Edinburgh- Round 3

On Thursday I got up super early in the morning and got on a train to go to Edinburgh one last time. When I got there I was very happy to say I managed to navigate myself to the Scotland National Museum without too many difficulties :D The museum, my first stop, was free entry! I started out in the Scotland section, looking at the pre-Pict kingdom level. The "Early Inhabitants" section, as it was called, was very interesting but painfully full of Roman artifacts. I know this is because most of what we know about these people comes from Roman records, but come one, IDC about the Romans, they stink -_-. Anyways after that I didn't go to any of the other Scottish sections because I wanted to take a look at other parts of the museum as well. My favorite section was the animal section :D

 They had so many different animals there! And their dino skeletons were mixed in with the modern animals! (As can be seen from the T-rex) All the sea animals were hanging from the ceiling. The great white shark was almost the same size at the t-rex!!!

 There it is again

 That skeleton is of a ancient giant deer. It was pretty darn cool. Note the lion family in the corner :D

 After that I took a quick side track to the Egypt exhibit because I had heard how amazing it was. Yea... I wouldn't jump straight to amazing. It was really tiny actually. One cool thing though was this, a copy of the Narmer Pallet. The real one is in Cairo. For those of you who dont know, this is the first documented evidence ever recorded 9this survived) of the unification of the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt. I have studied this thing IDK how many times, written essays on it, ect. It was really cool to see even though it wasn't the real one.

 Back to the animal section for A DODO BIRD!! They had several extinct animal remains like this weird sorta zebra thing and that Tasmanian tiger. After I left the museum I needed to eat lunch. SSOOO I went to The Elephant House!! Birthplace of Harry Potter! It was so nice! You ordered your food then they sat you down at a table. I ordered tea and got my own personal pot! (yes, I drank the entire pot). The food was delicious too. BUT, I was in the room where some of my favorite characters of all time might have been born. I was in the room that helped inspire a story that changed my life. IT WAS SO COOL.

 This is the view JK Rowling famously looked at while writing Harry Potter. You can't really tell, but that is Edinburgh Castle outside the window.

 Inside the bathroom, all the walls where completely covered in fan notes to JK Rowling. It was incredible.

 One thing that struck me about Edinburgh was the street performers. I have never seen so many in my entire life! Like this woman. (I think it was a woman). Covered head to toe in mirrors!!!

 This was on the Royal Mile after I left lunch. I was heading for the castle! I fully intended to go inside but...the line was like a mile long. I didn't have that much time and I wasn't going to spend it standing in a line! So I went as far as I could without a ticket, which was about up to that gate in the picture below.

 So instead of the castle, I walked down the Royal Mile and watched all the street performers, like this bag pipe player. There were tons others. There were two little girls, one playing the violin and another playing the accordion. There was an entertainer doing a show and making jokes. He was really funny. There were street venders everywhere! It was so much fun.

 But of course, I also had to take a stop in the cathedral. And I am so glad I did.

 It was stunningly beautiful, of course.

But the reason I am glad I went in was something different. There was a young men choir doing a performance. They were singing completely in Scottish Gaelic. It was so overwhelming beautiful, and powerful, and just stunning, I almost cried! I stayed and watched the rest of their concert and even bought their CD!!

 After I got back, I had like an hour to relax and eat before we were off to the goodbye ceilidh!!! For those of you who don't know, a ceilidh is a traditional Scottish dance party :D. They had a band come play  and people to teach us the dance steps. It was so much fun! I was twirling and dancing and flying all over and everyone was laughing and having a good time. It was an amazing experience! I wish they had had one every single week! Well Now it is my last day in Scotland, and I am going to go try to soak it up as much as I can (and eat the rest of my food ;) )