Simply Me: In This Place Called Paradise

So I learned that I love Scotland today. The country is beautiful, the architecture stunning, and the people happy. I didn't realize that I took happy people for granted until I decided to live in a place where people are generally sick of Americans.

We left for Edinburgh at six-thirty this morning, and arrived a little after noon (Just so you all know, train rides are fifty bagillion times better than coach rides). We then had the entire afternoon to hike around and explore the town. I found myself with my hiking buddies from Beachyhead, Amy and Chloe, as well as Mary and Kathryn. We hiked up something that had King Arthur in the name, and I couldn't take enough pictures (when I realized this I put my camera away and just enjoyed most of the scenery with my eyes, sorry). The hike was steep, but it felt so good to be walking.

The girls at the front of our group did choose the staircase of death over the trail, though, so that made for some adventures. I loathe and abhor staircases at this point in my life. I mean, I appreciate that they aren't ladders, but they're quite obnoxious at times. I did survive said staircase, however, and found myself at the top of the mount in one piece. And I was smiling.

I don't know if it's always like this, but today was incredibly windy. There were times where I was actually being propelled forward (or backward) by the wind. James said, "A bit blustery. Should have stayed home." He was joking, of course.

I have decided that if almost-falling-but-not was an Olympic sport, I'd have a good chance at winning a medal. Except I did slip once, so maybe not a gold medal. The almost-falls were plentiful, though. I thought my shoes had more grip than they obviously do. I'm working on my balancing skills, I suppose.

At one point of the hike, Chloe and I found ourselves quite separated from the group (we had been so caught up in singing songs from Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang that we'd failed to notice that we had left the other behind). We found the ruins of an old building and waited on the rocks for the rest of the girls to show up. I don't know how long we waited, but we had a marvelous time doing it. We sang and shared stories and I was grateful to have found such a friend.

Eventually the group did catch up with us and we continued on our way. There was some rock-scaling on the part of some, but the rest of us were more comfortable using the trail. We all made it down safely, though.

After getting back to the city we wandered the streets of Edinburgh. There were so many restaurants one could eat someplace different every day for a year! Or at least a month or two. I'd left my wallet in the hotel room because cash is useless on top of a mountain, but this proved to be a bit of a problem as I'd also managed to leave my card key in the same location. I had gone hiking with a different group than Sarah (with whom I share a room), so that made for some fun times coordinating. She did come home after a short while, though, and I was able to get my things before the girls left for dinner.

Mary has a friend who served his mission here, so he was giving us food recommendations. We ended up on a place called Grassmarket Street that was lined with good places to eat. We walked into a pub that looked promising, found a table, and looked at the menu. Everything sounded incredible, and the food was inexpensive. The waitress came over and asked if we were there to eat, we told her we were, and she asked if we were all over eighteen. Most of us said yes, but Chloe, who turns eighteen next month, hesitated. Then the waitress asked for our IDs because they aren't allowed to have anyone under eighteen in the pub after five o'clock in the evening.

As it turns out, a lot of restaurants here have that rule. We did finally find a pub that allowed people under eighteen to enter with an adult (two of us were over twenty-one so that was good) as long as they didn't stay past ten at night. So basically it was pretty perfect.

The waiter was awesome, even if he did laugh at our tentative request for free water. But it was all good fun, plus he asked if we were all paying separately or together and nobody asks that ever here so that was a nice change. The food was good, the music playing even better, and I loved every minute we spent there. Also, they had mints that looked like ice cubes, and gilded business cards, so that was fancy.

After the pub we did some more street wandering, There were some lovely things and I can't wait to visit them again when they're open. In the words of Annie, "I think I'm gonna like it here!"

One of the many breathtaking views I saw today captured poorly by a lens.

Chloe. And James's hand. And behind it all is the devil staircase.

Mary

Chloe and James. I wanted to get James smiling at the camera because I know it's possible, but he refused. All he said was, "Just get it over with."

For a girl who's bad with heights, this is a tad alarming (especially when you've already slipped several times on less terrifying rocks). I only slipped once right after I got to the top, though, and I didn't actually fall, so it's all good. And I adored this.