In FAITH We Go: FREEDOM! (the Scottish slogan)

We keep visiting places that make me say, "this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life"....but it's true, we really do, and Edinburgh is definitely one of them. If I've ever felt as though I was going back in time, it was there, with the stone and brick buildings and roads with what felt like medieval architecture....surrounded by bright green grass. Oh. So. Stunning. I just LOVE this city!! It's rich with Scottish history but also full of young students, which makes for a cool and vibrant scene where I felt very safe, in awe and satisfied whether I wanted a quiet night or a more exciting one. We stayed at the bottom of the adorable 'Grassmarket' with my cousin, an extremely central location with an incredible view of the Edinburgh Castle. It was quite mind blowing to walk out of our apartment every day to see that view, like...'is this real??'?

Anyway, I really enjoyed learning more about Scotland's history, much of which is still very real in the sense of their ongoing battle with England for independence. They are very close to achieving it, as there will be a public vote in 2014 to finally separate or not. We strolled through one of the most beautiful cemeteries I've ever seen, with a view into the cafe where J.K. Rowling spent many hours gaining inspiration for her writing, and you can see a school that is a borderline replica of the Hogwarts school when you gaze in the direction of her view. The Scottish have a serious culture of ghosts and hauntings, and it was really spooky to learn of some of the ghost stories that they honestly believe to be true. We also learned the origin of the term "graveyard shift", which came from back when the graverobbers were a real issue. It was common for the body of a newly deceased person to be stolen and sold to medical research schools for a hefty chunk of change, so often the families of the deceased would take turns for the first few weeks (while the body was still useful) to literally sleep at the grave to prevent the theft of the body of their loved one. Hence the term, "graveyard shift". We learned that Scotch is the #1 export for all of the UK! I felt so inclined to go for a tasting, so Matt and I went, but I just could not bring myself to have more than two sips before I had to stop. YUCK!!!! Speaking of yuck, we also learned about the origin of the term, "shitfaced". Back in the day when there was no plumbing, people would throw their human waste out into the street, which typically would drain into a marsh or water area. Well, in this particular neighborhood in Edinburgh, there were homes right next to the marsh, and you can imagine how disgusting and unhealthy the conditions were. To get a bit further away from the fumes, homes were built higher up, so when you threw your stuff out the window, you'd typically yell out a common courtesy call and if someone was passing by below, they'd have a few seconds to respond and let the person know to wait. Well, Scottish are also famous for their drinking habits. So the drunk people at night would be stumbling around past these homes, someone would be getting ready to throw their business out the window, they'd call out, and the drunken fool below would not register in time....instead, they'd say something like, "HUH?" and look up......and you can imagine what would happen next to bring about the term, SHITFACED. HAHA.

I know this is an odd story for me to choose to highlight, but if you know me well enough, you know how ridiculous my sense of humor is, so I was thoroughly amused by this. Anyway....a sweeter story was that of the dog, Greyfriar Bobby, who became famous in Edinburgh during the 14th century after he spent FOURTEEN years at the grave of his owner who passed away after just two years of them being best friends. He is somewhat of a local celebrity, with his own little tribute in the main cemetery. So sweet. Disney has been inspired by this story more than once.

We went for an incredible hike at Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano with impeccable views of the city, the sea, the hills.....ahhh. We had delicious (vegetarian) meals at David Bann, Brew Lab (also delish coffee) and more great coffee at Black Medicine. We really enjoyed the National Museum which had such awesome natural history displays, the Botanical Gardens and the castle was one of the prettiest I've seen yet.