Edinburgh

On Wednesday, we boarded a train and went to Scotland for the rest of the week! We stayed in a hotel right off of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. It was SO fun just to explore the city and get to know Edinburgh.

This is the city of Edinburgh

After we got checked into our hotel, we decided that we were sick of sitting so we wanted to go for a hike. We hiked up to King Arthur's Seat. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the top and was very steep, but so worth it when we got to the top! The view was incredible!!

A view of the city from the top
This was the big group that all hiked together. It was super windy at the top!
King Arthur's Seat is also called Pratt Hill because Parley P. Pratt (I think, either him or Orson Pratt) hiked up to the top and dedicated Scotland from up there. In the back is the ocean. It was GORGEOUS!!

This is the National Monument. I don't really know the significance of it, but we had a lot of fun just playing up there!

This is the Edinburgh Castle. We went on a tour around and through it. It was very interesting to learn the Scottish history.

The Royal Mile was our favorite road--I'm pretty sure we went into EVERY Scottish shop on the entire street. It is a mile long each way and just full of shops and restaurants.

The Elephant House is claimed to be the "birthplace of Harry Potter" because J.K. Rowling used to go there when she was writing the books and drink her morning coffee.

My favorite was seeing the bag-pipers on the side of the road! Yes this is for reals! :)

Stirling Castle

Exploring the castle

We're trapped!

The view was really pretty!

This is the National Wallace Monument. We hiked up it and then climbed the 246 stairs up to the top. Once we got up there...the view was totally worth it!

This is the view from the top! The pictures don't do justice of how pretty is was!

Our group!

After climbing the tower, we were told that we were going to a Priory. We all were like, "oh great...another Cathedral." But it was NOTHING like we expected! It ended up being my favorite place in Scotland! It was GORGEOUS!!

We were at a lake and it was seriously killing me because it made me want to go water-skiing so bad! That is one of the things that I am most excited to come home for! Dad...you better get ready to go WATER-SKIING!!!

We took a boat to a little Island

This is Inchmahome Priory. It was cool to see, but it was over-rated compared to how beautiful everything around it was!

We were just walking down the Royal Mile and then all the sudden some Scottish Parade started! It was so great!

This is on our train ride home. It was such a fun week and I have so many fun memories from Edinburgh! It was so beautiful everywhere and so different from any of the other places we have been so far!