~ *Katty's Korner* ~ A Concoction of European Delights: EDINBURGH Nov 25-27

It was a 5 hr drive to Edinburgh, Scotland, including 45 min. stopping time. There were two coaches full exchange students, though the trip was open to anyone. Melissa (from Niagara Falls), Alfonso (Mexican), Willa and Lauren from Snowdonia trip last weekend, and a German girl named Sabrina and I shared a room. It was a great hostel, so clean and large, and it had everything!....except proximity to the city centre. The first day my group couldn't get on the same shuttle to the city centre and it took us 3 times! We managed to regroup finally. The day was cold and rainy, pretty miserable. We booted it to this Whiskey musuem, thinking it was fre....it wasn't. Forget that. We walked completely the wrong way trying the find the place and kept stopping in all the cute little shops. I bought a large umbrella and a Scotland jersey for only 15 quid! It's nice and thick and warm. I thought it was fitting because Iain (exchange student from last year) managed to get 2 tickets to the Scot vs. New Zealand rugby game. The All Blacks (New Zealand) are the best team in the world!! Melissa and I took Iain up on his offer-for only 10 quid!

We first went to a small, private pub that no on knows about. It's actually the basement of a society something like "the Free Masions" and only are allowed to open it up during large events if you sign in under a "day member." The game was really exciting! New Zealand started off with this Hacka dance--very hot. The beat Scotland 29-10, you could really tell New Zealand had it together and Scotland were always in this blob and never had running momentum. We met back up with our friends for dinner. Our waiter was very pushy and sneaky and managed to charge us for things we didn't know we were being charged for. I needed my mom there to sort him out. We kept walking around looking for a pub to sit in, but they were all full! They were so packed and smokey I had no desire to go in. Plus I was still soaking wet and cold. We took the shuttle back to our hostel and watched the funniest movie ever!!! It was called Space Camp, filmed in the 80s for sure! With the crappiest graphics and acting. You couldn't help but laugh at its cheeseyness.

The next day we managed to get up earlier to make sure we all got on the first shuttle. Today was much more productive. Melissa, Alfonso, and I split up (awwwww together again like we were touring Scarborough during the first week of term!) and toured the castle. I keep forgetting castles are military bases pretty much and prisons. For some reason I was expecting to see lavish rooms. I did however see the Scottish crown jewels and they were exquisite. The just sparkled every single second with those rainbow beams. They shouldn't be locked up, they should be worn and used! The Great Hall was really amazing. I also saw the room Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to her son James I (future king of England). That was neat.

After the castle we hurried to meet up with our friends for another tour. This one was more eerie, as it was underground. Well, actually people used to live in these "closes", which were long open streets to the river and had stories of housing on each side. The new city was built on top of these so there's not much remaining. It was really creepy down there. Melissa was on edge and jumped so far when another character from the tour yelled something out the window. It was funny. I bought a few Christmas presents, looked at the palace where the Queen lives while she is in Edinburgh, bought some yummy fudge and managed to lose my umbrella. Oh well, Alfonso has lost 4 since he's been here! ahahaha. The bus ride home I only managed to sleep for the first 1/2 hour. crap. oh well, Melissa was good company to talk to once she woke up :)