Haggis I'll have to try it...

We had to check out of the hostel at 10:30 this morning but our flight didn't leave until 5:30ish. We woke up around 9am to make sure that we had plenty of time to get our things together and have breakfast and not be in a rush. After we did all of that, we decided to do a little shopping on our way to mail a huge box to our folks, which cost way too much, but it was worth it! We got a couple of cute souvenirs and mailed a few more postcards. (Run to the mailbox, now!) We walked all the way down the Royal Mile to Holyrood Castle, which is where the English royal family stays when vacationing in Scotland. It was really pretty from the outside, but we elected not to pay the 10 pounds to get inside because we're cheap. About some things, at least.

After that, we decided to go on a little walkabout to see if we could find our way to the sea. We couldn't. So we caught a cab back to the hostel and decided to have some lunch. We went into the Castle Arms pub, which was just a few doors down from the hostel. When we looked at the menu, we saw that they serve beer battered haggis balls, so we decided that we should probably try it since we're trying to branch out as much as possible. One of the things we learned about Scotland is that their national delicacy is haggis. If you don't know what it is, you should look it up but we'd rather not think too much about it. Turns out, we actually liked it and so we gobbled it up!

After lunch, we walked back to the hostel and got our things together and caught a cab to the airport. We had no problems there, since we'd mailed home our excess junk, and even got an exit row seat on the plane! We made buddies with the man sitting with us and he gave us his contact information in case we needed anything while we're in Brussels. He also told us about a bed and breakfast that his mother owns in southern Germany near the Swiss border. It sounded really great and we're toying with the idea of making a trip there.

When we got to Brussels, we took a shuttle bus to the train station and then took a cab to the hostel. It's pretty neat. It's actually in a man's home and he has converted his top floor into rooms for people to stay. There is a Romanian girl here but she was asleep when we got here. We also met a Scottish guy who is here for the week working in the Parliament with a Scottish politician as a resume builder. He's studying law in Paris and will be back there when we go. He was nice enough to give us his contact information in case anything happens or we just want to grab a drink. Thanks, John! (You'd better read this like we told you to!)

We're happy because this place is really cozy and feels very safe. We're excited too because we can actually leave our toiletries in the bathroom! He also has a super-sweet dog and we've been loving on it because we're both missing our puppies. Well, off to bed now and more adventures to report tomorrow! John told us we have to try and beat his record of counting 27 chocolate shops. Game on!

XOXO K&R