Well its about time. I've finally fallen in love... with Edinburgh!! What an amazing weekend I had! It all started at the train station in Grantham... the rest was fate! I was nervous and had butterflies in my stomach when I arrived at the train station all by myself. Riding on a train was a completely new experience, but a good one! After 5 hours, I arrived in Edinburgh on Thursday night. Lauren and Ben (friends from Baker who are living in Edinburgh for a year) met me at the station and we walked back to their flat. The University of Edinburgh's student unions have pubs and clubs in them, so we went to check one out and grab a drink and catch up.
Friday morning Lauren and I ran some errands she needed to get done, then hit up Princes St. for some shopping! I found a few bargains, including a dress at H&M and a blazer and tank at Oxfam, a charity shop. After wandering around and hanging out, we met a few girls from Harlaxton and then some of Ben's friends and we all went to the Edinburgh Rugby match. It was my first rugby match, and for those of you that know me well, I LOVE SPORTS! So of course I loved this. It was fun to learn a new sport (thanks to Ben's friends who have grown up playing and watching in England and Scotland) and it turns out it is a really entertaining game! I plan on trying to go to another one before I leave! After the rugby game (which was cold and a little wet) we went to a pub in one of the first banks of Scotland. It was a lot of fun and after talking and hanging out with everyone, we called it a night.
On Saturday, we decided to sleep in a little, then met Dr. Robin Liston (the visiting Baker faculty member at Harlaxton) for lunch at The World's End Pub. It was delicious! I tried a bite of the traditional Scottish dish Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties (haggis is a ground meat, neeps are mashed turnips, and tatties are mashed potatoes). It was interesting to say the least, better than expected. My meal was Scottish Steak and Ale pie, which was scrumptious! I loved it. We ordered dessert and had Sticky Toffee Pudding (pretty much the best dessert I've ever had) and Cranachan. I'm determined to find a recipe for the toffee pudding and make it when I get home! After lunch, we met Ben and went sightseeing, including the castle, Parliament, the Queen's residence, and climbing up Arthur's Seat. After the afternoon of walking and hiking, we went back to the flat and made dinner. We had pasta with chicken and sauce, garlic flatbread, salad, and hummus. MMMMM (: Then we headed to a "Freshers Party" hosted by the University of Edinburgh. We met some friends there and hung out, and when we went upstairs to the club part, we found out S Club 7 was going to be playing! Lauren and I were soooooo excited! For those of you who don't know S Club 7 or don't remember them, they were a pop group in the 90s that had a television show that everyone watched! Talk about a throw back to our childhood! Anyway, we got to enjoy the concert and had a blast singing along! I think Lauren and I are sick of having their songs stuck in our heads daysss after the concert! Overall it was a fun night and a great weekend!
Sunday morning before I left, Lauren and I went to a church service at St. Giles Cathedral. It happened to be a commemorative service for the Battle of Britain and members of the Royal Air Force were there. It was amazing to walk in to this beautiful cathedral to a brass ensemble, and then to hear the choir sing during the service! We both agreed it was by far our favorite part of the weekend!
Needless to say, I'm already making plans to go back up to Scotland before I leave so I can see the few things I didn't get to this trip. St. Andrews golf course, the Scottish highlands, and a couple other things. Lauren and Ben are also planning a trip to come down and visit Harlaxton and see Grantham! Can't wait! Love is a great feeling!!
Until next time,
Courtney
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