Scotland: Arthur's Seat, the National Museum and Pub Food

Today I did something I have never done before. I climbed a volcano. That's right. A volcano. It was amazing. We woke up a little early and started off to conquer the day. On our way I had to stop and take a picture of the Adam Smith monument in the middle of Parliament Square. Adam Smith was a very famous economist, otherwise known as the "father of capitalism." I'm not his biggest fan but, what kind of Econ major would I be if I didn't stop.

Adam Smith with a very aggressive look on his face.

After a little bit of walking, we found Arthur's Seat. It's absolutely massive and there are tons of paths to walk. Unfortunately, it had rained our entire trip so the ground was a little soft and muddy. We started up one path but quickly realize we were gong the wrong way. We cut across a small field and started working our way up. Mitch had climbed the day before and he told us it was a little bit of a hike but it wasn't bad. He lied. It was very difficult. The path wasn't really well kept so it was muddy and not well defined. We took very frequent breaks for pictures and so we could take a moment to regroup. It wasn't too bad. It was still a really good time. After a lot of walking we found "stairs" made out of rocks that made climbing much easier. At the top of these stairs we turned and found something incredibly disheartening. We had been climbing up the wrong side. In front of us now was a long, somewhat paved path that fed up to the very top. From that point down it was a very easy walk. Where we were standing is where the easy path got somewhat difficult on the way up. The rest of the way to the top was the same difficulty we had faced the entire time. So we continued. 

The lower part of Arthur's Seat.

The view once we found the right path.

The view from the top was incredible. We could see the entire city. We sat on the peak for a few minutes before we decided to head back down. The only problem was, the wind was incredibly strong. I couldn't stand up from where I was sitting so Jill and I sat there laughing for a minute until the wind died down. 

I looked up a little information on Arthur's Seat and found that it is one of the suspected spots for Camelot. WE WENT TO (maybe) CAMELOT! That's one of the coolest realizations I've ever had.

Panorama from my seat at the very top.
It's a little shaky because the wind complicated things.

Me at the top!

Our way back down was even more interesting. We started climbing down and stepped on the first grassy area we could. Unfortunately, it wasn't just grass. There was tons of mud under the thin layer of grass and my converse shoes are not the best when it comes to traction. After many many close calls on our trip up the volcano, I hadn't actually fallen. As soon as we started to walk down, I slipped and was covered in mud. Jill and I laughed the entire walk down and back to our hostel. It was absolutely hilarious. On our walk back, I bought a hand made wool scarf with sheep on it. It's adorable. And I saw a man in a kilt (which wasn't really that surprising but the scenery made for an amazing picture)

The most Scottish picture ever taken.

After we got back to our hostel and I changed into dry clothes, we took a much needed nap. We slept for quite a while before we got up and went back to the National Museum. We walked around a bit before getting tired and hungry.  One of the really cool things we found was a skeleton of a Megasloth, which I didn't know even existed. It was awesome.

The Megasloth!!

On our way back to our hostel again we stopped in The Elephant House which is the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter (allegedly). We just stopped in but it was really cool to be there.We relaxed for a bit and then headed down the road to a pub for dinner. We ate some of the best food I have ever eaten. Looking back, the food wasn't that great but we were still really tired and starving so it felt like heaven. Lastly, we headed back and went straight to bed because we had to get up early for our flight the next morning.

The view of the Castle at night.

JessLynn