Edinburgh

Hello everyone! This is my final blog post of the week, but it's the one I'm most excited about. I'll try to keep it pretty short and put lots of pictures. Words just can't do justice to how beautiful Scotland is!

Gabby, Sierra, Ryan, Ridgely, (some of my new study abroad friends) and I started planning our trip to Edinburgh a few weeks ago. It was one of the top places I wanted to visit during my semester abroad, and since it is so far north I wanted to visit the city before the weather got too cold. We bought our train tickets in advance and found a place to stay about 25 minutes walking distance away from the Royal Mile in central Edinburgh. We found the place on Airbnb and it ended up being awesome. We had plenty of space and a full kitchen so we were able to save money and prepare our own breakfast and a few dinners at the flat. Kudos to Ridgely for taking care of the flat rental and Sierra for making wonderful pesto pizza and pasta for dinner!

A few of us wanted to spend a day in the highlands, so we looked online for a inexpensive tour that went to Loch Ness and Glencoe. We found a tour company on Tripadvisor that was a little cheaper than most and had small group sizes, so we decided to book through them for a tour on Saturday. We arrived in Edinburgh Friday evening, settled in, then awoke bright and early the next day to meet our tour guide by St. Giles Cathedral. When we got there it turned out that we were the only ones who had booked the tour for the day, so we basically had a private tour! The day started out great. We drove north into the highlands getting our first glimpses of the beautiful landscape. We stopped after a short drive at Dalwhinnie Whiskey Distillery to have a tour and sampling. At first I wasn't too excited about the distillery, but the tour ended up being very interesting and informative. At the end we got to sample the whiskey in special glasses which we got to keep. I learned a lot about the whiskey-making process, but the whiskey was a little strong for me- I think I'll stick to beer and cider!

St. Giles Cathedral

After we left the distillery things began to get interesting. While we were driving, our van started to have some issues and we had to stop in the next little village to get it checked out. Long story short, the van had a problem and we ended up having to wait in this little village, called Spean Bridge, for about 3 1/2 hours while we waited for another person from the company to come get us. During the time we were stranded in the highlands (I'm being dramatic- it wasn't that bad) we got lunch (I tried Haggis! It was okay.), checked out a gift shop, and did a little hiking around the area. Eventually someone arrived to get us and we were told we would get full refunds and a complimentary tour the next day, which we decided to take (but more on that later!). Unfortunately by the time we were picked up there wasn't time to get up to Loch Ness before dark, so we drove back to Edinburgh. On the way back, though, we got to drive through Glencoe, which is one of the most beautiful places in the highlands. It's also the sight of a bloody massacre which my family history is actually tied to way back.

Glencoe

Glencoe

When I told my dad that I was going up to Scotland, he told me I actually have some Scottish in my blood from his side. This was news to me; I thought that on my dad's side I was pure English! My dad typed up a little family history for me which basically shows that way, way back, a man from the Fraser clan married a woman from the MacDonald clan, and somewhere along the line someone married an English person, and eventually I come along. The connection to Glencoe is that the father of the woman from the MacDonald clan was murdered by the Campbell clan during the Glencoe massacre. Not a happy moment in my family history, but it was cool visiting a place which is directly connected (albeit distantly, geographically and temporally) to my personal history. When we got back to Edinburgh we got a little supper (I also decided to try my luck with the Scottish lotto, and won 2GBP- yay me!) then headed back to the flat for another early morning the next day. 

We decided to give up going Loch Ness (it's a long way away and we had heard it's only the most famous because of Nessie) and go to Loch Lomond instead. We started the day with a stop at the Wallace Monument, then visited Doune Castle, the place where Monty Python was filmed! We made it to Loch Lomond in the afternoon and took a hike along the shore. The place we visited wasn't very touristy, so it was very peaceful. I wish we could have spend a whole day on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond (the words of a song I learned when I was younger). We had to go back to Edinburgh eventually, though, so we said our goodbyes to beautiful Loch Lomond and boarded the bus for the final time. When we got back to Edinburgh Gabby and I walked to an 8pm Mass then tried fried Mars bars afterwards (a local delicacy). They were actually surprisingly good!

Wallace Monument

Dog wearing a kilt at the Wallace Monument

Scottish flag

Doune Castle- "You mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

Hamish the highland cow

Loch Lomond

The Kelpies- horse statues outside Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle lit up at night

Since our train back to London left at 2:30pm on Monday, Monday morning was our only chance to see Edinburgh, and I was determined to see as much as I could during this short time. Gabby and I woke up at the crack of dawn on Monday morning to hike up a hill at Holyrood Park for a view of the city and the sea (I originally planned to hike Arthur's seat, but it was too muddy). The view from the top of the hill we hiked was incredible. You could see Holyroodhouse Palace, Edinburgh Castle sitting majestically on a hill, the top of St. Giles Cathedral, and the sea shining in the west. At the top it was peaceful and powerful, and I wish I could have stayed longer.

View from the crag at Holyrood Park

After leaving Holyrood Park Gabby and I stopped at a lovely little coffee shop for coffee and breakfast, then made our way back to the flat to clean and check out. During the rest of the afternoon we all went separate ways to see what we wanted in the city. I knew I wouldn't have time to visit the castle or Holyroodhouse, so I went to visit Greyfriars Bobby. Greyfriars Bobby is a dog whose master died in the 1800's who loyally stayed by his grave and was taken care of by the local people until he died. Even though it wasn't allowed to bury dogs in the cemetery at Greyfriars Kirk, they buried Bobby there anyways so he wouldn't be separated from his master. When I was younger I had a book of stories that included one about Greyfriars Bobby, and I've always been touched by Bobby's loyalty. Visiting Greyfriars Bobby was very special, and I'm so glad I got visit Bobby while I was in Edinburgh.

Greyfriars Bobby

Bobby's grave

The time for us to leave Edinburgh came all too soon and we were all sad to leave Scotland. However, there are still plenty of adventures to come! This coming weekend I’m heading west to Exeter to visit some family there and the next weekend Gabby and I are going to Paris! Now that I’m caught up with posts, I’ll be posting something new every week about where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to. Until then, thanks for reading and hope you’re all doing well!