Day 3--Edinburgh

View Edinburgh - Day 3 in a larger map

Last night we took the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead . We got into Holyhead around midnight and had to hang around the port/trainstation until about 4am local time for a train that would get us to Edinburgh. This ended up being quite the adventure because the train we had planned on taking was cancelled and we needed to find a different route. While at the train station we met a new friend named John who is taking the summer to backpack throughout Europe. He was also traveling to Edinburgh from Dublin. Luckily, John had looked up and written down a more varied route to Edinburgh.
Once we had finally figured out the trains and having changed trains about 2 times we were on the 3 hour train ride where we’d be able to get some sort of sleep—seeing as how sleeping in the train station was not possible. We walked up the Royal Mile looking for our second hostel of the trip—Castle Rock. This is where John left us looking for his own place to stay. Castle Rock was right under Edinburgh Castle and we had a great view of the castle from the bedroom window.
After having lightened our backs by dropping off our back packs we continued up the Royal Mile towards the castle. We bought our admission into the castle and began to explore. We saw many different things in Edinburgh Castle. There was: St. Margaret”s Chapel, Mons Meg, Dog Cemetry, David’s Tower, The Royal Scots Dragoon Gaurds Regimental Museum, and Argyle Tower—just to name a few. At one o’clock there was the firing of the cannon. Everyone gathered around to watch the cannon be fired from the castle. We also saw the end of the changing of the guard.
After we had explored the castle it was time to find something for lunch—we stopped at Deacon Brodies Pub. At this point it was time for a much needed nap. After waking up we continued to explore Edinburgh. We walked along the Royal Mile window shopping at the different stores that lined the street. We were able to hear some bag pipers playing on the street as we were walking along. We decided to get something light to eat before exploring a haunted walking tour. While looking for a place to eat, we met 2 more new friends from Kentucky. These girls, Blaire and Stacey, sat and had a drink with us while we were grabbing something to eat. We then had some time before the haunted tour so moved on back to Deacon Brodies for another drink with Blaire and Stacey. Blaire and Stacey decided to join us on the haunted tour only after Blaire had convinced Stacey it was a good idea—Stacey was a little scared of the idea.
We got our tickets and headed out on the tour. After the second or third stop Stacey was just not having fun so they bailed on the rest of the tour and we continued on. The tour went down into the vaults were we heard ghost stories of different beings believed to be inhabiting the vaults below ground. Some of the inhabitants were thought to be friendly while others had a more sinister feeling to them. One o the more friendly ghosts is the shoemaker—said to be a protector of the people entering the vaults. The shoemaker is the one who causes a cold breeze around the ankles of visitors because he is admiring the different footwear of the newcomers.
Once we had heard a sufficient amount of ghost stories it was time to head back towards the castle for a night time picture then back to the hostel so we could get some sleep before catching our 5:50am train to London.