From Aylea to London

I personally was very thrilled to have no more of this:

I didn't even take a picture of the other sign because it freaked me out a bit.  I was convinced I was going to come down with some horrible disease.  Anyway.  Off we went!

First we went to New Lanark.  This is a town preserved in its industrial revolution state.  The weirdest part about it was that we were waiting in line for a really long time and we couldn't quite tell why there was a line.  Turns out it was a ride.  A long ride.  A not very exciting ride.  At this point, I was so hungry I didn't even care about anything but food.  Bus rides will do that to you.

But I did take a picture of something there anyway.  I just don't really remember what.  Some sort of engine?

Anyway, not the greatest.  Luckily there was a little cafe place.  I got nachos.  I was supposed to also get a panini but, well, I didn't get a panini.  The nachos were pretty good except there were jalapenos on them.  I don't do spicy.

Enough complaining.  We were in Scotland, for crying out loud!  And not too long after that, we arrived in Edinburgh!  Whoo-hoo!

And I fell in love right from the start.  We all stuck our luggage into one room and then went on a walk down the street to the castle.  On our way we saw a cool statue.  I have to describe it like that because I don't remember what it was.  It may or may not have been Adam Smith.

I also heard bagpipes and sure enough, there was a guy playing bagpipes!  Right there!  Yay!
Okay.  I need sleep.  Let's hold this together until the end of the post.

So we went to the castle there.  Unfortunately my pictures of the outside didn't turn out well.

But I was thrilled with the inside.  I was also very sad because I knew it was my last castle.  

They had some cool stuff about more modern wars.  Unfortunately I didn't pay much attention.  I like the old medieval stuff too much.

One of the best parts was the crown jewels of Scotland.  I couldn't take any pictures in there but they were very cool.

I love Scotland!

The ceiling of the Great Hall dates back to the middle ages.  I was excited.

And the royal chambers were pretty neat too.

We went and checked into our hostel rooms and then were supposed to go and find certain places in the city.  I ended up going out for a few minutes on my own until I found people to be with.

Apparently it was Adam Smith

One of the things we went and saw where they tried to copy Greece's parthenon because people felt like Edinburgh was the next Greece where people would be looking for civilization.  Unfortunately they only got one wall up before they lost their enthusiasm.

And with much effort and some help from the people already up there, I managed to climb up for a picture.

We went and saw the memorial to Sir Walter Scott.  It's huge!

And the Princes Street Gardens

And we happened to pass by this incredible Bagpipe and drum group!  They had to drag me away because I was so excited.  I took so much video!  Exactly what I was hoping to see in Scotland.

After we got done with all the places we were supposed to go, we headed back to our hostel to eat dinner there.  As soon as I found out I was going to Scotland I decided that I wanted to try haggis.  Although it took some convincing to have them not give me whisky dip, I got haggis bites with garlic mayonnaise.

Well, it wasn't my favorite.  But I was thrilled to try it!  And by the way, I was perfectly aware that haggis is sheep's heart, liver, and lungs minced with onion, oatmeal, suet (which is of course fat that comes from kidneys and loins of animals), spices, salt, and traditionally cooked in an animal's stomach.  It tasted like sausage but it had a really mushy texture that I couldn't deal with.  It really didn't taste that bad.  But not remembering exactly what it is makes my stomach turn a bit.  I had horrible stomach pains that night but I don't think it was the haggis.