Here n' There

Howdy all!  Sorry for taking so long between blog posts.  Things have sort of gotten busy with school, and in my off time it's nice to not be in front of a computer.  But anyhow, despite all the busyness, we have not been entirely holed up in our little apartment :).

Classes end for me this upcoming week, and then I've given myself until just before Christmas to get all three of my final essays done so B and I can properly get into the Christmas spirit.  B's also been pretty busy, volunteering his accounting skillz with the Scottish charity Abused Men in Scotland (k, get your chuckles out now, he is NOT an abused man, get over it...), and then also with the United Nations Association, Edinburgh chapter as well.  So, we've both been meeting a bunch of new people and seeing more of what this place has to offer.  It's been really great!

All around Edinburgh are these little villages that are SO CUTE.  Last month we went on a nice long afternoon walk to the Village of Duddingston, which even has its own castle.  Unfortunately it got too dark to make a venture to the castle possible, so we'll definitely be making our way back there in the near future.

At this time the leaves on the trees were just turning colours (October 30) and the scenery was gorgeous.

Walking around the base of Arthur's Seat on our way to Duddingston.

The Village is just over that cliff...

The walk was really winding and beautiful through trees and then by this cute little lake.

Then we made it to the Village!  The roads got even skinnier (two-way traffic on roads built for one) and there were magnificent hedges lining all the ancient little houses.

Duddingston Village: Awesome Little Place

At the entranceway to the Village is a cute little church (kirk).

Once we got there, we started the search for The Pub in town that we were told was really cool.  Being dinnertime, the search for The Pub became kind of desperate :).  But, we found this really cute, historically significant house though.

When we finally found The Pub, there was much rejoicing and happiness at the impending solid dinner...  Only we were to find the pub, Sheep Heid, was under renovation!!!!

I'm not so sure the workmen quite understood the mournful oops on our faces, as we realised that we would have to make the long, uphill walk home, with empty tummies.  So, we sadly trudged away from the cute little pub and headed for the refreshing walk home.  Hopefully the next time we go adventuring, the pub will be open!

Really wouldn't mind living here...

And that was our trip to Duddingston Village!

M

Arthur's Seat Adventures

On a gloriously sunny day in late-September, Brian and I toodled up to Arthur's Seat, and I daresay it was awesome!  You walk a couple of blocks past shops and large commercial buildings, and then all of a sudden this epic wilderness is staring you in the face.

Behold the behemoth!

And the cute cars driving by.

Thankfully, for those of us who are exercise-challenged, the slope isn't super steep and there's nifty stuff to stop and check out along the way.

Such as these chapel ruins, which date back to some time prior to 1426.

Or this view from about a third of the way up.

Or this pond.  The crazy giant white things are swans, and the littler white things are seagulls.  The swans look massive from up here.

It turned into a bit more of a hike to reach the top, but the sweat was well worth it.  The city doesn't look real from that vantage.  It looks like a made-up fairytale land.  And then you look farther and see all the green space, agricultural lands, and tiny little towns stretching out on all sides (except the sea side, where instead it just looks like the sky and sea meld into one) with skinny winding roads.

In this photo you can see the castle (how tiny it looks too!), and if you look to the very far right/bottom, our street is down by that red building.

Gorgeous view of the sea (and B!).

Climbin' hills like a BOSS.

Although the day was a really warm and mild one at sea level, this was not in fact so at the top of Arthur's Seat.  At many times it felt like we'd be blown right off like bits of dust, but we prevailed and reached the highest peak!

My medusa hair says it all.  The wind wasn't choosy and was pretty much blowing in all directions, at all times, and with differing levels of force, so you really never knew which way to lean...

Brian at the top (the concrete dealie is a flag pole holder), trying to shield his face from getting blown off.

My "freedom" moment is kind of ruined by my literal face-saving attempts.

So, we got to the top, marvelled at the beauty of the city and landscape below, and then looked down, realising that descending might in fact be more work than ascending...  Or at least would require more ingenuity in order to prevent injury :).  But, once we made it down from the volcanic rock top, things were slightly smoother sailing.

At some points things got a little rocky...  LOL.

But then B found these steps, which he named The Mordor Stairs, that wound their way down to a much flatter portion of the hill.  

Another section of The Mordor Stairs.

Since it was such a gorgeous day the park was absolutely buzzing with activity.  We were often passed by people doing hill training who were sprinting up to the top (mind-blowing really, particularly given the chunky and often brittle terrain), and there were so many dogs running around off leash, Q would love this place.

It's just nuts to think that Edinburgh is built around this old volcano, and if you stand at all behind it you forget that the city is even there.  Rock, brambles, thistles and grass, and lots of 'em.  It really makes you think about what the area must have looked like when the first people inhabited it.  Those must have been some tough people!  But, I'm glad they did because B and I had a great day out because of them :).

M