Kilt Kountry Part 3...Edinburgh, SCOTLAND!

We arrived at the train station in Aberdeen a bit early despite being out fairly late the night before.  We pretty much slept the whole way to Edinburgh to feel refreshed and ready to hit the streets when we got to the bustling city.  Once we arrived at Waverly train station we grab a taxi to take us to our flat that we rented for the next couple days.  We had originally booked to stay in a budget hostel but it was really only supposed to be for 2 people rather than 3 so we decided to play it safe and nixed that idea.  Terri found us the cutest little furnished apartment right in the center of the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh, that we called home the next couple of nights.  I wish I would have gotten some pics of it but unfortunately I didn't.  It had a shower and bathtub (something I've been lacking in Paris), a fully furnished kitchen, a bedroom with a queen size bed and the most comfortable mattress I've slept on in AGES, and a nice sized living room complete with satellite tv and a faux fireplace that when flipped on looked like a fire was burning!

Since the place wasn't quite ready when we arrived and needed a bit more cleaning from the previous occupants, we just dropped our things off and decided to walk up to the castle that wasn't too far from our area.  We ended up not going inside but took a few obligatory photos so we could indeed say "Hey, I've been there before!"

A giant church also lay in the streets of Edinburgh just outside the gates of the castle.  I'm not sure how old the church is, but it's gotta be getting up there due to the charred black look it's got going for itself!

Walking down the streets I spot a ghost, or perhaps my eyes were deceiving me.  After I did a double take I realized that I was indeed right the first time...when suddenly appearing before my eyes was the man himself...Mr. William Wallace aka Braveheart!

After losing the sword fight and surrendering to your's truly, we decided to call a truce.

Souvenir shopping was on the agenda next.  I've been sending postcards to various friends back in the states from all the places I visit so I snagged a few of those while Tiffany shopped for her boyfriend and his family.  She was also looking for some little food items and candies to take back to her classroom.  Poor Terri had already been to Edinburgh several times and she was subjected to all our various stops at the different stores which essentially all sold the same things.  It wasn't quite dinner time after the shopping but we had worked up a little snack appetite and stopped off at a cheese stop.  We grabbed a baguette and some soft cheese that was similar to brie only more yummy.  We took that back to the apt. and chowed on that a bit to hold us over until dinner time.  Somewhere between relaxing at the flat and having the bread and cheese, we drifted off into a short slumber.  By the time we awoke, took showers, and got ready it was around 9:30pm.  But hey, this is Edinburgh, a large tourist city and hailed as a party place right? WRONG.  We went to a small little restaurant to grab some food and they were closing! I had specifically remembered reading this particular restaurants hours of business in a brochure and their hours were "10am to Late."  Well apparently their definition of late and our's are completely opposite. We asked the waiter where he recommended us to go that might still be open to which he replied with a smartass answer..."I recommend you find some place that is still open!"  How rude! We decided we would not be spending money in that establishment for the rest of our stay.  Since it was pretty late AND a Sunday, the girls and I decided to just eat some bar food at "The Last Drop" that was around the corner from our flat. Story is that this pub was the place that people who were about to get executed went in to have their last drink before getting the axe, literally.  I opted for a traditionally Scottish meal of minced mean, neeps (turnips), and tattis (mashed potatoes).

I would give this meal about 2 and a half stars. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't unbelievably great either, then again that could have been because it was served at a bar rather than a proper restaurant.  We then went in search of a pub to have a cold one but did not succeed as it seemed the entire city shuts down early on Sundays.  Knowing we had a full day ahead of us on Monday and more sites to see we took it back to the flat and got a good nights rest to gear up for day 2 in Edinburgh...