Ireland and the UK: Part 2

Once our time in Ireland was over, we caught a flight at 6am from Dublin to Edinburgh. Now, this was probably the closest Ryan and I have ever been to missing a plane. We arrived at the airport with one hour before our plan started boarding...seems like enough time to me, considering it takes us 15 minutes in Vienna. Boy were we wrong! The airport is not organized what-so-ever, so we went to the Aer Lingus check-in counter, stood in line for 4 minutes and decided it was moving too slow. I then went to a kiosk and printed off our tickets, asked some lady if there was a faster line, and she sent us across the airport and down 2 levels. When we arrived there, we had to check-in to the computer, tag our own bags and put them on the conveyor belts...so much for customer service. All of this took longer than it needed to and at this point we probably had 25 minutes before our gate closed. Agh! We raced upstairs to security and low-and-behold there was a line of 200+ people and we just looked at each and said "we are definitely going to miss our flight." (*editor's note: For the sake of honesty and accuracy, I don't think we ACTUALLY said this to each other...it was more or less implied.) We impatiently waited in line, until suddenly something divine happened. An employee picked 20 people to go through the staff security, which was empty and we were part of that 20! Yes!! We ran as hard as we could through the airport and made it to our gate just in time. Whew! That was a very stressful morning!

We arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (*editor's note: I have no idea what Linz is talking about. For the record, I do not have a tail, and there is no bush on it). We had no idea just how incredible Edinburgh would be...it totally kicked Dublin's butt! It is just like walking back in time. The streets are cobblestone, the buildings are stone, the castle is still standing in all of its glory, and you can imagine what it would have been like hundreds of years ago.

Edinburgh Castle
People have been living on Castlehill for the last 7000 years. The first settlement here was during the Bronze Age, 900 BC! The Romans arrived in 78AD and Castle Rock first appeared in the historical record around 600AD. The name Edinburgh comes from the ancient Gaelic "Dun Eidyn" which means 'hill fort on the sloping ridge.'

Edinburgh Castle

View of the City from the Castle

This is the main entrance to the castle. Unfortunately, they were building a temporary stadium for a celebration. Back in the medieval ages, this paved area was just dust and it was the location of executions. Called the Esplanade, it was built up like you see here in 1753, where it has been the site of military spectacles ever since.

Main gate of the Castle

Yes, Ryan is putting his head in a canyon. This is the Mons Meg presented to James II of Scotland in 1497.

Within the castle walls it is basically a little town with a chapel, arms center, monuments and anything you could ever need to survive in case of an attack on the city.

This is David's Tower of the Royal Palace.

The Royal Mile

The Royal mile runs down the East shoulder of this once active volcano and this is what gives the mile it's distinguishable geographical location. The Royal Mile is actually more than a mile by 107 yards. It starts at the Castle entrance and takes you to the gates of Holyrood Palace.

St. Giles Cathedral, 12 century

Holyrood Palace

View of Castle Hill

Along the Royal mile are these tiny alleyways leading off both sides of the road called Closes. Here is just a random Close.

But the most well known close is Mary King's Close. Back in the 17th century, Edinburgh was hit with the plague, and most everyone living on or around Mary King's Close died. As a result, the Close was basically abandoned and no one wanted to live there. To rectify this, the city tore down the tops of all the buildings around the close and built a new neighborhood using the bottom halves of the old buildings as foundation. And today, you can take a tour of the "city beneath the city," which we did. Unfortunately you can't take pictures down there. But it was awesome...one of our favorite parts of Edinburgh.

John Knox's House-He was the leader of the Protestant Reformation who is considered the founder of the Presbyterian denomination

View of the Mile

We just really liked this building

Bakehouse Close....this one led to our hotel!

Random pics of Edinburgh

St. John's Church

Scott Monument-Sir Walter Scott famous Scottish poet and author

Hehe!

(*editor's note: that's TOTALLY not a mannequin...my wife is just a pervert.)

Calton Hill

Head Quarters of Scottish Government with beautiful views of the city

National Monument

The taller mountain top is King Arthur's seat and was once an active volcano. The cliff to the right is Salisbury Crags

Ryan's first taste of haggis...that's right we hate sheep innards...and it was actually pretty darn good.

And now...NAME THAT MOVIE!!

"Do you actually like haggis?"

"No, I think it's repellent in every way. In fact, I think most Scottish cuisine is based on a dare."



There's more to come, so stay tuned...