24 Hours in Scotland!

It's been my first full day in Edinburgh!! I've learned so much already, and haven't seen a single play yet. The city is so incredible, it'll be amazing to see it busting with +250,000 people here to see the Fringe Festival! There are so many different festivals going on (music, book, jazz) that I think they are really organizing a Festival Festival. :)

1) My Journey: I made it safely across the Atlantic, and ate cute, but horrible tasting British Airways food! I was incredibly lucky, and TWO seats next to me were empty! I curled up and enjoyed a wonderful 5 hours of airplane sleep. Heathrow was fairly simple to navigate (although all drinking fountains seem to be absent in Europe, so I was sorely partched) and they served us chocolate cookies on the commuter flight to Edinburgh!

2) The apartment is GORGEOUS! Three flights, with windy staircases, a little dining room, cute kitchen, and high ceilinged living room. Here is our room! I met most of the neighbors as I was arriving -- none of the doors were marked, so in my sleep/food deprived state and quest to get into our flat, I knocked on all of them as I was arriving...).

3) An hour in, I went out exploring (other kids were "tired" from their flights). It was gorgeous sunshine, and a few minutes after wandering through Princes Street Gardens (gorgeous fields, in view of the Edinburgh Castle, with a clock made of flowers!), I heard my first bagpiper. Guess what he was playing? THE THEME FROM FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS. I even got a photo of the two of us (he's tiny in the background). Best welcome that Edinburgh could have given me. :)

4) Today we visited a street packed with shops called the Royal Mile (Hogsmeade) and visited Edinburgh Castle (Hogwarts)! Outside the Castle (Hogwarts) is a huge stadium (for Quidditch) where they perform the Military Tattoo. Edinburgh is the Harry Potter World for Reals, and I expect Hagrid to push his way through the crowd at any moment. We even visited the Elephant House, a cafe where JK Rowling wrote HP1. Definitely going back there to start my great novel!

5) They let you have library cards even if you're not Scottish!! I am going to get one to the Royal Scottish Library, where we visited today. The place is incredible, with fourteen million books, aging back from the 1600s. The floor you walk in is technically the 11th floor, with ten stories built beneath it to house the books. Library card = awesome souvenir (for free!)! :)

5) Found a few Scotsmen with rockhard abs! Andrew might have some competition. ;)

6) There is so much to do! Hike this huge crag where you can see all the city, go to a mound with great monuments, go to the castle, tons of free museums, and especially PLAYS! We might plan a Glasglow trip as well. :) I can't believe I'm back in Europe!

7) Miss you. :)