Edinburgh

Amazing!!! If I had known I was going to like Scotland so much I would have stayed there they entire week after. The feel, layout and style of the city are hard to describe. Hopefully you can see pictures. It was just spectacular. I didn’t even get close to seeing everything worth seeing in just Edinburgh in a day and a half. That city needed at least 3 in itself and then the countryside and other surrounding cities needed a few days as well. I think I could have spent 2 or 3 weeks in Scotland and not have seen it all. It is always wet, not so much rain, but moisture in the air and everything has moss growing on it. Edinburgh is also so high on the globe that it is only light from 9-3ish. In the summer it is the reverse though.

            When we first arrived in town it was dark, but you could just see the castle looming over the city in the distance. The outline against the dark blue sky gave it a medieval, mystical feeling. After checking into the hostel we walked around and then did a walking tour. This one was fantastic! The guide was James and he knew a lot about Edinburgh and did a great job at presenting the city. It is old and full of history. I realized on this trip that I’m beginning to like history more and more and that I want to know more about Scottish history. I also decided that I’m going to watch Braveheart. I also learned an interesting fact. JK Rowling is credited with getting the idea for Harry Potter while sitting in The Elephant House in Edinburgh. From the windows in the café you can see Edinburgh castle and a school. The school was founded with the intent of letting at least 2 orphans be admitted every year. It also has four towers and “houses.” I ate in the café, but no great book ideas yet.

            That night we went on a ghost tour. It was great! Edinburgh has a lot of dark history and most of the stories of creepy things happening were explainable, some weren’t. We got to hear histories stories that are most of the time left out of textbooks.

            The next morning we visited the Scotch Museum and did a few last minute things, such as getting a picture with a man in a kilt and playing bagpipes. We then got on a train that took us to Glasgow. In Glasgow we walked through the city and got on another train that took us to the airport. From the airport flew back to London. Then another train to London’s central station and then from the central station another train to the coast. Once we got to the coast we then took a ferry, a really big hotel on the water, across the English Channel to the Netherlands. In the Netherlands we took two more trains to Amsterdam. All in all I do not suggest trying to get from Edinburgh to Amsterdam taking cheap transportation. Added up we might as well have gotten a flight. Oh well, I know for next time.

            Scotland surprised me. Of all the places in Europe it was not one that I thought I would enjoy or want to go back to. But I must say besides Germany it was my favorite place. I really want to see the Highlands and go to Inverse and see the Loch Ness monster. There is still so much to do there I hope to be able to go back and see more.