Day 27: July 5, 2013 - Castles, Bagpipes, and Ghost Walks

Today was a really fun day. I slept really well last night and woke up around 8:00. I got ready then went downstairs for breakfast - cereal and toast which was actually nice, I miss that. We then headed out to Edinburgh Castle. We walked through Princes Park which was beautiful and had a great view of the castle. It was really warm and a beautiful day.

We got up there and stood in line for tickets. We got our tickets for that castle along with the one in Stirling (where we are going tomorrow), showed them our student discounts, and saved a lot of money which was cool. We walked in and went on a free guided tour. The castle was actually much smaller than I thought it would be but it was still interesting and cool. We went inside the mess hall, the World War I memorial, saw the Crown Jewels, took pictures with the beautiful view. When we got to the castle, it was freaking freezing and I hadn't brought my jacket because it had been a really nice day earlier. it was bad. We waited and heard the 1:00 cannon go off (it's a famous cannon thats been going off at 1:00 every day for years) and it scared the crap out of me, Kasee dropped her phone haha we went into a little cafe and got hot chocolate with marshmallows and we sat by this wall behind the vending machines so the wall was really warm and I didn't want to leave it.

We then headed out to the main street and did some shopping. I'm not going to say what I got my brother because it needs to be a surprise but I am so excited about it!!! On the way, there was a guy playing bagpipes. This was the first time we had heard them since being in Scotland and it really hit home to me that I am actually here! The day had turned beautiful and warm again. We got pictures with him and listened to him play that mighty instrument then kept shopping. We signed up for a ghost tour but more on that later. We went to lunch, I got nachos which were really good. We watched this artist on the street make this beautiful picture out of spray paint which was really cool. We did a little more shopping. In one of the stores, I had bent down to grab my purse and my pants ripped so that was fun...

We walked back to the hostel. I snacked on some shortbread cookies and took a nap for a couple hours. Our ghost tour was at 10:00 so we walked up and had some pizza at a place called Mamma's which was actually pretty good. We walked up and met everyone for the tour.

Our tour guide looked like a nice, ginger girl at first but she turned out scary! We walked around town for a bit learning about some of the creepy history then we went underground in the vaults, Sam and I were a little freaked out. Nobody like jumped out at us or anything but it was really dark and she was telling scary stories. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There are really only two times when I have a potty mouth - when I'm pissed or scared. I will admit some swear words such as holy shit balls (that's for you Stephen) slipped out. We got out and everyone was fine. A few people did hear footsteps or feel hands brush against them but I think that's all silliness. We walked back to the hostel and had a cup of water at the bar. I showered and got ready for bed. I hope everyone is doing well! Love you! Down to two weeks and I'm sad but excited to come home. Night!