Edinburgh: Day 3

Today was a busy and exciting day! It was our free day in Edinburgh and Laura and I packed it full of fun things. 

We woke up bright and early and finished breakfast before anyone else had come down stairs yet. As soon as we were given our bus tickets for the day, we took off. We took a bus down to Princes Street and from there we walked a few blocks down North Bridge Street. Our destination was Scayles Music store but we ended up stopping at every tourist shop we came to along the way. We successfully found the music store and I got the one souvenir that I really wanted from this trip. Well, one of two. I really wanted to find a tin whistle while in Scotland. And I found one! The other souvenir will have to wait for Paris. 

Breakfast in Scotland

My tin whistle!

After we left the music store we crossed the street and went through some other stores on the walk back to Princes Street. We found a pretty awesome book store where we spent some time. I also found an awesome edition of The Wizard of Oz there and ALMOST bought it. But then I thought it'd be dumb to buy American literature while in the UK. And I already have my moms copy of the book. 

Walking back to Princes Street 

Once we got back to Princes Street we walked up to Calton Hill. Calton Hill is basically just a park on top of a big hill that's filled with monuments. It's pretty cool and it has great views of the city. 

Calton Hill from below

Lion railing

View from the top of the hill-- The Firth of Forth can be seen in the distance

Greek-looking monument

We were pretty hungry after our venture to the top of Calton Hill so we walked down to the pub, The Standing Order. This is where things got a bit interesting. Laura and I had decided before we'd even left for this trip that we NEEDED to try haggis while we were in Scotland. So we both ordered paninis and some haggis to share. When the haggis was delivered to our table my first thought was, "Yuck. That looks gross." For those of you who don't know what haggis is, haggis is a sheeps heart, liver, and lungs minced with onions, oatmeal, suet (raw beef or mutton fat), spices, and salt. Traditionally this would be encased in the stomach of the animal and cooked. It's a traditional Scottish dish so we wanted to try it. Here's the surprising thing. It really didn't taste bad. However, the texture was horrible. We both took one bite and decided we'd had enough. It only cost 70 pence, so we didn't really lose much by not eating it all.

My yummy cheese and tomato panini and Irn-Bru

And here we have our haggis

When we had finished eating, walked back down to Princes Street to do some shopping. Before we could even get to the shops, we heard a bagpipe and decided to find whoever was playing. Turns out it wasn't too hard. So we went and listened to the bagpipe player for a little while. She was really good! 

The bagpipe player

After shopping we hopped on a bus and took it down to the Firth of Forth which is an inlet of the North Sea. We spent a bit of time there and then we came back to our bed and breakfast to take a breather. 

The Firth of Forth

Firth of Forth

Taking a breather in our hotel room-- take note of all the plaid

At supper time we got on another bus and went to Bella Italia, which has become our favorite Italian chain in the UK. After eating we hopped on another bus and took it just down the street because Laura wanted to see the Greyfriars Bobby monument. It worked out because it was just up the street from The Elephant House which is supposedly where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. I'm not a Harry Potter fan but I still kind of wanted to see that cafe. 

Pizza at Bella Italia

Desserts at Bella Italia-- so good

The Elephant House

Now Laura, Nelie, and myself are chilling in our room and listening to Disney music. We need to pack our things up and be ready to leave early in the morning. We'll be headed to Paris! 

Michaela