British English

I decided to really concentrate on practicing my British English whilst enjoying all that Edinburgh has to offer.

Don't forget to get the full blog experience by following along with the picture commentary posted: HERE

I have had an amazing 2 weeks here in Edinburgh visiting my friends from Zurich and am very sad to see it have to end. Post-my-last-update, things have been more or less calm. After the fancy party (interesting to see a high-end Edinburgh flat, but awkward to be the guest of the girlfriend of the child of a guest...), we went out in the city to meet people for drinks. Although, it was supposed to be a pub crawl, after standing in our heels all evening, Shahida and I abandoned any plans that implied movement and decided to stay at a whiskey bar so I could try my first authentic Scottish whiskey. I'm really a hard liquor person, and especially not whiskey, but I could definitely appreciate the two whiskeys I tried. However, I don't think I'll be picking up the habit anytime soon.

On Sunday we slept in late and went to the castle in the afternoon. Of course the weather was amazing -- as it has been the entire time I've been here -- so we took our time enjoying the castle and the many different museums. I'd definitely recommend visiting the castle to anyone visiting Edinburgh!

Wednesday morning, Shahida didn't have to go into work, so we took the opportunity to wander up Arthur's Seat - the highest hill in Edinburgh. Although it was the first overcast day since I arrived, it was still an amazing view over the entire city. At the top most point, there were maybe 30 people gathered checking out the many views, contemplating the meaning of life, etc. when a girl announces: "everyone, if I could just make a quick announcement, I just want you to know while we're up here with this breath-taking scenery that Jesus loves us, and he saves. Jesus saves!!!!" And then everyone continued with their conversations, picture takings, and hiking as if no one had said a word. Almost to the point where I thought I made up the crazy mountain top evangelist. But Shahida heard her too... proof that the bible belt doesn't have all the crazies. But to her credit, it was pretty cool to be up there.

I spent most the day Thursday in the city visiting museums and monuments. Highlights included seeing Dolly the cloned sheep (the original... I think...??!!) at the natural history museum and seeing paintings by Botticelli, Raphael and Da Vinci. I also climbed the almost 300 stairs to the top of the Scott Monument. Definitely worth the £3, but not recommended to anyone who has a problem with small spaces. There is only one staircase for up and down, and it's the most narrow spiral staircase I've ever been on. There were parts that were so narrow it was physically impossible to pass someone, you just had to decide who had gone furthest and send someone back up or back down till everyone could get through. but again, worth the amazing view over the city.

Friday and Saturday Shahida and I spent in the highlands. I could go into the amazing beauty of the area, but it's better in the pictures (link in my last post). What I'll definitely remember about that trip, besides the scenery... is the walking! first we arrive in the city center only to have to trek a mile and a half back out to our hostel. After arriving, unloading and eating lunch we check out the hikes in the area. The number one recommended hike was to the Lost Valley. Six kilometers from our hostel. We could walk or call a cab. So guess what we did... But I actually am really glad we walked, because we got to enjoy the mountains more! and we saw highland cows. Totally worth it! The hike itself was only just over 2km to the valley then back out. Unfortunately this was a valley you actually had to climb half the mountain to get to. And I don't just mean walk on an upward incline. We were literally climbing up rocks for bits of the path. It was very intense. After almost 2 hours of beautiful nature and mild self-loathing, we made it to the Lost Valley. It was, of course, beautiful. We sat down for a while to rest up, enjoyed playing with the mountain echos too much, then began the sojourn back. Of course it took all of 40 min to get back off the hike since it was all down hill. but we still had our 6 km trek back to the hostel. All in all we figured out that we walked over 16km that day. gross.

Needless to say we past out in the hostel....

oh wait, that was a lie. we were in a 6 person room and one of the guys snored so loud all night Shahida and I barely got an ounce of sleep!

So the next day we decided to rent bikes and cycle over to the next town. We stopped for a relaxing lunch and a game of scrabble before heading back in. We returned our bikes then walked another 2 miles back out to catch the bus.

Today was spent mostly packing, with a final trip to the city for fireworks! Now I'm supposed to wake up in an hour to catch a cab by 4am, but of course I can't sleep because waking up to be at the airport in time to catch a 6:20 am flight is mildly stressful. But I'm very excited to be off to Germany, meeting new people and getting settled into my apartment. I'll be in a small town just outside Cologne until Thursday, then off to Forchheim! Unfortunately I don't know when I'll have access to the internet again, so this might be it for a couple weeks, but I'll update as soon as I can!