This past weekend was our last weekend of freedom, so to speak, since next weekend we have a group excursion to the Lake District.  That made this weekend our last opportunity to travel where we wanted and say our final goodbyes to London.  Somewhere I really wanted to go back to, which was, coincidentally, where we spent our very first weekend while abroad, was Edinburgh, Scotland.  We had had such an amazing time in Scotland the first time around, and there were still a few things I didn’t get a chance to do the first time that I wanted to go back and explore.

I do have to say, since it was the only place, with the exception of London, that we went back to, it was funny walking out of the train station and knowing exactly where we were supposed to go.  We already had a hang of the city and where everything was located and we already did the walking tour and learned all about the city, so now we could just go and do whatever it was we wanted.  One of the first things we did was climb to the top of Arthur’s Seat, a tall mountain/hill in Edinburgh.  Accidentally, Emelie and I ended up climbing up the higher, much steeper mountain right next to Arthur’s Seat, in the wind and the rain.  Whoops.  It was still quite an experience. From up there we could see all of Edinburgh below us.  It allowed us to actually realize how close to the North Sea Edinburgh actually was.

Something else I really wanted to do ever since that first weekend was to go on the Covenanter’s Prison Tour of Greyfriar’s Cemetery.  Ever since hearing all of the stories about the prison and researching it once I returned to Cambridge, I have wanted to go back and see what all the hype was for myself.  The history behind the prison, and that cemetery itself is remarkable.  So many horror stories have come from authors who were inspired by the cemetery, such as Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and Dracula.  Naturally, nothing supernatural occurred while we were there, but it was still something I had to experience on my own.  Our tour guy himself was enough of a show for me.  He was a bit nutty and hopped around the cobblestone the entire way there refusing to step on any cracks.

  

Since it was Bank holiday, meaning we didn’t have any classes on Monday, Emelie and I came back from Edinburgh on Saturday and headed for our last hoorah in London for Sunday and Monday.  It was nice having just a little more time to see everything in London we saw on our very first trip there, such as London Tower and Tower Bridge, Piccadilly Circus and Leister Square, and even Big Ben and Parliament.  We even did the same telephone booth pose that we had from week one by Big Ben!  Luckily, a women from our hostel mentioned that we should go to the market in Camden Town, somewhere no one had previously mentioned going to, and we headed there on Monday.   This market, literally, just went on and on and on.  It never ended.  There were shops that sold anything you could think of and even a huge courtyard with different tents of food from mini pancakes served with Nutella, to paella, wraps, chicken burgers, cheesecake, pineapple smoothie in a pineapple, and even options of kangaroo.  As for crafts, there was a man that sold candles in the shape of wine bottles and cheese, that would melt in the most amazing looking ways.  The market itself was a sight to see and somewhere I would definitely tell people to go to.  It was bursting with people, especially since most of the people had off work.

     

Hopping off the tube for the last time Monday was pretty hard to do.  I have grown to love the city so much and especially the tube!  Once you have lived and experience London, you’ll understand too.  It is my favorite city in the world, one that I would love to come back and move to one day in the future.  Saying goodbye to Cambridge these next nine days is not going to be easy either.  It is unbelievable how fast these past four months have gone by.  As much as I want to see my friends and family, I’m dreading hopping on that plane for the long nine hour journey back home, knowing that I really don’t know the next time I’ll be back again.  So I’m going to make sure to live up these next few days and do everything my heart desires, going home with no regrets and nothing left undone.