Edinburgh

On Friday, we set off to Edinburgh! Before leaving though, we decided to have a "pub lunch" since we had been hearing so much about them. I was expecting something exciting. Free beer with lunch, perhaps? A special sort of meal I had never heard of?

Sadly, I found out they are just lunches eaten at pubs. But, happily, they are super cheap (well, as cheap as one can get when the pound is worth a lot more than the dollar) and delicious!

On Thursday, we stayed at the Ibis City Centre Hotel (a super cute, and cheap...well, relatively, as indicated above), which is located in the western part of Glasgow (so much for city centre, eh?) and right by Bath Street, a road that home to a lot  of bars and restaurants. After walking by several spots, we settled on a place called LIFE.


LIFE had a traditional Scottish broth soup, which they veganized. That and a beer did not disappoint.

Yay first pub lunch!

We then headed to the bus station to catch a MegaBus to Edinburgh. On our way, we met the cutest cab driver who presented us with gifts upon leaving his taxi. He gave us light-up key chains and pens, declared his love for the United States, and shouted "God Bless America!" as we started to walk away.

I'm pretty sure we were the first people to ever take tourist photos at the Glasgow Bus Station. We'll follow it up by taking pictures at a garage sometime soon.

The bus ride to Edinburgh was quick and comfy, and not nearly as packed as some of the MegaBuses I've taken in the U.S.

After checking into our hotel, we made our way to Edinburgh's Christmas display. And I thought Glasgow "did it up" for the holidays! It was nothing compared to Edinburgh. The entire city seemed to be covered in lights, there were countless carnival-style rides, and we even got to see a light show set to choir music. Plus, there were tourists everywhere, so I got to hear so many different languages and accents. It was truly unique.





 

The woman behind me = clearly unimpressed.

The weather was nicer than we expected, but still cold. So, we decided to head to Henderson's, a local veggie place, for some dinner. I fell in love immediately upon entering. Man, the Scottish really know how to do cozy! The place was adorable, complete with lots of candles, arm chairs you'd expect to find in your living room, and live music.



I, of course, had to have the vegan haggis. Henderson's was so much different than the one at the 13th Note. The haggis at the 13th Note had a lot of "zip" to it, and almost seemed to be flavored with curry. Whereas this one had a whiskey "cream" sauce and was covered in a puff pastry that was to die for.

Reunited with my soul mate.

After dinner, we were pretty tired, so we retired to our hotel and watched British reality television (some dating show where people select a mate based on the food their date has cooked). 

On the way home, I made a new friend.