One Crazy, Crazy Week: some friends, a prince, a plague, a monster, and a crime!

This past week, was both the best and worst weeks we've had since we've been in England...

Our friends Crystal and Griff from Keene got here the 9th, and it was great to see some familiar faces, and to have some of our best friends spend the time (not to mention the money) to come over here and spend spring break with us. They were pretty tired when they got in, so we got a quick bite to eat, before heading home and exploring Wolverhampton a bit. On Sunday, we had heard about a St. Patricks Parade in Birmingham, and since we were planning on bringing our friends into the city anyway, we decided this was the best opportunity. The parade was pretty cool, but not nearly as large as we had expected after hearing that it was the third largest in the world. Then again, I am not sure where that stat came from, so who knows how accurate it was. We had a blast in any case, and it was great to spend some time with Crystal and Griff.

Since they did fly all the way to England to visit us, Justin and I decided that we needed to bring them into London, at least for the day, I mean, it is England after all. Because we sort of decided this on a whim, there weren't any cheap train tickets available, which meant our only option was to take the luxurious form of transportation known as the coach. I am kidding, you see, in a country full of roundabouts, and people who drive on the wrong side of the road, the coach can be quite miserable, especially when planning to spend 7 hours on it in one day. In any case, we sucked it up, and headed south. Luckily, it was the single most beautiful day we have had since in this country. It was about 75 with cloudless skies- unusual for rainy England. We brought them to many of the same touristy things we had already seen, but didn't mind because of the weather, and for the sheer fact that we were with them. Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and Parliament were all a bit more exciting with good weather. We tried to bring them into Westminster Abbey, primarily because it occupies a good chunk of the day, and because it is cheaper than our other option, the Tower of London. Much to our dismay, the Abbey was closed because of "tourism week" or some such random holiday. We headed to the tower, where we discovered they had raised the price of the student concession fare £1.00 since we were there less than a month ago. As we walked toward the gate where we entered last time, we were wonderfully notified that this had as well changed, and we would have to go to the entrance nearest to the river. Once we rounded the corner we were ecstatic to realize that the line was a good 500 yards long, and there was now a full security tent with metal detectors and armed guards. In line we speculated about the changes, thinking perhaps that there was a security threat, or they were preparing for the high season, but we noticed that the beefeaters were now in a much more formal attire than they had been. By the time we got through the gates, we were very curious, however our curiosity was short lived. As we walked in, we saw a large group of people, their cameras up in the air, and just beyond them, PRINCE CHARLES AND CAMILLA PARKER-BOWLES!!!! Yes, we saw the prince, and you should be jealous. :-D The remainder of the day was really overshadowed by this fact, and by the time we got back to Wolverhampton, we were exhausted.

Tuesday Justin and I both had some work to do, so we let Griff and Crystal lay low, while we did what we needed to do. Later in the evening, we had an incredibly over-priced meal at a Mexican Restaurant. Somehow, we didn't mind, since Justin and I had both been craving a good burrito since leaving the States two months ago, and for whatever reason, this cuisine is not the most popular over here. After dinner, we saw a British movie called Hot Fuzz, a comedy about corruption in a small English village and the police force that brings it down. This was all too ironic once we came to realize what had been transpiring while we had been gone. We came back, and headed to Justin's room to look up some stuff about our trip to Edinburgh. When we opened the door, we were all confused to see it had been chained shut from the inside. Instantly Justin and I knew what had happened. He broke down the door, taking with it, the molding around the door too, and we realized that someone had broken in his window, taking his laptop and both Crystal and Griff's digital cameras. To make a great night really crappy, really quickly. To make a long story short, apparently Wolverhampton has a big problem with petty crime, which we were aware of to a certain extent, but this all became much more clear now. We all ended up being pretty lucky: my camera, which I have only had now for about a month, I had taken out of Justin's room earlier in the day, and the theives left Crystal's wallet and credit cards, as well as Justin's digital SLR camera, his ipod, his external hard drive, and his DVD's. We later found out Griff's phone was also taken, but luckily he wasn't found responsible for any of the charges made on his account since Cingular has a 7 day fraud policy. The insurance company seems to be working it out, and things should be fine. Since Justin's room is on the ground floor, and mine is on the third, all valuables have been moved into my room for the time being. Some things just don't change no matter where you are I guess. Needless to say, Wednesday was spent working all of the insurance and police information out before we headed out to Edinburgh on Thursday.

Edinburgh was amazing and it really helped us get our minds off of the break in. Our train arrived at night, and with everything lit up it was beautiful. We ate supper at this great little pub, with amazing food for good prices at the foot of Edinburgh Castle, and planned our next days activities over a pint. That evening we went on a haunted tour of underground Edinburgh, which is known for its vaults and closed which were once real buildings and streets in Edinburgh which have since been built over. The tour was a bit cheesy, but nonetheless interesting, and we met some of the cast of the British tour of Fame, which was a good time.

That evening, we decided that we all really wanted to see the Scottish Highlands, so when we returned to our hostel the girl at the reception booked us seats on a day tour the next day to Loch Ness. I know what you are thinking, and NO, we did NOT see Nessie, but we did see a lot of stuffed animals, and several statues of the monster. We also saw hundreds of sheep, which may seem obvious, as Scotland is known for their wool, but apparently the population of sheep in Scotland is double its human population. The highlands were more beautiful than anywhere else I have ever been. I guess I didn't realize what they were like, but even amidst the rain and cold, and wind, it was still spectacular. Mountains after mountains, with glacial lakes in between, left from the last ice age. It was spectacular, and even though we spent forever in a bus and paid dearly for it, it was still worth it!

By Saturday we were ready to walk around after hours on buses and trains already this week. We started off at the Castle (after a St. Patrick's Day Breakfast complete with Guinness and Eggs) which provides great views of the city and the surrounding areas. What is cool about Edinburgh is that it is this incredibly historic, well preserved city, in the middle of some of the most beautiful natural scenery in the world. We continued our day on a hike up a small hill, which overlooks the city from the opposite side. The wind made this quite the feat, but again, it was well worth the view. Another thing that is awesome about the city, was the fact that it is incredibly authentic. I mean you really do see men in kilts, with bagpipes. While I know some of this is for the tourists, I couldn't help but notice that away from the Royal Mile, or the main drag in Edinburgh, people really do wear the traditional kilt for formal occasion- which is awesome. Later in the evening, we had one of Edinburgh's secret delicacies, a fried Mars bar. I know it sounds like a heart attack in your hand, and it probably is, but man it was delicious- Much better than any of us could have expected.

Sunday was our last day in the city, since Crystal and Griff were leaving that Monday out of Birmingham. That morning, we went to Mary Kings Close, which is essentially, old Edinburgh, underground. It was a section of streets right off the Royal Mile, which literally had the roofs cut off of them, and a larger building built on top. While it is creepy under the ground, it was really great to see how Edinburgh used to look. Edinburgh's history is so extensive, and so interesting that it was great to have that experience. We went to Scottish Museum next, which was interesting, but not as much so as we had expected- I suppose too many museums can have that effect on you, but the price was right, as it was free, and our pockets were getting pretty empty. Before heading back home we walked down the Parliament Building, which we had heard was atrocious, but couldn't understand until we saw just how ugly it was ourselves...it is understandable why the Scots hate it. Nonetheless, it did not damper my impression of Edinburgh and the Highlands, and I think that this has been my favorite place we have traveled to thus far! Although, we do leave in a week for our extensive tour of continental Europe, so I will keep you posted on whether or not that changes at all!

Monday, after getting in incredibly late the night before, I was really sad to see Crystal and Griff go. I think the combination of the great time we had, and the incident with Justin's room, it just made me a little jealous that they were going back to Keene. But I am not ready to come home yet. We still have places to go and people to see, especially in the next few weeks, so keep tuning in, to see what happens next!