(not really) ENGLAND {part 3: Scotland}

does anyone even read this anymore? or am I just updating this blog so I can look back on it later? who knows. wow. finals, AP testing, work, tennis.... I am a busy girl. my grandparents visited from Arizona last week and told me they check my blog every Sunday and were asking where the rest of the pictures were. Well, finally, I have time. so....here's Edinburgh, Scotland!
we woke up at 4:30 AM to drive from Whitby to York to board our train to Edinburgh. Holy crap. we were all tired. we slept the whole train ride, pretty much. when we finally got there, we were pretty tired and confused. it was colder than England was, and Justin and I were both really pissed (literally, pissed) that you had to pay to use the bathrooms at the train station. but once we got past that, we were good. we walked outside the train station, and the first thing we saw was a man in a kilt, playing the bagpipes. That's exactly how I pictured Scotland: bagpipers in kilts. so really, it's just how you imagine it. except it's cold.
We took a double decker bus to the Royal Britannia, the royal yacht that the royal family enjoyed sailing on. When we lived in Japan, we took similar tours on docked boats in Yokohama, and we really enjoyed it. so, we were doing the same thing, except we were not on a warship. we were on a royal boat in Scotland!

 as you can tell from my outfit, it was cold here!

 Wes really enjoyed his audio tour guide

there are probably a bajillion more pictures on this boat, but I'm just picking a few of my favs. after we finished our lovely tour, we were all hungry. I guess Dad was missing Japan, because he picked out this ramen place. a real Japanese ramen place, not just Top Ramen. that is probably one of the things I miss most about Japan. I love real Japanese ramen, and I didn't realize how much I missed it until I'm in Edinburgh, Scotland, of all places.

next, the Castle clan made their way to Edinburgh Castle! This place was awesome. It was on a hill, away from the rest of the city. we got to see where Prisoners of War were kept inside,

 J firing the cannon

 J in Jail

 Wes is mentally stable, I promise you. He is excited to see these hammocks. a bit too excited.

if we hadn't seen enough castles already, we went to Holy Roodhouse, Queen Elizabeth's summer palace. we took a tour of the inside, and got more swag audio guides. I love touring these places so much and learning about the historical significance. I also love seeing everything, instead of just looking at pictures or reading about it.

 

after a fun day of touring boats and castles, it was time to head back to England! we ate dinner at Subway, and boarded a 5 hour long train to Kings Cross! We didn't get reserved seats, so it was a struggle to find any close together! Wes and I sat by a gentleman from Doncaster. after the first stop, Justin managed to find a seat across from us, and Mom and Dad sat behind us. the boys and I probably really annoyed the guy from Doncaster by playing several games of Uno to pass the time. J won everytime, except I won once. I felt pretty good about myself. Wesley felt like we were ganging up on him. finally, we got tired of Uno and fell asleep. or at least tried to.
we finally got to London at 11:30 PM. and boy, were we tired! there was an announcement at Kings Cross saying "there is an emergency, please leave the station immediately. well, the fastest way to get out of there was to get on the subway! so that's what we did. there were so many drunk people on there. it was....interesting. we got off the subway at Earls Court and waited for Dad to get the key to our other apartment we were staying at, right by the Chelsea stadium. we watched many drunk people throw things at each other, yell crazy things, and puke on the platforms. sometimes, late at night, my ADD kicks in strong and I get real hyperactive. Wesley was happy to join me. Justin was half awake. Mom got impatient. Finally, Dad returns with a key, so we think we're just going to get on the train, and voila, be at our apartment. NOT THAT SIMPLE! the subway line branched. we had to make sure we were on the train heading towards Wimbledon instead of the other place. well, 3 trains and 30 minutes later, we find a train to Wimbledon. we didn't go all the way there, to my dismay. I plan on returning to London someday to watch Wimbledon. unfortunately, none of my family has that passion about tennis and they would get sick of watching it. I love watching tennis almost as much as I love playing it, which is a lot. anyways, we got off right by the Chelsea stadium, walked to our apartment, and by then, it was 1 in the morning. after unpacking and finding the free wifi, we crashed and went to bed, and slept really late.
part 4: London (again) will be coming soon! and by soon, I mean soon. school is almost done! so I will have time! dang. blogging about this trip makes me think of how much I miss it. those were good times.
this summer, to look forward to on the blog:

• youth conference in Salt Lake
• Philadelphia
• New York
• Another Girls Camp
• Summer Tennis
• Tournaments, tournaments, and more tournaments
• Bear Lake

but I gotta finish England first.
until next time,