April 5th, 2014

So today was the first day of mine and Franny’s European Tour. We met at the train station to take the 8:45 train to Brussels-Charleroi Airport to catch our first flight to Edinburgh, Scotland. I managed to pack everything in a single backpack because I was under the impression that we were only allowed one cary-on with Ryanair. When I arrive at the airport, Franny had a backpack and a suitcase. Turns out, we are allowed a carry-on and a personal bag… oh well!

It took a little over an hour to get to Brussels, then the shuttle to the airport was another 15 minutes. We arrived at the airport several hours early so we had time to grab some lunch and chill before out flight. In the airport duty free shop we found Jelly Bellies… my downfall. But not only did we find Jelly Bellies, we found Jelly Belly Uno… so of course I had to buy it! The box came with a package of Jelly Bellies and jelly bean shaped UNO cards.

We sat and played UNO until the flight. After checking our boarding passes, we had to go downstairs to the tarmac to climb the stairs to the airplane.

We arrived in Edinburgh mid-afternoon. When going through customs it was actually a blessing we weren’t citizens of the EU. The line for customs for them was an hour long, we were the only ones in our line. After customs, we headed straight to the Information desk to grab info about things to do in Scotland as well as info on how to get downtown where we could find our hostel.

We caught the CityLink 100 bus to the city centre, planning on going to the hostel first. When we arrived at Waverly Station (the last bus stop) we saw that there were a couple of sightseeing buses in front of us. Franny said she didn’t mind keeping her luggage with her for a few more hours so we bought tickets and hopped on. The tickets we bought were valid for 48hrs on all 5 sightseeing lines with the bus company as well as free, fast-pass entries into Edinburgh Castle, The Royal Yacht Britannia (the queen’s old private yacht), and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

We got on the green line first and sat on the top deck of the double decker. The tour had an older woman commentating and she was absolutely hilarious, telling jokes as well as the history of Edinburgh. We arrived back at the starting point with enough time to catch the red line and the last tour of the day. This tour we also sat on the top deck, but it was a pre-recorded tours with headphones. It also took a lightly different route of the city. Both tours were absolutely fantastic! CitySightseeing Tours Edinburgh

After the tour Franny and I were starving so we quickly went to the hostel to drop off our stuff before finding a pub for supper. We stayed at the Caledonian Backpackers Hostel. The hostel was so cool! We got lockers and duvets, there was a continental breakfast included as well. Plus the place was really nice and everyone was friendly. It had a very cool vibe. If you ever need a hostel in Edinburgh, definitely stay at the Caledonian. You can see Edinburgh Castle on the hill from the window.

We headed up Rose Street to find a pub. Initially we tried “Dirty Dicks” but the kitchen was closed so we went to a restaurant nearby. So far, Edinburgh is beautiful!