Edinburgh, Scotland

UK Trip, Days 19-20, Edinburgh, Scotland, 9/30 – 10/1, 2018

Plaid, plaid, everywhere – we must be in Scotland. We even saw a plaid bus!

We left Stratford-Upon-Avon and had another 4-hour train ride to Edinburgh. Another long trip, seems the trains here don’t agree with me so much. I find myself getting a bit queasy, and I’m always so ready to light. We used Google Maps to find our way from the train station to the hotel, and it took us up a long, long, and fairly steep, flight of stairs that served as a sort of alleyway between two streets.  These types of alleys are known as a “close” or a “wynd”, rather than “road”, and are quite common here.  That wasn’t the easiest thing to manage with suitcases and backpacks, but we did it. Of course, the next time we were out, we discovered a much easier way to the hotel.

I really liked Edinburgh (which I learned is pronounced “Edin-Burra”). I liked the boisterous, less reserved people, who always seemed to be having a party; all the plaid just cracked me up, although I do think much of it in the tourist areas was indeed, for the tourist; I loved running into people playing bagpipes around every corner; it reminded me a lot of Ireland, in many ways, including the green, green, green countryside; and I totally loved the accent. I could have stayed a couple more days here, I didn’t feel ready to leave after just two days. We did a lot of walking, in between rain showers, and also took the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus tour. Everywhere there seemed to be a blending of the ancient and the modern, with high rise offices and urban housing developments nestled between beautiful parks, centuries old churches and historic monuments.

We spent about an hour on Calton Hill, a historic hill set right in the city center. The National Monument, or Athenian acropolis, is an unfinished monument which was supposed to be a replica of the Parthenon in Athens, and serve as a memorial to those who died in the Napoleonic Wars. It was never finished, due to a lack of funds, but remains a popular landmark. The  views from the hill were fantastic, and well worth the short climb to the top.

Holyrood Park is a 650-acre royal park with an array of hills, lochs, glens, ridges, and basalt cliffs, providing a wild piece of highland landscape. The park is associated with the Royal Palace of Holyrood, but we didn’t take the time to tour the interior.

The Royal Mile in Edinburgh is a one-mile long thoroughfare that runs between two significant locations in the history of Scotland, namely Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace. The Royal Mile is the busiest tourist street in the Old Town, which much activity, energy, shops, pubs, pipers, and tourist buses. We had fun walking it up and down a few times while we were there.

St. Giles’ Cathedral was situated in the middle of The Royal Mile. It was a prominent building along this stretch of road, and you couldn’t help but admire the famed crown spire and stately beauty. Also known as the High Kirk of Edinburgh, it is the Mother Church of Presbyterianism.

So much to see, not nearly enough time, but here are some of the highlights we caught on camera.