The hills are alive with the sound of...

...bagpipes...

So Scotland is pretty much 35x better than Ireland, it seems. Everyone here is so much nicer to tourists, but it's also easier to blend in. As long as you feign your confidence in where you're going, people will assume you're a local and might treat you a bit better on the sidewalk...

It's also pretty much better because I can breathe on the streets. People here don't smoke/vape as much as like 60% of Dublin...

It has been a while since I updated. I'm having trouble remembering to write down these things, whether it's on this blog or in my journal. But I'm trying. 

So the first day I got here, I, as usual, took a free walking tour of the city, and it was really cool!!!

I learned about the history of Scotland, the rulers, the conflicts and wars, the results, and the humorous stories, all within just 3 hours!

We walked down below the Edinburgh Castle, which is phenomenal!!! Apparently, there's a huge festival here every August, and so they have a stadium just for that, right next to the castle.

But they decide that it works best if they rebuild it every year... So every May, they start building a stadium, that will be used for one month, and then taken down over the course of 3 months... Don't ask me why...

We stopped for a 15 minute break, where I visited a shop called Milk, and got some Hot White Chocolate, and I'll be doing that again for sure. It was super. 

We walked over to a cemetery, where J.K. Rowling spent a lot of time. Our guide pointed out specific graves, like James MacGonagall, Alice Moodey, Tom Riddell, and mentioned that on the records was someone named Peter Pettigrew...

Then, we traversed over to a different part of the cemetery and learned the story of Greyfriar's Bobby. Greyfriar was the main grave keeper of the yard, and got lonely, so he got a little Scotty Dog named Bobby.

But that didn't last long, because Greyfriar passed away just two years later.

But Bobby stuck around. During the funeral, Bobby laid down by the grave, next to his best friend. And when the coffin was lowered, Bobby stayed laying. And through the night, Bobby was there with his friend Greyfriar. Every day, for 14 more years, Bobby stayed right by his masters grave.

Wow... Did it just start raining all over everyone's faces or what??

So they constructed this statue in Bobbys honor, and rubbing his nose is considered good luck. 

After that, I stopped by the Natural History Museum, which was pretty cool. Unfortunately it didn't last very long because I walk really quickly...

But there was cool stuff in there. There were rooms for all sea life, space, earth, and almost every culture from every continent. It was truly an experience. But no photos allowed...

My back really hurt ever since I picked up my backpack wrong. It didn't settle down until Thursday. 

So that was Tuesday. Wednesday was more on my schedule, and I liked it a lot. One of my favorite days so far on this trip. 

It started off when I walked over to another hostel, closer into town, to book this weekend. Hopefully their breakfast will be better than this one...

I took a shirt tour of one of the churches here, the one with the funny story behind it. Back after the reformation, the churches had to change their services very quickly. So one Sunday, after all the members started getting confused with the new liturgy, one woman was so outraged that she threw her bar chair at the presiding minister, and hit him. Everyone else was confused, so they all joined in the throwing of chairs. The priest did get away, but was found in a nearby village, where he was... Well, killed...

So, because of that, in the middle of this church, there's an exact replica of the bar chair that was originally thrown on display. The church, however, did not allow pictures to be taken, unless you wanted to pay for a £2 photo pass. Which is basically $3.50. I didn't pay. So I didn't take pictures. Sorry. 

I also went to these amazing, beautiful gardens, known as the West Princes Street Garden!! And I loved it so so so much. It was so peaceful. Everyone was so respectful of each other, and always picked up all their messes and made sure to keep this wonderful garden clean. 

See how beautiful it is?? It was amazing and peaceful, and I just sat there

For like 2 hours. 

And it was the most amazing set of 2 hours I've had. In a long long time. 

There was also a little cafe there, so I got some ice cream, and that was really awesome. I missed ice cream.

I'm also really really really liking my roommates?!!? I have two of them right now, and they're both really good conversationalists, and I love talking with them. One of them is from Australia, and he's here looking for a job, so he's staying in this hostel until August?? That's a ways away... We normally just talk about slang and stereotypes from our countries...

My other roommate is this really awesome Spanish girl. (for a while, I couldn't tell if she was a girl or a boy, but she was still cool either way. She has short hair. Except for one really long dreadlock.) We talked for about an hour and a half on just about every topic out there: stereotypes, education systems, life in America, life in Spain, gun laws in America... Spanish history, money, jobs, etc. She's just a very wonderful person to talk to. 

Then I fell asleep while listening to music. I've been having a problem where I wake up around 3am every morning, and it takes longer to fall asleep?? Not sure why...

Although I'm writing this post on Thursday evening, I'll write about today when I write my next one. I like sticking with the Two Day posts. I can remember the events easier, and it keeps them from being too much to write/read. 

Till next time! Love y'all!