9 April 2011

Oh my god. Today was exhausting! But I enjoyed every minute of it! I woke up at 7am, because I knew I'd want to do loads today.

Firstly, I went up to Calton Hill, which offers a great view of the city. I spent quite a while up there, admiring the Scottish capital and taking dozens of pictures.

 

Then, I visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Scottish residence of the Queen. It was really good! Again, it was quite expensive, but definitively worth it. I saw the rooms and stuff and it was really interesting! I especially enjoyed entering Holyrood Abbey, which is in ruins now. I felt like I'd see King Arthur or Merlin suddenly appear before my eyes mwa ha ha ha. The gardens are lovely too, and it was nice to wander around them, feeling the April sun on my delicate face. Ok, I've gone a bit poetical, but today was so inspiring!

Then, I went inside the Scottish parliament (it's free, yay!). The building is quite cool and I thought it'd be nice to see the interior. I was not amazed, but I'm still glad I went!

After that, I decided it'd be a good idea to have lunch on Arthur's Seat. It's the big hill in the South-East of Edinburgh. So I climbed it. I climbed and walked and climbed. I think I've now seen every pebble and leaf of grass on this hill, seriously! When I eventually came down, I was shattered and my legs felt like jelly. But I wasn't done yet! Here are some picture of my trek!

I went back to the Royal Mile and booked my ticket for Mary Kings Close, as I know (for having been before) that it's a really busy and popular attraction.

Then, I went to the Writer's Museum. There's not much to say; I only spent about 10 minutes in there. It was nothing special really.

After that, as I was feeling a little peckish, I thought it'd be nice to have a piece of Scottish shortbread. It took me some time to find some... I wanted to buy some at the Shortbread House of Edinburgh, but when I asked a guy in a shop and when he told me how far is was (I could barely feel my legs at this point), I decided I'd try and find some some place nearer. But the only bloody things I could find were those bloody Walkers shortbreads. I mean, common, I can find those in any respectable shop in Switzerland. But eventually, I found an ice café where I had a nice shortbread wedge, as it was called. Yummy.

Then, as I had some time before Mary Kings Close visit, I decided to check out the National museum of Scotland. It is HUGE and the building, if it is nice from the outside, is even cooler from the inside. It's like a maze and you could literally spend ages in there. I didn't. I spent about one hour there. It was cool though, as the whole of the Scottish history is shown, from the very beginning (and from beginning, I mean mountain formation and dinosaurs kinda things).

Then, as I had yet some more time left, I thought it'd be nice to check out some paintings at the Gallery (also free =)). But I was only there for 5-10 minutes, as they only had about 10 impressionist paintings and only ONE miserable painting from my beloved William Turner.

After that, I headed off to my hotel to have a well-deserved rest, and dinner, before going to my ghostly visit in what must be the most famous close in Edinburgh. As I said before, I had been before with my family. I enjoyed it so that's why I wanted to go again. During this really cool visit, you go to the Royal Mile's undergrounds. In the 17^th century, it was a street and then, the city was rebuilt above it, leaving it hidden and frozen. It must have been horrible to live back then brrrrrr.....

It was good! Even though I had been before! This time, I could actually understand the guide, which can be helpful hahaha.

This picture comes from Google Images, as we weren't allowed to take any in the close!

And then, I went back to my hotel, exhausted!