Cambridge 2010: Three Months On The Trot

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I woke up at 8:30am this morning and went down for breakfast at 9am. I got 2 slices of cheese, scrambled eggs, two sausage links, and "fried toast". The fried toast sounds as bad as it was. Take a piece of toast, soak it in pure canola/vegetable oil overnight, lightly toast it in a skillet, and take a bite. That is my personal description of it. I am not a picky eater, but that is one thing I would not care if I never had again. Haha, I hate to be negative about it, but it was gross and I want to save you from that experience.

After breakfast, we had a couple of minutes to run and get our coats/day packs, then we met in the lobby at 9:45am to walk to Edinburgh Castle. We went in and got our audio guides, then set off on our own. I spent a good 3 hours there. I walked around and listened to the various prompts, went into the museums, explored the different exhibitions, and saw the crown jewels of Scotland. The story behind the crown jewels is interesting. Apparently there was a threat in earlier centuries for war, so they were wrapped and hidden in a buried wooden chest. Years later a knight got permission to retrieve them and see if the legend was true. There he found the crown jewels of Scotland wrapped in fine linen right where they had been left. They are rather gorgeous. I would post a picture, but photography was not allowed in the exhibition.

I left the castle and set off to look around Edinburgh. I ended up finding the most perfect postcard for my parents. It had a black Scottish Terrier on it! Surprisingly, Greyfriar's Bobby (a skye terrier) is more popular than the Scottish Terrier in Scotland. The story of Greyfriar's Bobby is basically one of a very loyal dog who lost his master and laid on his master's grave until the day the little dog died. There is more to the story than that, so you should go to your local library and read it. I know that PBS showed a movie on it not too long before I left for England, so there is a movie of it out there somewhere.

I ate at a cool little pasty (pronounced: past + E) shop. I got a basil, tomato, and parmesan pasty with a hot chocolate (it was cold out), and a chocolate muffin. Yummy! I talked with the girl working the shop for a while and found out that she was French. I left there and went back to the hotel where I proceeded to take a nap. I wake up and it was finally time for dinner! I had the chicken curry with couscous and vegetables. For dessert, I was a little cheeky and got both the cake and ice cream. Hehe! After dinner, all of the group went out, but I came back to the room and worked on some homework. I packed up most of my stuff and went to bed.