Day 10: Edinburgh/Paris

A day lost to traveling and getting lost.

Sipping my favorite UK latte while nervously waiting for the cab to arrive in the morning.

Flying to Paris.

The flight from Edinburgh to Paris was very uneventful. With the exception of the cab ride. It is already weird to see cars driving on the opposite side of the road. It's even weirder to be in a moving vehicle watching these cars drive past you on the "wrong" side.

Charles De Gaulle airport is quite a ways out of the city. But with the extensive network of public transportation, it's really easy and painless to get into Paris. I think the train+subway ride took about an hour. Just when I was thinking "man, this was too easy", things begin to get interesting. Like in Edinburgh, I lost my sense of direction when I came out of the subway stop. I headed in the right direction and a block away from my apartment, I stopped, waited for the GPS to kick in, and then I punched in the WRONG address. I followed along, the whole time thinking, "damn, it looked closer on Google maps last night." 3/4 of a mile later, tired, hot, sweaty, and frustrated, I realized that I had blown past it! The frenchman meeting me was not pleased. In fact, he greeted me with "YOU are LATE." Well, no shit Sherlock. Anything else you want to tell me?

Dinner: Take out from Eric Kayser. Smoked salmon  sandwich and raspberry yogurt.

Previously:
Day 9: Edinburgh
Day 8: London/Edinburgh
Day 7: London
Day 6: London
Day 5: London/Greenwich
Day 4: London
Day 3: London
Day 2: Cambridge/London
Day 1: London
Day 1: London - prefunc

*All photos taken by me with HTC Incredible.

Day 9: Edinburgh

I started the day off at Edinburgh Castle, made my way down the Royal Mile. Tasted a local favorite, haggis. Saw super old tapestries and furniture at the Palace of Hollyroodhouse. Got lost trying to find THE coffee shop of Edinburgh  Paid someone to tell me ghost stories. And ended the night by trying to get a hot bowl of Japanese noodles, only to get there JUST after closing. At least I had leftover Italian from the night before. 

Edingburgh Castle!

View of from Edingburgh Castle looking towards Calton Hill.

The views from the castle are ridiculous.

I had a weird obsession with doors on this trip.

Heading down the Royal Mile.

Cowgate.

Lunch at Clarinda's Tea Room. Just go there.

Dessert table. Sign says "Please Do Not Serve Yourself."

Delicious haggis, turnips, and potatoes. Haggis is creamy, but yet has a grainy texture, savory and peppery flavor. So Good!

Old abby ruins at the Palace of Hollyroodhouse.

WTF?!?! Found in the Palace of Hollyroodhouse gardens.

More of the abbey ruins. I was [slightly] obsessed with it. 

Magpie.

Palace of Hollyroodhouse is the active residence of Her Majesty the Queen when she visits Scotland.

Stairs at the corner of Calton Road and Old Tolbooth Wynd.
The lead towards the New Parliament House and St. Andrew's House.

Curiouser & Curiouser. I wanted to buy everything in the store, but I left with only a single spool of washi tape. 

Artisan Roast, glowing reviews on Yelp. 

Coffee explained. Finally!

Soya latte turned Cappaccino; they ran out of soy milk on me.

Chinese food anyone? Seriously, Karen's Unicorn is a Chinese restaurant. Nope, I didn't try it out. (HTC Incredible)

Rose Street.

Mercat Tours guide for Ghost and Ghouls tour. It included access to the haunted underground vaults. (Samsung TL225)

Scott Monument (Samsung TL225)

Previously:
Day 8: London/Edinburgh
Day 7: London
Day 6: London
Day 5: London/Greenwich
Day 4: London
Day 3: London
Day 2: Cambridge/London
Day 1: London
Day 1: London - prefunc

*All photos taken by me with Nikon D7000 unless noted.

Day 8: London/Edinburg

J and I said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Him to the airport, homeward bound. And I to the train station onto my next adventure, Scotland.

Great minds think a like. We did not plan it, but we both purchased TimBuk2 bags for this trip. We also both had black jackets and grey sneakers. (HTC Droid Incredible)

Old school keys. Good bye London flat, you were awesome.

Pulling out of King's Cross rail station. (Samsung TL225)

Homer? I saw handful of these power plants on the ride up from London. (Samsung TL225)

Lunch on the go. (HTC Droid Incredible)

When the train arrived, I had my GPS out and ready to navigate the 0.9 miles to my new apartment. But I had exited from the back side of the train station and became disoriented. I was headed in the right  general direction, I quickly found myself overwhelmed by a giant hill. I stopped someone to ask them for directions. Funny how you can live in a place for a long time, but not know where a street is (or know it by a different name). It's OK, I have that problem when strangers ask me for directions.

Anyways, the nice man (later his friends would call him John) offered to drop me off at the street I was looking for. I was hesitant at first, but he was insistent. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. (He was.) We had to wait a few minutes for his friend. They had just finished attending a wedding service up the block. John and I chatted about Boston, Scottish history, and Braveheart. His friend showed up with two more friends in two - 2 gentlemen, a lady (Helen), and a red-headed boy (~8-10 years old). I wished I had taken a picture of them. One of the gents was older with a crazy beard. Helen was rocking fishnet stockings and one of those crazy British hats. We all piled into his tiny car with the boy crouched down and me holding the seat belt over my shoulder.

John drove wildly while everyone gave him shit. They joked about when the last time a woman looked him in the eye and trusted him. They were a blast! The best part had to have been when they were all pointing things out to me during the short drive. Imagine 4 people talking at the same time telling you what you should see and where to grab a pint. One of them said "You must go to the castle." Another chimed in with "But you've lived here all your live and you've never been." I wished that I could have hung with them all night. Our time together was short lived, but it's an experience that I will never forget.

After getting settled into my new digs, I pushed myself to explore Edinburgh with what daylight was left. I made my way down The Grassmarket, up Victoria Street, down the Royal Mile, and up Calton Hill to catch the sunset. 

My first glimpse of Edinburgh Castle.

Grilled veggie wrap from Hula Juice Bar.

Looking up West Bow from the end of  The Grassmarket.

St. Giles' Cathedral.

Tron Kirk.

Old Calton Cemetary.

Some building in the Old Calton Cemetary.

Nelson Monument.

Sunset over Edinburgh from Calton Hill.

Sunset.

Dusk. 

Scott Monument.

Dinner at Bar Italia Ristorante: Trofie Fagioli & Cozze and a glass of house rose.
Authentic and amazing Italian in Scotland! (Samsung TL225)

Previously:
Day 7: London
Day 6: London
Day 5: London/Greenwich
Day 4: London
Day 3: London
Day 2: Cambridge/London
Day 1: London
Day 1: London - prefunc

*All photos taken by me with Nikon D7000 unless noted.

Day 7: London

Day 7 was very slow paced, especially after day 6. We slept in and caught up on our journaling while it rained outside. I also snacked on leftovers; one of the perks of having a full apartment while on vacation. Most of the rainy day was spent indoors roaming through the exhibits in the British Museum. And wrapped up our last evening in London with a second show, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. 

Oh, here's my disclaimer: please excuse the photo quality you are about to lay your eyes on. They were all taken on my phone (and I'm far too lazy to edit and/or crop them). I needed a break from carrying my camera gear all week. Who needs a gym when you lift a heavy bag over your head constantly throughout the day.

Artists at work. They were in every corner of the museum.

Amenhotep III

Rosetta Stone. It was underwhelming, just like when I saw the Mona Lisa.

Lunch at the museum cafe - quinoa salad with pomegranate seeds and pistachios.

Ah, alcohol sold openly. That 4.5 is the alcohol content.

Mummy pets.

Full Samurai amour.

Hoa Hakananai'a Easter Island statue.

Lion of Knidos.

Ceiling of the British Museum (cropped using Instagram).

Killing time at Starbucks. I tried multiple times to get a photo of a double decker in the background.
The pumpkin loaf did not taste the same as the ones in the US. Also, Costa Coffee is way better.

The Mousetrap at St. Martin's Theatre. Awesome production!

Chinese comfort food for dinner at Cafe de Hong Kong. Took me back to my childhood. 

Previously:
Day 6: London
Day 5: London/Greenwich
Day 4: London
Day 3: London
Day 2: Cambridge/London
Day 1: London
Day 1: London - prefunc

*All photos taken by me with HTC Incredible unless noted.