This past Saturday, as my mom and I are packing for London, we decide that we don't want to spend our entire last week in London anymore. So, we decided to buy train tickets to Scotland. What can I say? Neither one of us really like plans. We prefer to make things up as we go! With that being said, we woke up early Tuesday morning and headed to the Kings Cross Railway and hopped on a train to Edinburgh, Scotland - and boy did we love it!!
This is one of my favorite pictures of Scotland that I took while we were on our trip!
Right when we got to town, we decided that we were going to
get our exploring in since we only had a little over 24 hours in the city. The first thing that we did was head up to Edinburgh Castle - and let me tell you, it is not an easy walk up a mountain! Obviously they did not choose to build a castle there because it was easy to walk up to! (:
Next, we decided to do something a little fun (since we've only done boring things thus far)! We headed to the Scotch Whiskey Experience. You should know that neither my mom nor I are very big drinkers - I prefer water or sweet tea over anything you put in front of me. However, we were in the home of whiskey so we thought, what the heck.
This was a lot of fun! We got to ride a wooden barrel through the "whiskey making process" and then we got to go and learn about the types of scotch made in Scotland. I must say, I learned a lot! There are 5 regions in Scotland that make whiskey and each region makes a completely different style of scotch. We even got a scratch and sniff card! (:
Another neat thing about the "experience" is that they have the world's largest scotch whiskey collection. It was AMAZING!! I have never seen so much alcohol in one room let alone collectors items. Over half of the bottles on display are all limited edition and one of, if not the only, bottle still full and in existence today. Even Edinburgh has overwhelming whiskey history!!
How can you see this and not be in love with this place?!
For dinner we went to one of the best pubs in town (according to Trip Advisor that is) and ordered some authentic Scottish cuisine. Fish and chips and some shepherd's pie. My goodness was it one of the best meals I have ever had. I ate so much I thought I was going to explode!!
After dinner we decided to catch a taxi down to Leith Docks and see the waterfront and the Royal Yacht Britannia. Lucky for us, we got in with a cab driver who was SO passionate and proud of his country and he decided to give us a "real" tour of Edinburgh - which ended up being a 2 1/2 hour ride! It was so much fun! He gave us so much history with so many different places that we never would have found on our own! I was already loving Edinburgh but he made me REALLY love the city and his country!
If any of you are Harry Potter fans, you may know that JK Rowling (the author) is from Edinburgh and she wrote most of the series in the city. Our driver took us to two of the schools that she based Hogwarts off of and they were breathtaking. I mean, they look just like that schools back home I guess...
This first one is a college
This school is for kids K-5th grade!!
Of course we had to get a picture of this for my nephew!
Our last day in Edinburgh (before we had to catch the train back to London), my mom and I headed to Holyrood Palace. Holyrood is the current summer home of the Queen and the former home of Mary Queen of Scots. This was probably my favorite historical site that we have visited. I am kind of in a Queen Mary phase at the moment (thanks to the TV show Reign) so I may be a little biased. Anyway, while at Holyrood, we ran in to a good friend of mine from Tulsa, Jennie. Jennie and her sister are spending the week in Ireland and Scotland and our paths somehow crossed in Edinburgh! What a fun surprise! (:
I have been to a lot of countries around the world (and hopefully will
be to a lot more in the future) and Scotland has stolen the #1
position. My goodness. The people are SO amazingly nice, the scenery
is spectacular, the history is overwhelming, and their food is
delightful! I will definitely be back in the future!!
XX
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