Mom and Steffi in Scotland!

I was lucky enough to spend my first week of spring break with my mom and sister.  I still can't believe that I'm done with classes, although it's nice to have so much free time it's hard to keep in mind that I still have exams at the end of May.  I had my last class the Thursday before they arrived and was with my friend Cindy for the week (she is studying in Lüneburg, Germany).  We were on High Street that Friday doing some touristy shopping when I got a call from a Pollock Halls receptionist telling me that my mom and sister had already arrived even though I thought they were landing later that evening! It was a great surprise though because they got to visit with Cindy just before she went back to Germany.  We all had lunch together in Greyfriar's Kirkyard, which was so nice.  Although I'm sure the idea of having a leisurely lunch in the graveyard is a pretty foreign concept to anyone who hasn't spent time in Scotland.  When the weather is nice people actually lay out picnic blankets and sun themselves in the kirkyard, so I figured this had to be part of the Scottish experience.

It was so much fun having them here because I got to do a lot of the touristy things that I usually don't have time for while I have classes.  I also got to retake all of my Edinburgh pictures with my new camera (thanks Dad)!  We visited Saint Gile's which I knew my mom would enjoy (like me, one of her favorite things to do in Europe is to visit cathedrals).


Mom and I inside St. Gile's Cathedral


Steffi and I outside St. Gile's Cathedral

We also took a tour of Edinburgh Castle.  This was my third time at the castle, but I really didn't mind because the view is so beautiful.  It's pretty much the main symbol of Edinburgh besides Arthur's Seat, and I notice new things about it every time I go.  We did our own sightseeing for an hour and then took the walking tour.


view from Edinburgh Castle


upper courtyard of Edinburgh Castle


really cool view from one of the canon-holes of Edinburgh Castle (extra clear thanks to my new camera!)

One thing that I really enjoyed was the city bus tour because it focused a lot on New Town.  Because all of my classes and Pollock are in Old Town, I very rarely get the chance to go to New Town.  It's really beautiful and the city planning style is totally different from where I live, which is medieval, while New Town was designed in the 18th century.  It has a really swanky shopping district and and more up-market housing and it feels like a different city.  We also got to see the Royal Britannia, which is the yacht that served the queen for 44 years.  I hadn't seen it before, and although we didn't go inside, it was pretty cool just to see it in passing on the tour.


Steffi on the bus tour through New Town

I'm sure that the highlight of the trip for Steffi (besides Top Shop) was the chocolate shop on the walk back to Pollock Halls.  I always make sure that whoever visits Edinburgh at least goes inside.  It's a tiny hole-in-the-wall place, but it is so adorable (and yummy).


chocolate shop on Nicholson Street


chocolate shop on Nicholson Street

Later that evening we planned on going on a ghost tour through the vaults underneath the city.  Before that we stopped for a quick dinner at a High Street restaurant.  We had a very typical Scottish meal, Steffi ordered fish'n'chips and Mom and I ordered haggis, neeps, and tatties.  I was shocked that she took the plunge.  She said she liked it and finished the whole thing, I was so proud.  Even Dad and Geoff chickened out and never tried it while they were here!


our haggis dinner

After dinner, we walked a few doors down to where the ghost tour began.  This was something I had heard a lot about, but hadn't done yet, and it was definitely worthwhile.  After spending this much time in Edinburgh I am definitely convinced that ghosts exist.  Some of the tours actually take you through the vaults with an EMF detector which are those instruments they use on all the ghost hunting shows to detect paranormal activity.  We took the more mild route and spent the two hours listening to some of the famous Edinburgh ghost stories.  As if that wasn't scary enough, we were brought down to the vaults after the first hour.  They were absolutely terrifying.  It could easily have been a scene out of a horror movie.  The vaults were dank and water dripped from the ceilings.  They were completely made of stone and candlelit just to add to the creepiness.  We had a great tour guide who had to have spent some time in drama school.  I definitely had trouble sleeping that night thinking about all of the stories and how creepy the vaults were.  I practically ran from Mom and Steffi's hotel to my dorm room that night, pretty pathetic.


vaults underneath the city

The next day we decided to climb Arthur's Seat, which was another activity I saved for their visit.  On the way we snapped some pictures of the Harry Potter characters' graves in the kirkyard and posed by the statue of Greyfriar's Bobby.  Arthur's Seat was really nice and we were lucky enough to get great weather that day.  The view from the top was incredible, but I was surprised by how athletic the climb was!  We had to take a pretty long break on the way to the top and were passed by a runner probably in his fifties (show-off).


Steffi and I with the statue of Greyfriar's Bobby


before the big climb


Steffi on the way to the top


Steffi off-roaded a little bit

After we climbed Arthur's Seat we had a really nice, quiet lunch at a local tea place.  Steffi and I ordered quiche and it was delicious!  Later on we found out that the restaurant was featured in one of our travel books as a pretty famous spot for tea. So nice!  After lunch we visited Holyrood Palace, another thing I hadn't yet done.  It was really interesting to see where the royal family stays while they visit Scotland.  It was pretty impressive, and definitely just goes to show how much of the royal lifestyle is for show.  Each room had it's own very particular purpose and some of the furniture and art had been in the family for centuries.  We also visited the ruins of Holyrood Cathedral.


tea time!


Steffi and I in the courtyard of Holyrood Palace


Mom and I in front of Holyrood Palace


Holyrood Cathedral ruins

The next day we woke up bright and early and went on a day-long bus tour of the highlands.  This was my third visit to the highlands, but I was more than happy to go back.  The Scottish highlands are gorgeous and the scenery is unique from anywhere else in the world.  We went through Glencoe (the sight of the famous MacDonald Massacre) and we visited Loch Ness as well.  We took a really nice cruise through Loch Ness, which I hadn't done on my earlier visit.  It was really cool because there was a screen which showed the depth of the lake, which hit about 600 feet at some points.  We also got some great views of the castle on Loch Ness while on the cruise. 


Mom and I at Glencoe


Steffi in the Scottish highlands


Steffi found Nessie!


looking out onto Loch Ness


Steffi and I on the Loch Ness cruise in front of the castle


uh-oh.

Once back from the day tour, we walked down High Street where we met a very interesting character who reset my mom's camera.  He definitely knew what he was talking about when it came to photography, but not so much when it came to American politics.  Anyway, after that we had dinner at a nice Italian place near High Street.  The next day we rode the National Rail to St. Andrew's.  It was absolutely beautiful and much smaller and more quaint than Edinburgh.  We walked down the boardwalk of the port there where there were some fantastic views of the North Sea.  We also visited the ruins of the cathedral, which was definitely my favorite part.  The foundation was set in the 1150's, so it was one of the oldest churches I have ever seen.  We also visited St. Andrew's Castle, also gorgeous and in ruins.  I didn't realize how ancient the history of St. Andrew's is.  I was really impressed by the town, which felt like a quiet resort village.  I could definitely see how Kate and William met and fell in love here, but I'm also glad that I'm in a city with a little more hustle and bustle. 


Steffi and I at the St. Andrew's Cathedral ruins


gorgeous views of the North Sea from the port at St. Andrew's

Obviously one of the most important parts of visiting St. Andrew's is walking the Old Course.  We checked out the very fancy pro shop and walked along the course, which is open to visitors.  It was pretty funny seeing tourists running across one of the oldest and most famous golf courses of all time with sneakers and cameras while the players were all dressed up in argyle sweaters.  The course itself is pretty rough, in keeping with most Scottish golf courses.  The sand traps were absolutely massive, and my mom and I could not get over how difficult they would be to get out of.  After the course we also walked around some of the campus buildings which were really nice. 


Steffi and I by the Old Course sign


St. Andrew's Old Course


fancy St. Andrew's pro shop


St. Andrew's Golf Club entrance (looks exclusive)

The next day, and sadly the last day of Steffi and Mom's visit, we spent the day at the two major museums in Edinburgh.  We went to the National Museum of Scotland (where I have my internship) and took a tour from a really nice elderly volunteer who was very knowledgeable about the collection.  It was really fun for me because, although I work there, I have never really taken an in-depth tour and I didn't realize how cool the museum really is.  We also visited the National Gallery of Scotland, my personal favorite.  I did my best to give them a tour of all the Dutch and Poussin paintings and we also checked out the Impressionist section.


Steffi in the National Museum of Scotland


Poussin's Seven Sacraments (the topic for my final paper in History of Art), I'm sure this was absolutely thrilling for Mom and Steffi

We finished the day with dinner at the Elephant House, the birthplace of Harry Potter.  We were there right at sunset, so we got a great view of Edinburgh Castle.  I had so much fun with Mom and Steffi, and I am so happy they came.  We basically saw the entire country in less than a week, which is pretty impressive.  I really enjoyed seeing them, and I already miss them again! So much fun!


view of Edinburgh Castle from the Elephant House