I now have the exciting task of writing about Edinburgh and Scotland, which are now some of my favorite places on the planet. I absolutely loved Scotland, from the coastline to the highlands to the city of Edinburgh. The country is beautiful and I really liked the people and the way of life there. We had a very adventurous weekend and spent a lot of time outside and in the wilderness, which I was very happy to do. I love visiting other places, but a lot of the time is just spent looking at old buildings. Which I really appreciate but you can only see so many cathedrals and fountains.....
Our trip to Edinburgh began with an early morning train ride through the English countryside and into the Scottish countryside and along the coastline up to Edinburgh. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and we got to rest a little bit before our big weekend. Here is the Scottish coastline....
When we first got to Edinburgh we ate lunch (food is a priority when it comes to traveling with me) and then went for a hike up to Arthur's Seat, one of the mountains that overlooks the city of Edinburgh. It was a vigorous hike, but we took breaks along the way to look at the city, the water and the surrounding mountains. Once we got to the top, the climb was well worth it because the views were amazing.
One side of the mountain
The very top of the mountain
Edinburgh Castle from the mountain
Other mountains as seen from the mountain
More of the city of Edinburgh
Three of us on top of the mountain
Me holding Simba from Pride Rock
(photo by Casey Germann, you steal it, you die)
After we frolicked for a bit at the top of the mountain, we decided it was best to start heading back to the city. Melissa and her friend Lauren decided to take the normal people route, while Casey and I decided that it would be more fun to bounce down the mountain. The grass was very high and soft and fluffy for some reason, so if you just ran and jumped down the side of the mountain the grass almost acted as a trampoline. We followed this method halfway down the mountain until Casey started to just roll down the mountain. I refrained from doing so, because it makes me motion sick, and took pictures of her instead. Here are some good ones:
Thus essentially completed our first day in Scotland. We made it an early night in order to rest up for our Highland tour that we embarked upon on Saturday. This was another amazing part of the trip. The highlands are gorgeous and peaceful and calm and I am very fortunate that I got a chance to see them. We also got to see a highland coo! For all of you who don't know what that is, it's basically a big, hairy, shaggy brown cow. According to our tour guide, it is spelled "cooooooooooooooo" but the last two o's are silent. We spent a lot of the day driving around in our tour bus, but honestly that was my favorite part because we just got to look out the window at the scenery. Most of the day, I simply couldn't believe where I was because the views were so breathtaking.
Hamish the Scottish Coo
Casey and I are coos too
Waterfall and river that we overlooked while eating lunch
The beautiful highlands
More scenery
A Scottish loch in the highlands
After our tour we were pretty tired, but we really wanted to go out and get a taste for Edinburgh's night life. We ended up at a bar that had a band playing live covers. The bar's atmosphere was great, and it had a picture of Animal from the Muppets on the wall and a large ant-like thing made out of cardboard on the ceiling. It was a bit more artsy and eclectic but I really enjoyed the time we spent there. Very funky but very cool.
The next day we really got to explore the city of Edinburgh. All of the buildings in the town are built in an old Gothic style, making the town look really old but also beautiful. We also got to eat breakfast in the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter!
Cafe where Harry Potter was born
J.K. Rowling overlooked Edinburgh Castle while writing HP
Another inspiration for Hogwarts
Walking down the Royal Mile
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh had a really interesting and different tone than all the other cities I have visited. I really liked how adventurous and outdoorsy we were able to be rather than just going in and out of museums and old buildings. I also liked how all of the buildings were still of an old-fashioned architecture. It made the city beautiful and I appreciated it more because it hadn't been updated to modern terms. It was very refreshing to go to a city that was off the beaten path and that was able to stand on its own without a million old famous buildings. I think that Edinburgh is tied for Florence as one of my favorite places I've been so far and I would love to get the chance to go back to Scotland at some point in my life.
