Scotland: St. Andrews and Edinburgh, or: The Land of Haggis

It only took me one subway, two airplanes, two buses, one train, and a 15 minute walk with my big ass suitcase to get into the tiny town of St Andrews where Gwen lives, but I made it!

The first night I finally met Gwen's beau Paul, a charming science nerd, and we went- where else? To the pub! It was fun to see my ole chum's stomping grounds and it was really nice to be in a country where the people speak English and where I had someone who really knew the area to be my tour guide!

Since St. Andrews is super tiny, we really only needed one day for Gwen to give me the Gran Tour.She took me to these beautiful ruins right on the beachWe also really lucked out because it actually WASN'T overcast- a rare thing in Scotland! Don't let the blue sky fool you though, we were right on the North Sea and it was FREEZING.
The ruins of the old castle on the beach. So much stuff is destroyed from the reformation, but it's still so pretty, and Scotland is really into preserving their gothic architecture.I'm so glad Gwen shares my appreciation for old cemeteries-this one was so beautiful and serene, too.Pretty English garden! Really, all there is to do in St. Andrews besides hit the pubs is wander around and marvel at its charming-ness.
To all you golf fans out there! I have graced the famous Old Course. Be jealous. I don't know why this course is so awesome, it must be hard to golf there because it's so damn windy!

There's also several local kilt suppliers, and I decided I absolutely NEED a sporran! They're the little man-pouch-purse thingies that men wear on their kilts.Cute little fox sporran! Fun Fact: They're so expensive because they're not aloud to kill the animal for use of sporran-making. Hence, why I don't own one :(
Gwen, modeling haggis pizza. Ew! We didn't eat it.

Next day, we took the train to Edinburgh! I was acutally bowled over by how beautiful Edinburgh is- there's no modern buildings or anything really to spoil the mood. Everything is so OLD. I think Gwen was telling me the 'new' part of Edinburgh was built in the 1700's. I just think it's funny how anything in San Francisco that predates the earthquake is considered old.This is the street our hostel was on-I love how it was on that crazy curve! Our first day in Edinburgh we walked down the Royal Mile in the morning and saw the castle and the palace.
The courtyard in the palace- the queen still stays here in the summer
The ruins of the abbey next to the palace
Amazingly massive and tasty jacket potatoes for lunch, yum! I'd been craving one of these since I knew I was going to Scotland!
Bagpipers! They're totally there for the tourists, and for that I was a very grateful tourist!

Then we climbed to the top of the Scot Monument, or Gothic Rocketship. Gwen told me so many of the buildings are black because of all the soot and coal that was in the air during the industrial revolution. Fun Fact!
I got kinda claustrophobic by the time we finally got to the top og the monument (something like 300 steps), but we got some amazing views!The beautiful castle
A pretty hotel viewed from the monument

The Heart of Midlothian- for some reason it's tradition to spit on it, so I had to comply! It's right in front of the amazing St. Giles CathedralAgain-So cold I had to wear pants!
And Gwen, knowing I'm obsessed with vintage clothes, took me to this amazing store she knew about. They had some awesome stuff, but like most of the vintage I found overseas-EXPENSIVE.
Then we saw this statue of this little doggie, Greyfriars Bobby. The story is so cute and sad! When the dogs' master died, the dog was so sad he stayed by his masters' grave for 14 years, until the dog himself died! Awwww. So they built this little statue for the dog.
And of course, what trip to Scotland would be complete without a trip to the coffee shop where Harry Potter was first conceived! I guess J.K. Rowling used to live above the coffee shop and would come down and write her ideas here.

Whew! Scotland was so beautiful, way prettier than I even expected it to be, and I'm glad I had an official tour guide. However, the real madness doesn't start until the next day, when we headed for Italy, with only a pathetic understanding of the language and a map to guide us, so check back now, ya hear?