January 14 - 17
My mom decided to fly me out to the UK a few days early, and we decided to make a trip of it! We stayed in Edinburgh, Scotland for 4 days before taking the train to Leeds to prepare for my semester on exchange at the University of Leeds.
Day 1
My mom and I arrived in Edinburgh at 7:30 AM, and had a bit of time before our
early check-in. We had spotted a Starbucks on the way over, so we decided to go
there for a coffee until our room was ready. I got a mocha, which I quickly
learned is pronounced maw-kah after
having to repeat myself multiple times.
 |
| The top of the Royal Mile |
After trying to nap for 5 whole minutes, we decided we were too
excited to start exploring, so we got up and went for a walk. Our hotel was situated
right at the bottom of the Edinburgh castle, which made for not only a
beautiful view, but also a great landmark for finding our way back from almost
anywhere in the city. Leading down a hill from the castle is a street called
The Royal Mile, the main street through the Old Town. We explored the outside
of the castle and around the beautiful town. We had lunch, our first ‘pub grub’
of the trip, which was delicious
 |
| The view from our hotel room |
 |
| Lunch |
Next, we had a tour of The Real Mary King’s Close booked for the afternoon. Closes (narrow streets) branch off from the Royal Mile, and were some of the busiest residential streets in the 1600s. Mary King's close is named after Mary King, a successful businesswoman from the 1630s. On our tour, we learned all about what life was like during these times. The buildings were built very tall due to overcrowding, and a lack of space to expand the city. One of the guide's favourite stories to tell has to do with waste disposal; people would 'do their business' in wooden buckets, and the youngest of the family would have the lovely job of dumping the waste out of the window into the streets. As they did this they would yell "Guarder L'Eau," pronounced guardie loo – which translates from french to 'watch the water.' The waste would run into the Nor Loch (lake), which has since been drained and transformed into the Princes Street Gardens. This system resulted in an interesting pattern of living: the poorest on the first level (due to the waste running down the streets), the richest on the second level (due to the reduced number of steps to climb), and decreasingly rich upwards (as the number of stairs increased). This was the first time in Edinburgh's history where you would see different socioeconomic classes associating themselves with each other. The tour was quite cheesy and a bit awkward, since it was just me, my mom,
and one other girl on our tour. However, it really was a great introduction to the
rich history of Edinburgh, and very interesting to see what the living
conditions in the closes were really like.
Day 2
We had tickets booked for a hop-on-hop-off bus tour, and had planned
our route and the attractions we wanted to see that day. The morning started
off with an adventure – finding the bus stop! We ended up hanging around
the area where we knew the bus was coming, and running up to it from afar when
we saw it. We plugged in our headphones and listened to some history between
stops.
Stop 1: John Knox House
The John Knox house is the only original medieval building left on the Royal Mile, dating back to 1470. The history on this tour occurred during the Scottish Reformation and the beginning of the civil war. John Knox was a leader in the Protestant reformation, and is now considered the founder of the Presbyterian denomination in Scotland. Another resident in the house was James Mosman, the jeweller and goldsmith for Mary, Queen of Scots. It was a beautiful house, filled with rich history and fascinating artifacts.
Stop 2: Holyrood Palace & Arthur’s Seat
Holyrood palace is the official residence of the British monarch (the Queen) in Scotland. It is right at the bottom of the Royal Mile, and was where the Kings and Queens of Scots lived in the 16th century. This was an especially interesting site because it is not just an ancient castle, but a palace that is still used by Queen Elizabeth today when she makes her annual visit to Scotland. Included on this tour is the appartment that belonged to Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16th century. To avoid making this post too history heavy (if it isn't already), I'm not going to write out the entire story of Mary Stuart – but if you don't know the story and are interested, I recommend looking it up because it was fascinating!
 |
| Outside the gates of Holyrood Palace |
 |
| The exterior of the palace |
 |
| Throne Room |
 |
| Holyrood Abbey Ruins |
Arthur’s seat is the highest peak of the Arthur's Seat Volcano, an extinct volcano system approximately 350 million years old. We made our way
up to the very top for some spectacular views; we were extremely lucky to get a very sunny day with clear views of the entire city.
 |
| Arthur's Seat from the bottom |
 |
| Making our way up! |
 |
| Panorama of the city from the top |
Stop 3: New Town
 |
| Scott Monument |
We stopped right near Waverly Train Station, which is on Princes
street, the main street going through the New Town. The ‘New Town’ is actually 300 years old, and is registered as a UNESCO heritage site (along with the Old
Town). My favourite part about the New Town was that you could be standing in one spot and on your left would be modern stores (in old, beautiful buildings), and on your right would be the Edinburgh Castle and the historical sites of the Old Town.
 |
| Tea at the Balmoral |
We were too cold and tired to walk around much more, so we walked a
few blocks looking (unsuccessfully) for any small café to get warm tea and rest.
The only thing we could find was the Balmoral, one of the most beautiful hotels
in Edinburgh. Right when we sat down, our frustration and exhaustion was gone –
we had the best tea I have ever had in my life, and the most delicious scones
with cream and jam.
For dinner, we went to a famous pub called 'The Last Drop,' named after its location beside the old execution site. We ordered an appetizer of traditional Scottish foods called Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties. Tatties are mashed potatoes, neeps are turnips, and haggis is something you should google on your own (if you think your stomach can handle it). The tatties and neeps were delicious, and we each took about one bite of haggis and called it a day.
 |
| Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties |
 |
| Our first Scottish beer! |
Day 3
Today, we woke up early to take a day trip towards the Highlands to
Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond. We were on a small tour bus (15 people) with a
tour guide (who was also the driver) named Ewan, who was born & raised in
Edinburgh. Ewan was probably in his early 20s, and brought along 5 of his friends (also Edinburgh locals) on the
tour. It was so interesting to hear their perspectives on Scottish culture, and
really helped me get an idea of what living in modern Scotland is like (not
just historical Scotland that you learn about in most tours). He played us some songs (from the national anthem
to a popular wedding dance song) and taught us some local slang like wee (little/a bit) and bonnie (attractive/beautiful).
The first stop was Stirling Castle, which guarded the farthest downstream crossing of the River Forth, and was once a favourite residence of the Stewart kings and queens. We saw the Great Hall, Great Kitchens, and palace
vaults. The most incredible part was the outside of the buildings and the views
from the top of the castle.
 |
| Buildings of Stirling Castle |
 |
| View from Stirling Castle |
The next stop was a very small town called Aberfoyle. At this point,
it was snowing beautifully, making everything extremely picturesque. We went
for lunch at a beautiful pub called Faerie Tree, fitting with the common belief
in fairies/nymphs involved in traditional Scottish culture.
 |
| The Faerie Tree in Aberfoyle |
The final stop was Loch Lomond. 'Loch' is the Scottish Gaelic word meaning
‘lake.’ No, this was not Loch Ness… and no, we did not see any monsters! Here,
we went for a short hike up a hill for some views, where we were lucky enough
to make an unexpected animal sighting – a hairy cow!
 |
| Loch Lomond |
 |
| A wild hairy cow! |
We got back later that evening and had some great Italian food (and
wine) for dinner!
Day 4
For our last day in Edinburgh, our priority was to walk around the
city and see the parts we had not seen yet. We spent the morning doing a bit of
shopping and walking around the New Town.
At noon, we went on a Harry Potter walking tour of Edinburgh, where
we got to see some new areas of the city, with a focus on some of the places
where J.K. Rowling got her inspiration while writing the books. She lived in
Edinburgh for much of the time she spent writing, and the city is very proud to
call itself the ‘birthplace’ of Harry Potter.
 |
| Spoon: the real place J.K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter (used to be called Nicolson's Cafe) |
 |
| The Elephant House: got the credit for being the location J.K. Rowling began writing Harry Potter (really just a place she wrote a few chapters) |
 |
| Gravestone of 'Tom Riddle' |
 |
| George Heriot's School: 400-year-old school (originally a charitable organization for the education and upbringing of orphaned boys) where J.K Rowling worked as a teacher prior to writing the books; also the inspiration for Hogwarts School |
 |
| Victoria Street: the inspiration for Diagon Alley |
We spent the afternoon exploring the Old Town a little bit more, and
had a late lunch at a pub called ‘The World’s End.’ In the 16th
century, the city was surrounded by walls after Scotland’s defeat by the
English, and the location of this pub marks the where the city gates used to
be. The people living in the city believed that these gates marked the end of
the world as they knew it.
Feeling a bit tired of 'pub grub,' we had our final dinner at another Italian restaurant, packed up our stuff, and went to bed for our last night in Edinburgh!
No comments:
Post a Comment