A day in Edinburgh

Now that I've recovered from the lack of sleep from the bus ride, I'd say it's time to update you on my day trip to Edinburgh.  Jake and I left on Thursday night at 11PM and arrived in Edinburgh around 9:30AM because of weather delays.  We decided to go just for the day since it would be much cheaper and would still give us a chance to see another country.

We first passed by the Scott Monument on our way into the Old Town.  This monument was erected in honor of Sir Walter Scott, who is often regarded as the most important contributor to Scottish literature.  The monument was built between 1840 and 1844.  Visitors can now climb to the top for great views but we thought being with the wind it might be too cold.  Not to mention Jake wouldn't have gone to the top with me even if I had begged. 

We first walked a few blocks to the Royal Mile which is a road that stretches from the Edinburgh Castle to Hollyrood Palace and park.  It has a lot of souvenir shops, pubs, and cafes. 

We had an early lunch when we got there at a little pub on the Royal Mile.  Jake and I both had bowls of Cullen Skink which is a traditional Scottish soup consisting of smoked haddock, potatoes and cream.  We both thought it was delicious!  Then Jake ordered a burger which I had a few bites of.  It was a different consistency though.  It felt more like sausage than ground beef but the waiter said it was British beef.

After lunch we went into St. Giles Cathedral along the Royal Mile.  St. Giles is the patron saint of Edinburgh as well as the saint of cripples and lepers.  We weren't able to take pictures inside but I found a panorama online of the interior.  Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island and John Knox, a Protestant Reformer are buried in this church. 

We went into a few shops along the Royal Mile on our way up to the Edinburgh Castle.  A wedding was taking place in the castle that day so we didn't get to take a tour.  We actually saw the bride get out of an old fashioned car and enter the church through this archway.  From the hilltop we were able to see great views of the city which allowed for great pictures.

After walking around the castle grounds we went to warm up with a coffee in The Elephant House.  J.K. Rowling put this quaint cafe on the map after writing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone here.  I expected to see a plaque by the table but she changed her seat almost every time.  However, I do know that she sat in the back room at a table by the window looking out towards the Edinburgh castle.  She also got several names for characters in the books from Greyfriars cemetery in Edinburgh but we didn't have a chance to get there. 

Our next stop was Grassmarket, another little shopping area in Edinburgh.  We popped in and out of a few shops but just looked.

On our way back to the Royal Mile we passed by the Bank of Scotland Headquarters. 

At this point it was beginning to get dark but we decided to head towards the other end of the Royal Mile to Hollyrood Palace and the park.  We walked around Hollyrood Palace but by this time it was closed.  This is one of the Queen's places for the summer.  It was probably for the best that we didn't try to go up to the top of Hollyrood park during the day because it was completely covered in snow.  I've heard it's a nice hike when the weather is good but since both of us had only sneakers on we thought it could be potentially disastrous. 

Here is the Scottish Parliament.  It was very modern looking making it very different from the Houses of Parliament in London. This was also down by Hollyrood Palace and the park.

For dinner we ate at a pub we passed earlier called World's End.  I had a brie, cranberry and mixed greens panini with fries and salad while Jake had a steak pie with mashed potatoes and vegetables.  For dessert we split sticky toffee pudding with ice cream.

Since it was dark and getting late we decided to go into a local pub that was having live music that night.  We only got to see him set up since we had to leave for the bus station before he began to play.  It was nice to get a taste of the local nightlife though. We left for London around 10:30PM and got in around 7:30AM.  It was a short trip but nice to experience one more country. 

Sunday at St. Paul's

On Sunday we went to an 8AM church service at St. Paul's.  Mom, Jake and I were one of the first few there and actually waited outside for a few minutes before they opened the door.  We assumed you had to get there early for good seats but only about 20 people showed up to this service.  We were seated in the quire amongst some obvious locals, and tourists like ourselves.

The service was a little different than some that I've been to. During the Eucharist, we got up and kneeled on a bench before the priest.  I was hesitant to drink from the cup that everyone drank from before me but I felt uncomfortable saying no.  Jake and I would like to go back to the 11:30AM service sometime to see the full processional. 

The church was absolutely beautiful though.  We wanted to go on Thanksgiving but didn't have very much time.  I had a hard time paying attention to the service while there was a lovely mosaic ceiling above me.  I don't think I was the only one since that's how I distinguished the locals from the visitors. 

After church, we grabbed coffee and headed back to pack up.  I was able to fit a lot of gifts and extra clothing into Mom and Connor's bags which will help me out when returning home on December 16th.  I took them to the tube and put them on the line that would take them straight to Heathrow.  Although we only had 4 days or so together, I was so glad they were able to visit.  I was able to show them the main tourist attractions as well as my flat and some of the places we frequent. 

A little more London

On Saturday we slept in a bit to help us get readjusted to the lack of sleep from the trip to Paris.  Our first stop was Notting Hill or Portobello Market, more specifically.  Mom bought a vintage pocket watch on a long necklace chain which she now has set for London time in my honor.  We had crepes from a stand for a quick lunch.

Then we were on the tube to Abbey Road Recording Studios to take the super touristy picture walking across the zebra stripe section of the road.  It was a little bit of a walk from the tube station and I was surprised to see so many people there.  It was quite organized though.  Everyone was on one side of the road and would take turns going across.  One group of guys portrayed the album cover so well, down to the cigarette and bare feet.  We tried to take the picture twice.  Once with me, Mom and Connor then me, Jake, and Connor.  It would've been to difficult to have an onlooker take the picture for us.  We actually had to go really quickly since the cars were getting pretty mad about having to stop. 

Next Mom, Connor and I headed to St. Paul's Church area to take a tour, go into Tate Modern, walk across the Millennium Bridge and see Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.  We decided to see St. Paul's the following day during a church service instead.  The Millennium Bridge was seen in the first few minutes of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince when the death eaters are spotted by muggles in London.  The film shows the bridge swinging then breaking.

We went into Tate Modern to see a few pieces and warm up a bit.  Tate Modern is quite large so we went to a few highlight pieces to get a glimpse.  It was pretty cold and windy all weekend which was odd.  I'm pretty sure Mom and Connor brought this cold upstate New York weather to us. 

We walked along the Thames River and up to Shakespeare's Globe Theater.  Jake has been able to see quite a few shows there with the Shakespeare class I had to drop out of due to time conflicts.  We are going to try and see a show before we leave though.

We stopped for a bite to eat in a pub we passed by before crossing the Millennium Bridge.  I had broccoli and cheese soup.  Mom had leek and potato soup.  Connor on the other hand wasn't super hungry so he just had a whole fish and chips platter. 

Next we were off for a bit of shopping at Harrods.  The store was crazy that day which may have had something to do with the road closures down Oxford St. for shopping.  All of the major shopping areas were busy that night.  Christmas is coming!

For dinner we ate at a nice pub/restaurant next to the hotel.  We all had burgers with fries then split sticky toffee pudding and a trio of berry desserts.  After we were off to bed in order to get up for another early morning. 

Paris pour la jour

We woke up at 3AM the day after Thanksgiving to go to Paris.  Are we crazy?  Possibly.  It was well worth the trip though.  We were on the train at 5:25AM and arrived around 9AM.  After getting day tickets for the metro we were off to Notre Dame.  Luckily I was just in Paris for the weekend in October so I saved my maps and information and remembered how to get around pretty well.

Although we went to Notre Dame when we visited in October we only went inside the church and not up it.  We claimed over a thousand stairs to get to the roof!  Okay, I'm exaggerating, but there were a lot of stairs.  At the top we had the best view of Paris.  We could see the Eiffel Tower, the Sacre Coeur and the rest of the beautiful city.  The gargoyles, which Mom loves were really interesting and some even scary.

We had a nice lunch inside a little cafe before continuing on.  I ordered French onion soup, or just onion soup if you're actually in France as well as a nutella crepe.  Yum!

Our next stop was the Eiffel Tower.  We got off at a stop across the park so we were able to get the same great pictures I did when I was there before.  We walked up and under the structure but decided the 2 hour long line wasn't worth the trip to the top since we had just seen a similar view from Notre Dame.

Next, we were off to the Louvre to see Mona Lisa as well as some other famous pieces.  Jake and I had spent three hours or so there in October and Mom had been there before as well so we just wanted Connor to see some of the more famous artworks.  We had some difficulty finding our way around the museum since it's incredibly large and complicated.  We were able to see a bit of what we wanted to though.

For dinner we headed to Le Victoria, a restaurant I had gone to near the Champs-Élysées back in October.  You might remember the picture of chicken and risotto.  Well I had the same meal except they were out of risotto and substituted it for crunchy vegetables.  I experienced my first snowfall of the year walking up the Champs-Élysées toward the Arc de Triomphe.

We headed back to the train station around 7 in order to arrive early for the departure.  We even had time to catch a little nap.

 Aren't these pictures just precious Mom?