Jessica and Isaac visit

Jessica and Isaac came to visit Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago. They certainly got a taste of Scottish weather with days of sun, rain, snow, and even hail. I wish it could have been a week of better weather but you can't control everything. It is weird though, since they have left it has been sunny and warm for a week straight! Today I even went outside with no coat. Crazy.
Isaac came at the start of the week and stayed for the whole week. It was really good to see a familiar face and catch up on everything back in the States. I showed Isaac around the town his first day and we went to sleep early to go to Stirling the next morning. Stirling is about a fifty minute train ride outside Edinburgh and is home to the Stirling Castle. The castle has a long past of being violence, trading of power, and Kings and Queens. The castle is located at the top of a hill in Stirling and overlooks the Scottish country side with the highlands in the background. Just to the west of the castle is a field were the battle of Stirling Bridge occurred. The Scots were lead by William Wallace and they were fighting to take the castle back from the English. This is what the movie Braveheart is based on. We joined a free tour that was led by a true Scot who described the different rooms, statues, and historical significance of the castle. I thought the tour was very funny, informative and gave a lot of information about the castle.  We headed back to Edinburgh to head to Reuben's loose member party haha. It was a fun night and Isaac seemed to have a fun day and night. The rest of the week I took Isaac to the sights of the city like Calton Hill, The Royal Mile, Prince Street, and the Grassmarkets. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday night watching the Champions League (Barcelona vs Arsenal then Tottenham vs AC Milan). We had a good time watching and talking about football while downing a couple pints. On Thursday we went to the Camera Obscure which is located on The Royal Mile. Camera Obscure has a video camera that looks out onto the whole city and then projects it down on to a table while people sit around the table and look at the video. A guide takes you through the city and describes the history and the different sites of Edinburgh. It was a fun tour and I think Isaac really enjoyed it. Jessica arrived Friday night from Madrid. We all went to a restaurant to eat haggis, neeps, and tatties (haggis, turnips, and mash potatoes). They all enjoyed the national dish of Scotland and also enjoyed washing it down with a couple pints from various pubs and bars. The next morning we toured the Edinburgh Castle, ate in the Elephant House, and went on a literary pub tour that night. The literary pub tour was very fun. Being me I thought it might be a little wack but the two guys who lead it were very entertaining and informational. They told the story of some of Edinburgh's poets and authors and how they got inspiration from the upper class New Town and the drunken, dirty, and day to day life of the Old Town. We stopped in to many small pubs on the Royal Mile for pints and went in close's (small alleyways) were the acted out poetry. Isaac left the next morning and I was sad to see him leave because he had basically become one of the flatmates. I hope he had a fun time and I can't wait to see him when I get back. I took Jessica all around the city the next day...up too Calton Hill, The Royal Mile, Prince's Street, and Holyrood Park. We got to see the whole city and had pretty good weather as well. Jessica was leaving the next morning so we went to sleep early. It was nice to see family again and to show Jessica my city because last year she showed me around Madrid. I had a great time with Jessica and really enjoyed her stay here...maybe I will see you again in Madrid haha!