This Saturday, I continued the tradition we've started here at Edinburgh by not wasting all day in bed. Kim, Aimee, Matt and I met at the International Student Center (ISC) on campus at 1pm to go on a walking tour of the city. Our guide, Shyla, agreed to show us the more "local" parts of the city. We were sick of seeing just where students hang out.
We walked over to Pleasance, which is a building complex where club meetings are held, there's a bar there, and some sort of theater, too. We walked up Cowgate, where there are many more clubs and bars, and came out onto Grassmarket, where Maggie Dickson's Pub and Mamma's Pizza are.
Maggie Dickson's is a place Kalin has told me to visit, named after a woman who survived her hanging at the gallows just across the road, and Mamma's serves GF beer AND pizza! We agreed to come back later that night to try out both venues. We then walked up to the Royal Mile. Matt and I had both been there before, but Kim and Aimee hadn't, so we walked up it first, to the castle. It was so windy they had closed it for the day to tours! We ducked into a tartan-weaving shop to escape the wind, then walked back down the Mile to get a snack (hot chocolate and nachos...mmm) and then stopped in the Museum of Childhood.
This place is a five-story building. Each level shows different kinds of toys throughout the eras. There are dolls, dollhouses, skates, marbles, etc, all in little class cases. It was really neat, although the top level, which was a bunch of mannequin children dresesd to show off the clothing of the turn of the century, was really creepy.
After that, we went back to the dorms. We watched some Scrubs on TV (and enjoyed the UK commercials as much as the show, actually), and then looked up Mamma's online. They are open till eleven pm, so we decided to leave at 8 and walk over.
The walk took about 45 mins, but we didn't get lost once! Afterward, our appetites had really been piqued. We were seated immediately, and spent some time going over the menu. Aimee, Matt, and Kim decided to split a 4-person pie, while I got my own little pizza, GF, with pineapple on it. And a GF beer, just because I could. We spent a long time choosing toppings for pizza, because there are TONS. Plus, many other menu items...all non-GF foods are marked with a little star. How thoughtful!
I was so ecstatic when the food came! I took a lot of pictures, I'll admit. The beer, according to Matt, tasted better than REAL beer, but didn't really taste like beer at all. I thought it was a lot more bitter than hard cider, but it was still something I couldn't pass up, even if I didn't LOVE the taste. Then the food came.
The pizza was so good. It tasted a lot like homemade that Mom makes, but the novelty of getting it fresh from the oven at a real restaurant was just overwhelming. I scarfed down three or four pieces, gave Matt a piece, and took three with me in my purse. Then I called Steph to brag haha.
Afterward, we went up the street a couple shops to Maggie Dickson's. They are most well known for their "seven deadly sins" and "seven virtues" drinks. I had a Wrath, which is basically three types of liquor and lemonade (ovd, bacardi, citrone), and the others tried Sloth, which is like a buttery-nipple but in a drink form instead of a shot. They were REALLY expensive though, so we moved on down the street. It was bitterly cold out, unfortunately.
We stopped in Bannerman's, a student-oriented bar, but it was packed. We walked back down the main road and stopped in Aspen, and shared a pitched of Long Island Iced Tea. Then, tired and freezing, we walked back to the dorms.
Sunday, Matt and I headed back up to Prince's Street and FINALLY bought him a pair of boots. We're still looking for boots for me and a jacket for him. Afterward, we grocery shopped, cooked dinner, and watched Hero (the movie, not the TV series).
I am going through House withdrawal!
Time for me to head over to class. I will upload pics of Saturday when I'm next at my comp.
Oh, and here is the link to Mamma's, if you're interested: http://www.mammas.co.uk/
-A-
