I have arrived

Hello All! I have arrived in Scotland and am currently at my friends place in St. Andrews. It's been a long trip but well worth it thus far. The long lay over in JFK New York airport was quite boring and confusing. Their airport is not very organized but I managed to make it through. Found a Starbucks and got my frappacuino fix for the day. The flight to Edinburgh was better than from New York. We had individual movie players which was nice. I was sitting next to an elderely couple that actually grew up in Scotland and then moved to the US when their daughter was 2. They are staying in the Dundee area with their family that still lives here. They gave me some ideas of places to go and said that I would love it. I didn't get to sleep much on the plane and am extremely tired. When I arrived in Edinburgh I couldn't believe how green it was it was gorgeous. I met up with Sarah about and hour later because my flight got in early. We headed out on the bus into downtown Edinburgh and to the train station where I could store my luggage. We had some breakfast thing called a pasty which was like a pastry filled with different things. Mine was bacon and cheese. But it also had like potatoes and onions in it. It wasnt my favorite but I tried it out. We then walked from the train station up tons of hills to the Edinburgh Castle. That place was so cool. They were doing a changing of the guard when we got up there so we got to see that as well as the bagpipers playing. I recorded a video so hopefully it works. We spent quite a long time at the castle. We then headed out and walked the Royal Mile. There were some pretty amazing buildings along the way including St. Giles Cathedral which we went into and I got chills. The stained glass was amazing as well as the huge organ pipes and all the wood work. We continued along the Royal Mile down to the Holyrood Palace which is where the Queen stays when she is here in Scotland. Because it's the Queens property you are not allowed to take pictures inside, which was a bummer because things were amazing. We walked through the gardens which were beautiful but got my allergies going. As we were walking through the gardens it started to rain. I didn't have my umbrella with me because it was still in my suitcase but it wasn't too bad. We then hoped back on the city bus and went and had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. Sarah collects drumsticks from them and didn't realize there was one until we passed it so we decided to sit down for a bite to eat. We then decided that we would go back to the train station and get my luggage and head towards St. Andrews for the rest of the evening. The bus ride to St. Andrews took about 2 hours. I was trying to stay awake to see the countryside but was so exhausted that I fell asleep. I will defanitely sleep well tonight. Things that I have learned thus far today towards the rest of my trip:
1. There is A LOT of walking including LOTS of hills. So I will be getting my exercise in.
2. You have to pay to use the bathrooms. This was crazy to me.
I have taken lots of pictures thus far and plan to take many more. Tomorrow the plan is to map out the rest of my time and explore St. Andrews.
Love you all. Signing off from St. Andrews