I can't help it. Men in kilts make me laugh.

We'll start off with last night's ghost tour.

Well, I'm pretty sure I'm not being haunted, so that's a good thing. The tour began on the Royal Mile, the Main Street of Edinburgh, if you will. Our guide, Katie, began by telling us some pretty macabre stories about some poor, poor Scottish lads and lasses and their tortuous endings. It was enough to make the squeamish want to lose their haggis.

The she took us to Greyfriar's Kirkyard, a pretty famous Scottish graveyard. We toured the cemetery. It FINALLY got dark at about 11 pm (the days are SUPER long over here, sunrise at 4 am, sunset at 11, 11:30 pm. Yeah.), and things got really spooky. We entered an area of the cemetery called the Covenanter's Prison. Briefly, the Covenanters were Scottish Presbyterians who signed the National Covenant in 1638 to confirm their opposition to the interference by the Stuart kings in the affairs of the Church of Scotland.

In the Covenanter's Prison, there is a building called the Black Mausoleum, which is home to a pleasant little thing called the MacKenzie Poltergeist, who is known to attack people. Yay! Like little Scottish sheep, (baaah) we were herded into this tomb, to stand like bait, while our guide waited quite comfortably outside, telling more stories.

She basically told us if we felt anything really cold, or smelled anything funny, or if something pulled our hair, etc, that this could be the poltergeist. Or that someone could pass out, so be on guard (no one did). You know, stuff like that. Then she said that sometimes people didn't notice they had been attacked till after the tour, so be sure to check your body for scratches, bruises, cuts or bite marks. BITE MARKS. Ha!

Anyway, then she started messing with us. She would turn her flashlight on and off suddenly, blow her candle out, jump and yell, things of the nature. But the BEST spook she got out was when the "jumper outer" came. She was in the middle of telling a story when all of a sudden---

A man dressed in one of those god awful halloween masks and robes came running in the tomb screaming.

Now, I am quite proud to say that I had not yet screamed during this tour (scout's honor, I swear it). I was being very brave, putting out all sorts of good energy for all those poor maligned spirits. I may have jumped a little every now and then, but I had not yet screamed. But when THIS happened, I screamed bloody murder and damn near booked it out of that freaking mausoleum. My blood pressure had to have sky rocketed to really unhealthy levels.

After that she let us leave the tomb because apparently poltergeists feed off of fear. Good idea.

So, if you are ever in Edinburgh and you want a good ghost tour, I give "City of the Dead" 4.5 out of 5 stars. Good stuff, folks.

Today, I experienced a rare treat. I actually got to sleep in (sort of)! Since it was Saturday, and we did not have class, I slept till nine. It was fantastic.

Today was chock filled with site seeing. After we found Robert Burns memorial (I have no idea what he did, but it must have been important because it was in the scavenger hunt). We went to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the Queen when she is in Scotland. It was quite lovely. You couldn't take pictures though. And I got fussed at by the guards for not "staying on the paths." Oops. After that we strolled up and down the Royal Mile for some time just enjoying the city.

Want to know the real highlight of my day, though? At lunch, I got a whole cup of ice from Subway :).