York and Edinburgh

Well this past weekend was insanely busy but probably my favorite weekend so far :) 

Saturday Jen and I went to York for the day through Uni travel (22 quid return on a coach, so not too bad).  When we got there, the bus drive had no idea where he was going so we drove around for a half hour trying to figure out where he was supposed to drop us off.  Alas we finally made it and we headed into town.  The night before I bought 2 Yorkshire passes for us so we could get into all the major sights for free (rather than paying up to 16 quid at some of the places).  We got it for $50 or roughly 30 quid so not too shabby and we definitely got our money’s worth.  We walked along the streets and stopped to grab some food.  I made the mistake of pointing out a music store to Jen and we had to go in! While she went off to look at sheet music and play the piano, I found the flute section.  *sigh* I picked one up and randomly started remembering bits of old songs I used to play in band.  Then I found the piccolo!! Gah, I don’t know why but I still kind of want one.  

We eventually left and found our first main thing to do, the York Dungeon.  It was a bit of a frightening sight and we had a picture taken where Jen is pretending to chop off my head.  We went through it and it was not nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be.  Actors led us through pretty much all the bits and it was set back during the plague and other fun times in York’s history.  At one point we were in a courtroom and there was an actor pretending to be the judge.  I was giggling at something he said and he ended up picking me to be the first one to stand trial.  He asked me my name and then where I was from.  When I said I was from the States he said “Well we’re not off to a good start are we?” I was then accused of singing and dancing naked around a fire and other things associated with witchcraft.  I also was accused of saying a spell to summon a man, and apparently when I said the spell the fire exploded and the judge said one of the old guys in the group had appeared.  I was said to have had a look of sheer disappointment on my face.  Oh it was really funny.  I was then given a choice of pleading Guilty - in which case I would be burned at the stake, Very Guilty - I would be drowned after being burned at the stake, or Insanity - but didn’t explain what would happen then.  Obviously I chose insanity and was then ordered to prove it by dancing.  Then shouted at to dance so I did a little jig and everyone laughed at me.  It was good fun :) 

We made our way through the rest of the dungeon and back into the sunshine! We headed off to see Clifford’s tower and the Castle Museum. The Museum was really neat especially the part that had a life-size mock up of a Victorian town that you could walk through.  After that we stopped to grab lunch before heading to the York Brewery for a free tour.  It’s a small brewery and the guy who gave the tour was old and quite funny.  He took us through all the steps of making beer and we got to try some of the different malts they use in their beer.  We didn’t get any free beer with it but I bought a bottle of Yorkshire Terrier and their award-winning Ghost Ale to take back home.  

We walked back over the bridge to the other side of town to see York Minster.  On the way we stopped at this tiny cafe for hot chocolate.  They put whipped cream and marshmallows on top and served it with a biscuit straw! IT WAS THE MOST DELICIOUS HOT CHOCOLATE I’VE EVER HAD! It was a really cute cafe!  We made our way over to the cathedral. We walked through the crypt and you could see artifacts and parts of the foundation that dated back to Roman times! Jen and I made a wish in the wishing well as well.  After that it was time to start heading back to the bus.  We walked back through town and many places had Christmas lights up and it looked beautiful.  It looked a lot like what you would think a small English town at Christmas would look like.   When we got back we were exhausted and had to be up early the next day to go to Edinburgh.

We got up and took a taxi to the train station.  Our train ended up being delayed for a half an hour so we didn’t get into Edinburgh until 1pm.  We walked around for a while, just taking in all the sights.  Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited.  As we walked along, we came upon this one guy who was playing the bag pipes near the National Gallery and I actually didn’t mind! It just seemed to fit with the scenery and everything.  After that we set off in search of the Elephant house.  When we found it, I pretty much freaked out.  The Elephant House is where JK Rowling spent a significant amount of time writing the early Harry Potter books.  We went inside and I instantly loved it, not just because she had been there.  It was this quirky little cafe decorated with a bunch of paintings, figurines, and drawings of elephants.  It was very cozy.  Jen and I had lunch there and the food was very good! I was speechless for most of it because I couldn’t believe that I was actually in Scotland and sitting in the cafe where my favorite author wrote my favorite series of all time.  Words cannot even describe how I felt.

After I tore myself away from the place, we went to the National Museum (which was free :D) and had a BLAST!!! The bottom floor was filled with lots of interactive exhibits (more for kids, but we all know I’m basically a 10 year-old in a 20 year-old body).  They had an F1 test drive game but there was a long queue of kids and we decided to skip it.  We walked through a lot of really cool exhibits and had a great time!  There was a communications exhibit and there was a bit where you could try and text but on a floor pad using your feet (not t9 or a full keyboard, old school cell phone texting) and what did I text out for all the world to see? “Go Sabres :)” Yup that happened :D Unfortunately, it closed at 5pm so we had to figure out where to go then.  Since it was a Sunday, pretty much everything except the restaurants and pubs closed at 5pm.  We walked around and went to this little cafe for dinner.  I tried haggis and found it to be quite enjoyable.  We walked around some more before heading back to the station.  We sat in this little pub and had a pint before getting on the train back to Lancaster.  

Edinburgh is probably my favorite place so far! I also realized that when I return back to the States I will have visited 4 out of the 5 countries that are a part of my heritage. I went to Germany and Switzerland in 2007, I just went to Scotland, and I’m going to Ireland after term is done! All I need to do is go to Sweden, but I’ll save that for the next trip :-)

In other news, Jen and I are going to London next weekend (November 26th and 27th).  I ALSO GOT A TICKET TO GO SEE TOP GEAR LIVE IN LONDON!!!!!!!!! OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDD AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes…I am that excited.  If you don’t know what Top Gear is, go on youtube and watch it.  DO NOT WATCH TOP GEAR AMERICA OR TOP GEAR AUSTRALIA! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jPaYnaKVDk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i-op1aceUg&feature=relmfu

That seems like a good intro to the wonderfulness that is Top Gear, but if you can, find a full episode and watch the whole thing :D

That’s all I can think of for now! :D

~Carolyn