Katie's Visit

This weekend, I was reunited with my old roommate and lovely friend Katie. Before her visit, I hadn't seen her in almost eleven months! She has been studying abroad in France, and I've missed her terribly. Once I knew for sure that I would be studying abroad as well, we began talking about meeting up in Europe. After many attempts to plan a reunion, we finally found a plan that worked for both of us.

Katie arrived in England on Friday, and I picked her up at the train station. Silly me nearly walked right past her! It was so great to finally see her after such a long time away! After our greeting, I treated her to afternoon tea. I wanted her to have a British experience, haha. :) There is this adorable restaurant in town called the Borough. We had finger sandwiches, fruit, pastries, and of course, tea. It was delicious! After tea, we walked around town for a little while. I was able to show her some of Lancaster, including the castle and Dalton Square.

The next day, we woke up bright and early so that we could head to Scotland with my friend Emma. The train ride was two and a half hours long, but it was beyond beautiful. As soon as we stepped out of the train station, we were greeted by the sound of bagpipes. It gave us a great laugh.

When we arrived, the weather wasn't the best. It was cold and cloudy. However, the poor weather could not take away from the beauty of Edinburgh. To say Edinburgh is gorgeous would be an understatement. The architecture is astounding.

I was really happy because I was finally able to visit the Elephant House. This has been a dream of mine for years. The Elephant House is a coffee shop that J.K. Rowling would frequent while writing Harry Potter.

After visiting the Elephant House, we got some lunch at my favorite restaurant, Nando's. Lancaster doesn't have a branch of Nando's, so I was pretty excited to finally have some after two months. When we were finished eating, we went to the National Museum of Scotland. It had a lot of many interesting facts and displays. My favorite part of the museum was the rooftop terrace; it provided a great view of the city.

By the time we were finished with the museum, the weather had finally begun to clear up. It was such a difference. The sun was finally out! We took advantage of the weather and went to Princes Street Garden. This was my favorite part of our trip. The park was stunning. We laid down in the grass and enjoyed the sun. Where we were sitting, we could clearly see the castle. I know I keep saying how beautiful Edinburgh is, but there's no other way to describe it.

All in all, I had a great time with my friends in Edinburgh. I was sad to see Katie leave, but I'm so happy I got to see her. Hopefully we'll be meeting up again soon!