Sunday morning we woke up relatively early so we could eat breakfast, check out of the hostel and get in line for the castle. It was bitterly cold so we waited for the castle to open in an alley way of sorts. Thankfully, the castle opened on time and we quickly made our way in. A tour was to start 15 minutes later so we took a quick look around beforehand. The tour was wonderful and taught us a lot about the castle's history, other uses, and about the museums in the castle grounds. The tour took us through the entire castle so we quickly realized how many things we could do!
Given the weather, we decided to immediately go to the Scottish Crown Jewels. It is a small collection that has only been used five times; however, if Scotland secedes from the UK, then they could be used again. After seeing the crown jewels, we went to the royal apartments. They were unfurnished; however, the detailing on the ceiling depicted their importance and value. We then entered the war memorial. Simply designed, the memorial has large books that list all soldiers who have died in war. After this solemn memorial, we made our way to three, yes three, THREE, military museums about the Royal Scots, Royal Scots Dragoon, and National War Museum. They were all interesting, but a little much by the end. We also went to the prison and prisoners of war exhibit. The prison was dingy and horrible to be in for 5 minutes so I cannot imagine having to live there. The prisoners of war exhibit was interesting because it talked about Americans being POW. Weird to think that the people we consider revolutionists they consider criminals!
After spending almost four hours at the castle, we were freezing and hungry. Given we are sensible people, we decided to go back the piemakers (where we went day 1) and get pies for lunch. I got a pizza roll. Mock if you want, but it was delicious, way better than any other pizza roll I have ever had, even better than pizza-on-a-stick at the State Fair. For dessert, I had an apple puff (mini apple pie) and it was scrumptious. My entire meal (1 pizza roll, 2 apple puffs) cost 2.10, bargain!
Afterwards, we went to the National Museum of Scotland.
The most exciting part was seeing Dolly the Sheep. I actually got to see Dolly, the first ever cloned mammal from an adult somatic cell, the first to live after 277 fails!
Once we could see no more, we went to a café for afternoon tea. I got a cup of hot chocolate and 1.5 scones. It was delicious and the perfect snack.
Then we went back to the hostel, picked up our backpacks, bought bread (for lunch the next day), and went to the train station. The train ride was relatively uneventful, although I did eat a piece of bread with butter on it (the butter I had picked up at a café) which Eleanor thought was ridiculous. I somehow managed to fall asleep on the train, thanks to having a blanket, sweatpants for a pillow, and a scarf to block out the light. Once we arrived at Kings Cross Station it was 12:15 so we booked it to the underground, through the station, and on to the second to the last train of the night! Even though the station is only a little over a mile away, at 12:15 at night, we just wanted to get home. It was a wise choice and we got home quickly.
Overall, the weekend in Scotland was spectacular. It was beautiful, we ate great food, saw cool museums, and experienced a different culture. It is now Wednesday and I am finally recovered from the exhausting weekend!
