Eurotrip: Kilts, Bagpipes and haggis...welcom to Scotland!

Hello everyone! I hope you are all managing to stay warm during the cold Michigan winter. Well, the final place I visited in Europe was the ruggedly beautiful Edinburgh (pronounced Edinburraah). It is the capital of the Scotland and it situated on the east coas of Britain on the North Sea. You all are probably thinking it must have been absolutely freezing! It usually is but when I went, it wasn't too bitter cold. The sun was out everyday and there was no snow.... at least not until the night before I left when it snowed like crazy and delayed my morning flight back to Madrid. Anyway, Edinburgh is very very aesthetically pleasing and is smaller with less swarms of tourists. Gothic architecture definitely dominates all the buildings here and there are many churches with pointy spires, tall towers and little narrow streets. The best feature of Edinburgh is the Edinburgh Castle which is situated at the very top of a hill that overlooks the entire city. You can even see the North Sea and some of the snow covered mountains in the background. I stood at the top of the castle for several minutes just taking in the truly remarkable scenery. Its the kind of sight that you never thought really existed in the real world. In addition to overlooking the city from the castle, I got to see the Scottish crown jewels and learn a little bit about Scotland's extensive and a little bloody history and the famous or "infamous" Mary Queen of Scots. This lass became Queen when she was just 6 days old! I also was able to visit her old bedroom that is located in the castle itself! It was pretty cool to stand in the actual bedroom of Mary Queen of Scots. In the old town of Edinburgh, We had to climb a really narrow and steep spiral staircase to get up there. In the old town of Edinburgh, there is a famous street called the "Royal Mile" and it goes from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace. The street itself is home to many pubs, taverns, and gift shops selling kilts and wool scarves and sweaters. My friend and I were able to try some Haggis, the national dish of Scotland at a tavern on the Royal Mile. Haggis is sheep heart, liver and lungs minced with onion and spices and simmered inside the sheep's stomach. To our surprise, it was actually quite tasty! I would definitely encourage everyone to try haggis if you ever go to Scotland. Holyrood Palace is the official royal residence of the Queen. It also has served as the main residence for the Royal family in Scotland throughout history. The inside is very ornately decorated with many large banquet halls, lavish bedrooms and tapestries. The Palace is actually right across the street from the recently built Scottish parliment building. The building itself was designed by a Catalan/Spanish architect and it has a very eccentric look to it reminiscent of Gaudí. The last day in Edinburgh, my friend and I took a bus outside of the city into Rosslyn, Scotland. The bus ride itself was a treat because it went through the countryside past really pretty mountains and old scottish villages. Rosslyn is home to the Rosslyn Chapel. The Rosslyn Chapel is famous for having a mix of Christian and Pagan symbols inside including the famous "Green Man". It also is famous for being the secret hideout spot for the Priory of Sion from the Da Vinci Code book. I am a huge fan of the book so it was really cool to actually see and go inside the chapel. Without a doubt, Edinburgh will be on my list of the most beautiful places I have seen. Alright...here are the pictures!!!