Edinburgh. Lake District. Leeds.

ok prepare yourselves because I have a lot to catch up on aka 8 days!

last monday I left for Edinburgh, it was about four hours on the train but a GORGEOUS journey winding through areas that I used to live in, along the coast and through the hills. In Newcastle the driver announced that the windshield was cracked, how that happened I have no clue, so we changed trains which was essentially a mad race of hundreds of people around Newcastle station trying to find another train to get on. Can you picture me sprinting up and down escalators with my backpack on?? :) Eventually found a new train but luggage storage on trains is AWFUL! I was ok b/c my backpack isn't that big, but there was this old couple who were trying to find space for their suitcases and the woman was just sitting down bossing her poor husband around, and yelling so that everyone could here. Then the other people in the carriage started yelling that he was trying his best and helping him, it was actually quite funny because they were essentially telling this old naggy lady to shut up.

Got to Edinburgh and it was raining, of course. I stayed in the Edinburgh Backpackers Hostel which was much bigger than the Canterbury Hostel; not as welcoming but tons of people so I didn't really feel lonely. I had one roomate who was from Norway and seriously looked like she was one of those elves from Lord of the Rings, long hair pinned back with fancy clips, long skirt, big flowy blouse and she comes from the northern part of Norway where there's 24 hour light in the summer and 24 hour darkness in the winter, sounded FASCINATING! Other roomate was Adrian from Mexico, who was planning on going on a haunted walk that night and I really wanted to go on one, but not by myself, so we went together and it was SO SCARY. Of course it's just my luck to end up in a 4 person group and the other two people were a couple who were really strong believers in the paranormal and ghosts and stuff. Every time we walked into one of the underground haunted chambers in the vaults, he would say something like "I feel a bad presence in this room, everyone be carefullllllllllll". He was a freak essentially and didn't help the fact that my heart was either beating a million miles a minute or not at all the entire time.

The next day (Tuesday) I walked up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle in the POURING rain only to find that I had to pay £12 to get in because there are no student discounts, so annoying!! The castle was very cool although I prefered Dover Castle, probably because it was a freezing sleet gale in Edinburgh that morning. Then I walked all the way down the Royal Mile past a million stores selling kilts and bagpipes and your clan's tartan and heritage and other tempting tourist things, to a museum called 'Our Dynamic Earth'. It was all about the origin of the earth and life and current issues in the world to do with the environment and population etc. It was really well done actually, very interactive with a 'time-machine' concept that took you back to the Big Bang and volcanoes and glaciers and continental formations etc. And there were only about 3 other people so I got to press all the buttons and pretend I was 5 years old it was awesome :) At the end there was an exhibit of aerial photographs of different cities and areas around the world, showing population variations and what urbanization is doing etc. etc. Made me very nostalgic about my biology class last year!! THEN I went to Holyrood Palace, the residence of the Royal Family when they're in Scotland. Absolutely amazing inside, carved ceilings and gorgeous tapestries and portraits. It was especially interesting because Mary Queen of Scots (who I wrote one of my IB papers on last year) spent a bit of her life there and it's where James I/VI was born and also where David Rizzio was murdered, you can see the blood stain and everything it's CRAZY.

As I was walking around I was having flashbacks to coming to Edinburgh on a school trip with Teesside High Girls School when I was ten. I was only at that school for a year, and I don't keep in touch with any of them anymore which is quite sad, but it's amazing what you can remember from 7 years ago and all the places you end up in life...

Ok so that finished up that day, went to bed early b/c I went hiking on Wednesday morning to watch the sunrise from Arthur's Seat which is like a hill/cliff thing right next to the city, AMAZING views but FREEEEZZZZINGGGGG cold and super windy. I felt a little stupid in my hiking boots though because it was a steady grassy slopes all the way up and took me about 30 minutes to climb. I saw tons of true Edinburgh residents who climb it in the AM just to walk their dog or for their morning jog. Seriously, I saw 3 runners who were running up the mountain and along the cliff-face as part of their morning jog, haha lovely... It was amazing how peaceful it was up there though, you were right over Edinburgh but you felt completely detached from the noise and people and traffic.

After my hike I got the train to the Lake District (Edinburgh to Oxenholme to Windermere then a bus to Grasmere). Grasmere is literally two streets surrounded by a lake and mountains it was GORGEOUS! The hostel I stayed at was so nice, wayyyyyyy nicer than the Eburgh one. I was exhausted from going and going non-stop in Edinburgh, so I just relaxed my first night, I walked around Grasmere and bought some pasta and chicken to cook my dinner then curled up by the hostel fireplace with my book looking at the window at the mountains... bliss :)

Ok what day are we up to now?? Thursday. Woke up and ate breakfast in the hostel (and stole toast, sausage, cheese and an apple from the breakfast bar for my lunch... impressive right??). I asked at reception for a good hike that would take up most of my day with some good uphills and nice views, then I left the hostel at about 10. The first part of the hike was nice and easy, up to Easedale Tarn, there was a small stream flowing into it from farther uphill and a beautiful waterfall from it going downhill. Then I crossed over the top of the waterfull which was SO SCARY and luckily my feet didn't get too wet... Then I hit the slightly more complex path, thank god I had a map otherwise I would have gotten so lost b/c the path was nonexistent for quite a bit of the time. So it was very intense uphills and bogs for a couple of hours, through rain showers and sunshine to the top of a series of ridges. There was a gorgeous tiny lake set on top one of the mountains and I took my lunch break here, yuummmmm cold toast and sausage and cheese in the rain :) Then I walked along the ridges which was a series of ups and downs over various peaks and this is where I got kind of sick of walking... haha about 4 hours in. It was mainly because of the stupid path which went through knee deep mud and along sheet rock which was very slippery with the rain, then a couple of times it just disappeared completely haha.

So 7 hours later I made it back to the hostel, freezing covered, covered literally head-to-toe in mud, and starving! So I cooked the rest of my pasta and scrounged some sausage and tomato from other hostellers for my gourmet meal... then I didn't move for the rest of the night because my legs were so sore haha.

Ok now it's Friday, and off to Leeds!! I was really sad to leave Grasmere. I really wanted to stay longer, unlike almost all the other places I've been. There's just SO MUCH to see & do.
Bus to Windermere, train to Lancaster, train to Leeds. Met a really nice New Zealand woman on the first train who's going to Turkey for two weeks on vacation but who lives in London now. I was talking about working in Aunt Phyll's vineyard in March & April and she was gobsmacked to hear that she owns AtaRangi because she's obsessed with their wine, I always forget how famous it is...

Got to Leeds and the Calder's (Clare the mum is my godmother and Stuart the dad has known my dad for over 20 years and they have four kids) fantastic house. Instantly felt at home :) And basically I just spent the weekend going to their sporting events and hanging out with them which has been so nice. Yesterday Cosima (eldest daughter) and I got the train to York for a few hours just to see the Minster etc. We actually spent most of our time in sweet shops, fudge shops, and tearooms (does that surprise anyone??)...

Today I went into Leeds and tried to go to the new Leeds Museum but it's closed on Mondays (just my luck) so I just walked around for a couple of hours and looked in shops etc... it's so easy to resist buying stuff when you know you have to carry all of your possessions around on your back!! Tomorrow I'm off to Yarm where I lived for the first ten years of my life and I've only been back once since we moved so it's going to be VERY VERY weird!! I'm staying with our good friends the Harrissons and have a long list of people and places to visit, including old friends and houses and schools and cafes :) I wonder how much of it has changed...

Ok well I'm sure you've all fallen asleep by now with how long this post was, so I'll love you and leave you!!

Missing everyone but still having a great time!

rach xx