finding yourself in a foreign country without any money and with your parents on another continent. On top of that, the bus that we finally managed to secure via telephone and the internet was an hour late, leaving me in the cold for that entire time. I was NOT happy when I first arrived here. However, within a few minutes of arriving, my bad mood disappeared. Edinburgh is the prettiest city that I have ever seen, especially at night. It literally took my breath away (though that may have to do with the fact that all the streets are built on impossibly steep slopes). Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

If you're going to Edinburgh anytime soon, stay at the Edinburgh Backpackers Hostel. It's near the top of one of those impossibly steep inclines I talked about earlier, but it is incredibly close to the Royal Mile, where a lot of the most visited tourist attractions are located, including Edinburgh Castle. Not only that, but the staff are some of the friendliest people I have ever met. When I arrived, the receptionist saw that I was flustered about my financial situation, and gave me a break my letting me stay for the night on just the money in my pocket. Then, when I woke up, the manager let me stay and keep my room until the emergency funds my mom sent me came through. I honestly don't know what I would have done without them, and I will be always grateful to them for cutting me a break when I needed one most. They restored my faith in humanity (for a while at least).

Gates of Edinburgh Castle

Of course, by the time that my money was in my account, it was just after 4:00. I headed up to Edinburgh Castle, which is only a few minutes away from the hostel, but I still made it there at like 4:20 because I stopped in a few souvenier shops along the way, thinking that the castle closed to tourists at 5. Of course, it closed the gates at 4:15. But the day was still young and I had the time to take some pictures before it got too dark. Here's the outside gate. There are more pictures of the inside on my Flickr and Facebook pages. I did get to go inside today, and will talk a little about that later. First, more about my supernatural experience.

First Floor of the Underground Vault

Last night, I took a tour of the haunted Edinburgh Underground Tunnels, which are typically closed to the public. It only lasted an hour and a half, but I will tell you that it was one of the most interesting nights of my life thus far. Before the tour, I believed that ghosts and the supernatural was possible, but now I am almost certainly a believer. I encourage any tourists heading to Edinburgh to take a tour, particularily if you're interested in the darker side of history. Who knows? It may make a believer out of you too. XD The tour guide turned out the lights, so the only thing we could see was her flashlight. Any light in the pictures I took was created by my flash.

Room Where My Pants Were Tugged

It was really cool, and the downstairs was interesting. Upstairs, however was a completely different atmosphere. I was shaking the whole time and my legs kept getting goosebumps. As we were leaving one vault, I felt a tug on my pants at the back of my knee, kinda like a little kid grabbing your leg to get your attention. I thought it was just someone behind me that stepped on my pants, but there was no one else around. Then, as we were standing in another vault, I felt a burning sensation of my leg. I wrote it off and didn't tell anyone about it because I thought I was overreacting. As we were walking out though, I mentioned the pants thing to the guide and she said that a medium told her the room that I was in is supposedly full of the spirits of children who were kidnapped by a pedophile, violated, then sold on the street. When I said something about the burning on my leg, she just brushed it off and said "Oh, more than likely one of the kids saw you as a mother figure and tried to grab ahold of you to get out of there because you were by yourself and not clinging to anyone." I just checked my leg, and it's bright red right in the area I felt burning. I'm really freaking out. So, I may be bringing a kid home with me, and I don't have to wait nine months and deal with labor to get it....but it may have been violated by a man with really long fingernails who prays on young kids. So....it goes without saying that I had a little trouble getting to sleep last night.

War Victim Memorial in the Citadel of Edinburgh Castle

Despite my trouble sleeping last night, I woke up bright and early this morning in order to get the chance to explore Edinburgh Castle. So I hiked my butt back up the Royal Mile (the city limits of Edinburgh) and headed to the castle, only stopping at one or two shops along the way. I got there at around 10:00 and was eagerly set free in the castle courtyards. I chose to forgo the guided tour in order to better experience the castle at my own pace. The highlight of the attraction was probably the opportunity to see the Scottish Crown Jewels, which were hidden underground for a few years to protect them from possible English invaders. I wasn't able to take any pictures, because it may damage them, but it was worth it just to see them. The Stone of Destiny, the stone on which all of the kings and queens of Scotland were crowned, was in the same case as the jewels and was really interesting to see.

Though I couldn't take any pictures of the Crown Jewels, I did take lots of other pictures of the inside of the Castle, all of which are either on my Facebook or my Flickr. Despite a rather lofty entrance fee (14 pounds, or about 22$), it was really worth it just to experience walking around a castle. It is so cool to stand inside a piece of history and imagine the original inhabitants walking its halls. It's not an experience we Americans can replicate very easily without extensive (and expensive) travelling. Plus, there were some truly beautiful views of the city of Edinburgh from the top of the parapet.

Tonight, I'll be headed back to Glasgow on the Megabus to get a flight back to Dublin in the morning. In the meantime, I have to sleep in the airport. You're not truly a hard core traveler until you sleep in the airport. Mostly, I'll be there because my flight leaves at 7 in the morning and buses don't start until like 6. So, I'll find me a nice comfortable corner and daze while I wait for the plane to arrive. I can sleep on the trip back to Dublin. Hopefully I don't die.

Much love and happiness for Valentine's Day!

Brooke <3