My sister and I left Galway just after midnight because in our infinite wisdom, we booked our flight out of Dublin at 7-something am. which meant getting to the airport by 5am, which meant being on a bus from Galway at 2am. So why did we leave for the bus station at 12:15am? Daylight savings, which is different in Ireland and the UK than it is in America. So, for a while, I was only 6 hours ahead of my family in Colorado. Despite the confusing time change and early hour, we made it to the airport on time, with all the required documents and luggage.
Those who know me know I don't like airplanes, so while it might seem silly that I'm smug about the airport going relatively smooth, its a major accomplishment for me. Anyhoo, it's just after 5am in Dublin, and I've been awake since 3pm the previous afternoon, we touch down in Edinburgh just after 8am, and check into our hostel around 9am. Unfortunately, we were told our beds wouldn't be ready until 2pm. Which was fine.
It was Easter in Edinburgh, and we had a whole city to explore. The hostel (Castle Rock Hostel)was just below Edinburgh Castle, so we went to get breakfast (coffee and a muffin) and walked up the stairs to the stronghold.
I know the picture looks a little chilly. It was. The mountains off in the distance had snow (you'll see pictures of this in my later posts) but luckily, all the bad weather happened the week before we arrived, so we didn't get any rain or snow during our stay. We decided to leave the Castle for our day in town on Wednesday, and meandered down to the National Museum of Scotland, because it was free.
Please keep in mind, we're college students from the US, so the UK pound is stronger than the American dollar, which we don't have much of in the first place. So, free = good. A museum? Even better! I'm a nerd and proud of it! They had a massive exhibit on Scotland: from pre-history, to Mary Queen of Scots, to the contemporary cashmere industry. Very cool. I think it was close to noon when we made our way over to the "natural history" side of the museum. I'm not sure what the legal/moral implications would be if I uploaded a picture from this exhibit, so know that it is a picture from the museum of Scotland, in Edinburgh, taken by my sister. I'll post the picture below first, then explain what was going on. Probably one of my favorite museums ever because of this view and set up:
My sister labeled it: the exhibit of animals and dinosaurs. I must add, it also had extinct animals that were not dinosaurs, such as the dodo bird and thylacine (a personal favorite of mine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine).
The dinosaur and wildlife exhibits at the Denver museum of Nature and Science were my all-time favorite as a kid (and still are) so the menagerie all crammed into this one little section of the Scottish museum was such an unexpected delight for me. The fact that it was also Easter, and there were kids and families and individuals and all sorts of people running around made it so special and exciting. Not something people usually stop by and see as tourists, but it was incredibly interesting for me to see how they set up their natural treasures. Also, we got to play some of the interactive children's games.
One of them was a "create your fish and see if it survives the shark" type of game. So, while I'm looking at a stegosaurus skeleton, my sister makes a fish and throws it into the virtual ocean. Unfortunately, she did not read the directions. Hers was the ONLY fish NOT camouflaged, so it got eaten by the shark. Natural Selection for you. Sorry, sis, better luck in your next life.
I quite enjoyed our outing. Until it hit 1:30pm or so and we needed to eat lunch. We arrived back at the hostel before finding something to eat and checked in at 2pm. We were put in the "currency" room: I was the "pound" bed, and below me, was the "dollar" bed, where my sister was assigned. Then we got lunch.
Next logical move would be to take a nap, right?
I mean, we've only been awake 23 hours by this point.
Nah. We decided to not waste the daylight and hike across the city, to the top of a hill instead of sleep. Incredible view that Easter afternoon. Behind one of the monuments, we heard screaming and giggling: kids playing games. Lots of people were up there that day, but by the time we summited, many were heading back home, so it was slightly quieter than It would have been.
Centered WAY out in the distance is Edinburgh Castle, on top of a mountain. This picture was taken almost at the same height. We walked a long way. I'm glad we did, though, because we didn't have time to go back on Wednesday. Stunning city. If you ever get the opportunity to visit it, you should. Gorgeous, even in early April.
Finally made it back to the hostel for the night around 5pm, I think. Alerted people at home we were still alive. Tired, but alive. Opted to take a shower and was asleep around 7pm. Given that I had been awake for 27 hours easily - almost 28 - I felt completely justified going to bed right before the sun did.
End Day 1 in Scotland.
♥C
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