Take a Seat Arthur! I am gonna hike all over ya!

After running into our pub crawl friends from Chico State, Bryce and Jillian, the night before, I made the decision that we would go with them on their Edinburgh explorations the next day that mirrored our own aspirations. This involved an earlier wakeup that Ruth and I had anticipated. However, the day ended up being quite productive and fun. We started at the National Museum of Scotland where we attempted to follow Scotland from its early Pictish (heavily painted and tattooed natives) beginnings all the way the way to modern industries of textiles (i.e kilts). We literally could have spent 3 days in the museum but instead spent just a few hours. Next, we grabbed some lunch nearby and visited the birthplace of Harry Potter, the coffee shop where J.K. wrote her fabled series while gazing up at Edinburgh castle. After filling up, we were off hurriedly to Callans Hill to catch a glimpse of the 1pm castle cannon shot and accompanying tower ball drop. We arrived just in time! We got some awesome pics and video as smoke billowed from the castle and the ball dropped (which used to signal ships in the harbor of the time). We then climbed all over the Parthenon replica on the hill and took some more cool pics. Then, our two friends and I descended the hill to climb Arthur's Seat, another huge hill overlooking the city and harbor. This was  quite a short but arduous hike even for a fairly experienced hiker like myself. It was well worth it, however, as we got some more incredible views and even ran into th cutest little English kid who was so excited to see the ruins on the lower part of the hill. His excitement rubbed off and I had to sit back and really reflect on the beauty of the place. The whole hike up and down took about 2 hours and by that time we were getting quite hungry again so we headed back to the hostel to share beers and an appetizer platter while watching the England vs France Eurocup game at the bar downstairs. Ruth came down and I got a kick out of an Aussie trying to explain why PCs and Androids are better than Macs and iPhones in terms of their power to complete a range of tasks and be customized. To a heart loyal Apple user and non-programmer like Ruth, this was incomprehensible since she could do all the tasks she needed to do quickly and easily...of course, she won the argument and got good recommendations to study abroad in Melbourne rather than Sydney Australia. Ruth and I got to reflect on the trip and what are expectations were moving forward. This trip has truly has strengthened my relationship with Ruth with the way we have been able to get along in close quarters despite some minor squabbles. As if on cue when our discussion ended, Bryce knocked on our door and asked if we wanted to get food with him and Jillian. We followed him in search of a Spanish Tapas place, which was evidently closed by the time we finally found it at 10pm (food stuff closes so early here!). We elected to "go big" on both our last nights in Edinburgh and splurged on some Hard Rock Cafe. It was a great way to cap a really awesome, although short, stay in Edinburgh. Feeling the onset of a cold worsening and with a relatively early wakeup tomorrow for checkout, we headed back to the hostel.