The tales of Edinburgh

Where to begin! From the moment we tumbled off the bus with our backpacks and various other trinkets onto the Edinburgh sidewalk, we knew we were in love. It has such a laid back, cool atmosphere. All of the modern buildings have been built in the same style as they were in the 1800's, so it felt like you were steeping back in time. The streets were always bustling, and we noticed immediately that there is about as many pubs and taverns as there are sushi restaurants in Vancouver. 

We were excited to find out that our hostel was located just off the royal mile. 

Our first day we toured around the city a bit, then enjoyed some drinks with our new Australian roommates, Emma and Jess. 

The next morning we planned to climb Arthur's seat despite the fog, however we decided to cancel those plans as soon as the lightening and thunder showers started. We finally put our jackets to good use! Instead we went on a walking tour, and even met another Renée. We didn't realize Edinburgh has such a gruesome history. We saw lots of the Harry Potter inspirations, and Renée was excited to get a picture with Thomas Riddle's grave. To warm up after the tour, we joined our Australian friends at an adorable tea room, Clarinda's. 

Later on when we were hanging out in the chill room, we met even more Australians and decided to join them on a pub crawl. We went to some pretty cool pubs with lots of good music, and even tried out some Irish dancing. Pub crawl night successful!

The next day we did some exploring (well Renée did, and Sarah caught some z's), had some great food: we went for dinner at Henderson's bistro, and thought it was really neat when the waiter had given us a hand drawn picture on  the receipt. It wasn't until later when we pulled it out, that we realized it was actually a portrait of Renee eating her soup. Not sure whether to be creeped out or impressed (Let's just say Sarah is happy it wasn't her portrait). Then we finished off our night in the chill room. 

The next day we went to the Edinburgh dungeon. We were shaking in our booties, as little wee ones were sucking on eye ball lollipops having the time of their lives. We survived even after walking around in the mirror maze for a good ten minutes. We went for lunch and then headed to the national museum of Scotland. Contrary to her initial belief, Sarah found out in the animal exhibit that llamas do not have humps. 

Following the learning experience, we decided to go on a quest up to Arthur's seat. Much to our dismay, the fog was so thick you couldn't even see higher than fifty meters. We felt like we were caught in a field of sheep; a white abyss. Hike up Arthur's seat, take one, unsuccessful.

Day five, our final day in Edinburgh, we knew we had to make it count. We woke up early, saw the sunshine, and headed straight for Arthur's seat.

Our new Russian fried Yulia joined us for the hike. It was a steep but beautiful hike with sites of Edinburgh stretching for miles at all angles. There was no actually seat at the top , but we sat regardless to enjoy the views.

Following the hike, we relaxed with a cup of tea at Clarinda's once again. Next we walked through Princes park to enjoy extra large seagulls (size of small labrador dogs) and views from below the Edinburgh castle. To finish off our last night, we went back to Whistle Binkies, the first stop in our pub crawl, to enjoy some live music. The bass player in the rock band look awfully similar to Renee's dad. She tried to take a stealth photo, but her cover was blown when the flash blared. The acoustic performer, was a lovely Scottish man, lovely enough to earn a tattoo spot on Sarah's arm, next to the existing tattoo of the lead singer from the Seattle yacht club. Pictures to follow (Sorry mom). 

All packed up and early out the door, we were on our way to Dublin Saturday morning. 

Airport story to follow (It's cray as fish fillet, so we thought it is worthy of its own blog post).

Renée and Sarah