Thursday + {Edinburgh: Day Three}

Today Gooligan and I pried ourselves out of bed, dressed in as many layers as we could, and headed off for the Hairy Coo tour. The Hairy Coo runs a free Highland tour (light on the highlands, heavy on the hairy coos), but it was filled up by the time we tried to book it so we opted for the £39.00 tour (student price), with an option £11.00 one-hour tour of Loch Ness. Completely worth it. Our tour guide was fantastic. 

While there was a million things Gooligan and I wished we could have done or experienced while in Scotland, I'm glad we spent our last day seeing the countryside and putting Edinburgh in context. Plus our tour guide explained so much of both historical and contemporary Scotland, including the movement that is coming up to vote next year about Scotland's independence from the UK.

The highlands were gorgeous. It was rainy today, so everything was super green and the rivers and waterfalls were a little higher than usual. The mountains were a little hard to see sometimes, but the mist obscuring them made them almost more magical in a way.

We stopped at this tiny village and on Donald's recommendation we ate at this tiny mom and pop bakery. We had a quiche and a macaroni pie and both were incredible.

Then we hurried back onto the bus to make it to the 1:00 hour-long boat cruise on Loch Ness. The Loch was gorgeous, choppy, and dark--and terrifying. Apparently anything that sinks to the impossibly deep bottom is permanently petrified!

We didn't see Nessy, but we did see a lot of stunning reviews. Unfortunately there was a mix-up in the bookings and our tour guide couldn't get us into the whiskey distillery, but he took us to a free whiskey tasting and bought a bottle to share on our way to Glen Cloe.

One of the best parts of the tour, however, was the end. We got to see some hairy coos (AKA Highland cows) which are the most adorable animal in the world. We both fed the cows, too, although I dropped my piece of apple. (Cows don't have very much agility in their mouths.)

Apparently Hamish (one of the cows we saw) is so famous that the Queen herself spared his life when there was an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease and all cows over seven were supposed to be slaughtered!

Once we got home, Gooligan and I heated up some soup, showered, and hung out with Ritchie and another one of his friends again. I'm really glad to have had such a wonderful experience for our first Airbnb place.
 
Anyway, just a brief update before hitting the hay. We have to be up in five hours to catch a series of buses to get to the airport. Both of us are madly in love with Edinburgh (and Scotland in general) and want to come back as soon as possible. One of my favorite things about our few days here, though, is hearing about the locals discussing the Scotland Independence movement and hearing the people for, against, or undecided. The States isn't quite in the same situation, of course, but in a lot of ways we can really sympathize with how removed and unlocalized the politics are; I'm definitely going to keep tabs on this issue and see what comes of it.

Wednesday + {Edinburgh: Day Two}

The buses in Edinburgh are so great! Not only are they cheap (£1.50 one-way or £3.50 for all-day), but they run 24 hours a day (midnight-4:30 in the morning is a little more expensive), go everywhere, and they're double-deckers. Needless to say, Gooligan and I like to sit on the top level and soak up the city from up high.

On our first proper day in the city, we walked to the supermarket just across the street and bought a ready-made sandwich and a pair of apples. Then we took the bus to Holyrood Park, where Arthur's Seat and the Salisbury Crags are located. We were going to hike up Arthur's Seat, but after we crested the Salisbury Crags we decided that we didn't quite have it in us to do a second big climb.

But we saw some amazing views from the Crags. They really do provide an incredible view of the city. 

After our hike, we took a break and ate lunch outside, then wandered back up the Royal Mile to the Edinburgh Castle. On our way we popped into a few free museums--one had a lot of objects from Edinburgh's history, including Robert Louis Stevenson's golf ball (!) and one was a wax museum of history. By the time we reached the castle, I was nearly asleep on my feet at this point, so we skipped going inside. Next time we're definitely going to spend an entire day inside; one of the employee's descriptions of it made us really disappointed that we hesitated to go see it. But it was an important lesson for us--and a good one to learn early on in the trip: no hesitating if we think we're going to regret it later.

After a brief detour back to our flat, we went out for gelato and dinner. In that order, of course. Affogato closed at eight and the pub we went to dinner at was open until one in the morning, so we decided to mix things up. I'm so glad we did, too. The gelato was delicious. Gooligan and I split a gingerbread/bacio bowl and it was perfect. (Bacio is a light chocolate hazelnut flavor akin to a light nutella in taste.)

We were really hungry by the time we headed off to the pub. We ate at Nobles--a slightly nicer pub about four or five miles from our flat. Gooligan got the Pan Fried Wood Pigeon and I had fish and chips. The food was much better than our first night out and we ate to bursting--which was good because the walk to the bus stop was cold.

Back at our flat, we hung out with Richie for a short while before we both had to call it a night due to early mornings.

Tuesday + {Edinburugh + Day One}

Well, I'm in Scotland! As promised. Getting here was an exciting trip. No crises, thankfully. But there were a few eventful moments--when security at Sea-Tac shut down for a moment due to a false alarm, a forgotten water bottle delaying us at security at Heathrow, and a delayed plane almost tipping me over into panic mode when, twenty minutes until our plane was supposed to take off, no gate had been announced yet.

Waiting to take off from Heathrow.

 Overall, our flights and bus rides were relatively good: Gooligan didn't get much sleep on the flight to Heathrow due to an upset child, but she napped on the second leg and the excitement of finally being here has kept us going until it's a respectable time to go to bed. It's almost eleven p.m. here; about three p.m. in Seattle.

After we arrived in Edinburgh we caught two buses to get to Morningside, where the flat we're renting a room in is located. Our host (whom we connected with via Airbnb) is absolutely great. He's given us a lot of tips about the area and provided us with maps and really made us feel welcome. 

The view from our room.

Then Gooligan and I took a brief outing to walk around the neighborhood, snap a few pictures, and grab something to eat.

The food could've been better, but it was alright and the first decent meal we've had since a late lunch on Monday. After dinner we came back and watched a football game with our host and his friend and stayed up late (for us) talking about politics, travel, and the world.

Tomorrow we're going to check out a Highland tour, maybe see some art. Expect a lot more pictures coming your way! Edinburgh is beautiful.