York & Edinburgh

Saturday, July 23, 2011

(Sorry for the random text styles and sizes in this post. It is not intentional. Blogger has been difficult today.)

These pictures and explanations are such an abridgment of the magnificence of everything that has happened. For example, in York, which you will learn about in a minute, I took 100 pictures, but there are only 5 on this blog.
If you want the whole story, you will have to talk to me in person and ask me about everything and then we can sit down and I can tell you.

We better sit because it will
take about 4 days to tell it all.

So, maybe it's better not to ask
me and to just look at my blog . . .

As a group we took a nice northern tour to . . . the north. Our first stop was York. York is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I want to live there. Seriously, I want to live there. I was ridiculously happy every moment we spent in York. Our first stop was to the Barley House where we learned a little bit about what life would have been like in the middle ages, but my favorite part was the exhibit where they had these lovelies:

"What are those?" you ask. Oh, you know, they are just the costumes that were worn by (left to right) Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibility and then Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle in Pride and Prejudice. Awesome? Yes. They also had costumes from other various movies worn by Heath Ledger, Alan Rickman, Judi Dench, Helana Bonham-Carter, etc.
(Just know now that when I say etc, I really mean "I know there are more to be included in this list, but I can't remember what they are")

York also has the most adorable shops and streets.

This is Shambles Street.
Doesn't it look just like Diagon Alley?!

(me and Carli)

York also has this beautiful cathedral, York Minster.

We bought some delicious toffee in one of the cute shops
and ate it on the steps of York Minster.
We probably sang "Feed the Birds" as well.
Even though we were not on the steps of St. Paul's.

(Shannon, Hannah, Me, Carli)

And here is the sun beginning to set. Wouldn't you want to live in York?

Unfortunately, we were only in York for one day. The next day we boarded the coach (that means bus in British) and drove to Scotland!
On the way we stopped at this place that may or may not have been Hadrian's wall?
I don't really remember. I was sick that day and not really coherent.
But I do know that eventually we made it to Edinburgh.
And what was the first thing we did?
Climbed a mountain.
Those of you that know me know that I do not enjoy hiking.
But I did climb a mountain in Edinburgh.

Be impressed!

It was rough, I'm not gonna lie. But the views from the top were amazing.
And it was super windy!
Just look at that hair!

This mountain (technically, it is a hill, but, come on, it was tall and it's not like it was a leisurely stroll to the top) is known as Arthur's Seat. Some think it relates back to King Arthur and many of us wondered the same thing one of the director's 9-year-old daughters wondered as we climbed this hill: "Why did Arthur put his seat way up there?!" It's also known among the LDS church as Pratt's Hill because Parley P. Pratt dedicated the city of Edinburgh for missionary work on this mountain, I mean hill. I think he climbed it every day or something.
Don't quote me on that.

Anyway, there are different peaks you can hike up to and our director chose to hike up to . . .

It took a long time and it was hard and I couldn't breath but the view was incredible.

And just in case you didn't believe me when I said it was windy, here is another crazy hair picture.

After hiking Arthur's Seat we wandered through the city, got dinner, and then attended a ghost tour as a group. Did you read that right? GHOST TOUR. I do not like ghosts. Or getting scared. I almost peed my pants. We were in crypts underneath the city. It was dark. Our tour guide screamed. Multiple times. I also screamed. Multiple times. And did my I'm-really-scared laugh/whimper. Not doing that ever again!

On our second day in Edinburgh, we toured Edinburgh Castle. And here I am with a man in a kilt (so Scottish!) and then a lamp post. Both taken at the castle. I don't know why I found these photos necessary to post when I uploaded them (which was a couple days ago), but you get to enjoy them because it takes forever to upload photos and these are already here.

After the castle, we went to the Writer's Museum, the National Gallery, walked through the gardens on Prince's Street, and did some shopping. See what I mean by abridgment? I just told about 5 hours worth of various activities in one sentence! I'm sorry it has to be this way.

Here is the view of Edinburgh Castle from the gardens. It looks like Hogwarts.

Speaking of Hogwarts/Harry Potter, here is where he was born!!!!! J.K. Rowling actually sat in that cafe and wrote Harry Potter. Do you see how excited I am? I almost started crying out of pure joy. Okay, I did cry a little bit.

At the end of the day, Jen, Patria, and I walked down the Royal Mile (the street that goes from Edinburgh Castle to the Holyrood Palace, the official residence of Her Majesty the Queen when she comes to Scotland). It was raining and everything was so green and beautiful. This walk was probably my favorite moment in Edinburgh. Apart from seeing the birthplace of Harry Potter. We walked around the palace and saw a lamp lighting up one of the windows. We thought the queen was in that room. We knew she was home because she had just thrown a garden party the day before. We all waved at the window just in case it really was her and she could see us. There was a guard close by and he kept a close eye on us. We just love the queen, okay?

And here we are with the palace. Well, a little corner of the palace.