Welcome all of
you to Edinburgh, Scotland, the place that stole my heart in a second! A city
full of cute bookstores, beautiful buildings and architecture, an abundance of
history and culture, lots of hot chocolate, and the nicest taxi drivers!
I had just spent
the summer in Oxford on a study aboard program for my college and was on
vacation with my parents in London (we’ll get to those stories later, for some
reason I’m working backwards…don’t ask. I blame it on finals week, so join me
in my crazy town will you) when we left for the weekend to visit Scotland! I
had wanted to go to Scotland for forever so this was super exciting! Exciting I
tell you!
We took the
train and I literally spent the whole ride gawking at the beautiful scenery as
it passed by my window. And at all the cows and the sheep we passed of course!
I remember arriving and walking out of the train station right into the middle
of the city and the bustling people. It was overwhelming to say the least, but
in a good way.
I literally felt
like I had stepped into another world, a better world, a fairy tale. There was
so much to take in, including the immediate view of a park surrounded by
beautiful olden buildings and Edinburgh’s Big Festival Wheel. I was so excited
I didn’t know what to do with myself. I tried to take pictures but I can tell
you with all certainly that all pictures I took in the first hour of being
there were a blurred mess because I just couldn’t stand still long enough to
focus on them.
When we arrived
at the hotel we were met by a charming building with a grand sweeping staircase
and it’s own library that looks like it just came out of an olden movie set. Photo-shoot
in the library anyone?
SO what exactly
did we do in Edinburgh, you ask? Good question! Well I got a new winter
coat…but I doubt shopping is what you were referring to, so on to the
sightseeing we go!
Our first, and most
obvious, stop was the 11th century Edinburgh Castle! It’s literally a castle on a hill with the most
breathtaking views and architectural structures and history and I could go on
and on. I love history so had a mini freak out walking around the castle and
took pictures of just about every sign that had the slightest bit of historical
information so I could go back and read them later. This also happens to be the
sight of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo but we didn’t have enough time to
attend, but a reason to go back!
After leaving
Edinburgh Castle we walked the Royal
Mile, which is about a one-mile long walk through the old town of Edinburgh
that runs from Edinburgh Castle to the Holyrood Palace. This was definitely one of my favorite parts (but
who’s kidding, I can’t choose, everything was my favorite). I loved walking
down the streets and getting to pretend that I wasn’t a tourist but in fact
just a native taking a stroll around the town. We passed so many shops, stopped
for some seriously good hot chocolate, and had the best time exploring the city
by foot.
On our second
day we were still on a castle kick so went to visit the Palace
of Holyroodhouse and the Holyrood
Abbey ruins. It was love at first site. The palace itself is amazing but it
was the Abbey’s ruins that really got me. There was something so beautiful and
eerie about standing in the crumbing Abbey. Just thing about how much had taken
place there, how many people had stood in that same place over the years. The
great outlines remains of used to be a huge stained glass window was my
favorite part. People don’t build that way anymore, with so much intricate
detail; they should start again.
That night we
had tickets to see a musical at the Edinburgh
Fringe Festival and stopped at Jamie’s
Italian restaurant for dinner before the show. I can say without a doubt
that we basically ate half our meals in Scotland at Jamie’s and it was beyond
delicious…ugh take me back.
The next day we
were leaving, but still had time for a morning excision! We ended up taking the
bus (with some of the cast of the musical we had seen the night before I may
add—like, what????) to the North Sea
where we walked to Cramond Island, a
small island about one mile off the shore of Cramond beach that you can only
walk to when the tide is out. The water was so clear! Even though we got tired walking
half way to the island in some pretty intense winds it was worth it.
Soooo since
after writing all that we’re just gonna pretend like we’re back in Scotland right
now because the nostalgia is strong, okay? There are still so many places I
want to explore in Scotland, especially the Highlands!!
Have you ever
been to Scotland or want to go? Where’d ya go because I’d love to know!
~ Monique ~
