4 and 5 September

We did go out on Thursday (the 4th) night, just in Dalkeith, expecting a normal pub crowd. We were sorely mistaken! It was dead! Leah, D and I (of course... are you sensing a pattern?) had some cider at the palace, then went up to Buccleuch's (which is pronounced Buh-Clue) and as soon as we got there is was last orders. So we had one cider there, and hung out with some rugby players that some of the guys from the house play with. It was fun, but we were expecting a huge crowd, like it is at home on Thursday. Apparently, Thirsty Thursdays are an American thing.

It is good that we weren't out too late on Thursday because we had a field trip on Friday. We (there were 17 from our group of 29 that went) met up with a group from St. Cloud State that are staying in northern England in a town near Newcastle. They are staying at Alnwick (pronounced Annick) Castle, which is the castle used in the first Harry Potter movie when they were learning how to fly. I'm only kind of jealous, because their castle is open to the public and for tourism, where our palace is privately owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, and isn't and never has been open to the public. This is why we get pissed (drunk) locals outside some nights debating on how to get in. They never have, and our caretaker (Jim) gets rid of them because his room is right by the front of the house.

Our director, Patty, is best friends with their director, Wade, so they tried to organize some things together to save us all some quid. This trip was a sightseeing trip through Edinburgh. It just was not great. Things just started off bad, because the bus was an hour and a half late. The St. Cloud group was much larger and more rude than our group, so we were constantly getting yelled at. The first stop was at the new Scottish Parliament building, which is ugly beyond belief. It is supposed to look like a tree and bird or something, but you only get the full impact of that if you are on top of Arthur's Seat, so on the ground it looks like trash. I'll post some pictures of that. It really does look strange. We were not originally supposed to go on a tour of this, Wade said there wouldn't be room, but upon arriving there, he said we could have gone on it. Most of the Dalkeith group decided not to, just because we hadn't eaten yet, because we were told to eat while they were on the tour. Then Wade seemed mad that we weren't going, because he had paid for the tickets, even though we were supposed to eat lunch. Just stupid.

After that, we went to the Palace of Holyrood House, which is the Queen's house while she stays in Scotland, which is only a week or two a year. It was really neat. They have it completely maintained, and there are areas we cannot go, which are the royal bedrooms and stuff, but the rest of it is restored to historic conditions and they gave us an audio guide tour. Some of the memorable rooms were the dining room, which was completely set with the royal silver, a hall of paintings, which showed the Stuart Clan, who ruled Scotland for so long. It was a really long hall, filled top to bottom with paintings. We also saw the King's bedroom, and the former bedroom of Mary, Queen of Scots both of which had original but restored furnishings. All in all, it was really cool. I have pictures of the outside, as well as the old church that has since mostly fallen, but we were not able to take pictures at all inside.

After that, we went to Calton Hill, where they have a couple monuments. This was boring as well, because I had been there during our Amazing Race. We got yelled at for talking some more. I did get a neat picture with a bagpiper though. He was there for a wedding that was being held upon the Hill that day.

We finished at Edinburgh Castle, which looks amazing from the ground, but is really disappointing behind the gates. They have transformed almost the whole thing into a museum, and the inside of the buildings look nothing like the castle used to. I was expecting something totally different. It would be cool if they made it into a Haunted House for Halloween though. I'm sure that would never happen, but it would be the scariest thing ever. While there, the three highlights were: the Scottish War Museum, which had some really pretty sculpture and stained glass, as well as listings of everyone who had died in the line of service from the late 1800's until current, the Scottish Crown Jewels which were not as cool as I thought they would be, but I guess it is neat to see them, and lastly, the view of Edinburgh. You could see everything!

While we were at the castle, it started to rain, so we wanted to get back to Dalkeith. While walking to the bus stop, I did stop and buy a pair of Wellies and a matching bag. They are so cute, and galoshes really come in handy here. After that, me and Leah weren't feeling up to much more, so we stayed in and watching Dirty Dancing on VHS with D (D didn't go on the field trip). Some of our group did go out in Edinburgh, but we were sick of Edinburgh for the day. The palace has a on of movies, but all on VHS and from the early 2000's at the latest. There are some good ones though.
Now here is what all the pictures are: The first one is the old church outside Holyrood House. The story goes that it was built because King David I of Scotland was hunting and fell off his horse. He was about to be trampled by a stag when he saw a cross in its antlers, and as thanks for surviving he built the monastery.

Then it is me with the bagpiper. This also made the trip leaders mad, because of course since I had a picture with the bagpiper, everyone else needed to get one as well. At least I was the first one, so I wasn't wasting time.

Then it is me with my Wellies. They are so cute! Almost everything in the store (called Ness) was really cute colors of tartan. The purse I got is the one on the highest shelf on the right side of the picture. Super cute!

The group picture is all of the Dalkeith students who did not go on the tour of Parliament. We called ourselves the Rebels. From the right is Aaron, Leah, me, Greg (behind me), Pearce, Colin (in the background), Erik and Marie.


Next is a scale replica of the parliament building. This might give a better idea about what it is supposed to look like. They overspent by hundreds of millions of GBP, and then before it was even complete, the artchitect died, so no one really knows if this is for sure what it is supposed to look like.

Next is a shot of Parliament as we were approaching.


Then is another picture of the outside of the building.

Next is a picture of the chamber where they argue. We were up in the observation deck.

Next is a picture of the outside of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It was really impresssive.

After that, I am sitting outside Edinburgh Castle next to a horse statue.