Once we oriented ourselves in Edinburgh, we began walking towards the Edinburgh castle. We stopped off at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery along the way, a free museum that's similar to the National Portrait Gallery back in London.
We made our ascent up to the castle after that and stopped outside of it to do some admiring.
Deciding we'd rather spend our day outside and not in the castle, we started down the Royal Mile, a street that stretches from the Castle down to the base of Calton Hill.
We got sidetracked by this street performer from Dublin. His tricks were absolutely insane and had everyone in the audience scared for his life.
After poking our heads around in a few shops, we decided to settle into a cafe for some lunch. He still hadn't tried haggis, Scotland's national dish, and of course I had not either. He ordered himself some traditional haggis and I ordered the vegetarian version, complete with neeps and tatties (potatoes and turnips), doused in a whiskey sauce.
My haggis sort of tasted like mashed potatoes layered with stuffing and covered in a cream sauce. It was weird, but I didn't mind it so much. I think I would mind the original much more--where my stuffing-like mixture was made up of vegetables, Terenzi's was made of sheep intestine. Bon appetit?
After continuing down the Royal Mile, we found ourselves down by the bottom of Arthur's Seat. Enticed by the gorgeous views that were promised to us, we started our climb up.
The winds at the top were like nothing I've ever experienced! Standing close to the edge of the cliff made me actually feel like I was going to be blown right off. Not only did we get the views we were looking for, but we also were instantly cooled down by the insane winds.
The sun was soon setting after that and we decided now would be a great time to go and admire the Edinburgh Christmas lights!
This little gem is a restaurant called the Dome. It is literally a Christmas wonderland on the inside. People (like us) come in just to admire the decorations and leave without sitting down to eat. Bostonian restaurants should take a leaf out of their books!
After a bit more of wandering, we headed back to the bus station to make our way back to Glasgow. We met up with some of his friends from Uni for drinks, but when they went off the clubs, we returned to his flat in preparation for our super early morning to the Scottish Highlands.
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