Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Edinburgh

Last Euro-trip post!  Edinburgh was the last stop of our trip before we went back to London to catch our flight.  Edinburgh definitely did not disappoint...I am absolutely in love with Scotland!  We were very lucky to have gorgeous weather during our three days there, and we took advantage of it by going on walking tours and ghost tours.  On our first day, we did a free walking tour (free as in by donations of course) which was fantastic, the tour guide really knew what she was talking about and it was nice to learn about the city and get our bearings.  We spent the next couple days roaming around different areas of the old and new city, eating haggis, ghost tours, taking in the gorgeous sites and just having a lovely time.  We unfortunately didn't have a chance to go to the Highlands which is something I really regret; which only means I'll have to visit sometime soon! ;)  

Although Edinburgh Castle was gorgeous, many people suggested we admire it from the outside.  Most people agree that unless you're a massive Castle Fan, and know what to look at/what to look for, the inside of the castle is very poorly curated and not worth seeing unless you get a guide (which is super expensive); so we admired from the outside :)
View from Calton Hill during our Ghost Tour (we had to wait until nearly 11 for the sun to set)!
Edinburgh is wonderfully hilly 


So as most Harry Potter fans know, J.K Rowling wrote HP in the Elephant House Cafe which was super super exciting to see.  The cafes in that vicinity clearly had a fun time with it too.  Behind the cafe is a famous graveyard called Greyfriars Kirkyard which has tons of paranormal stories associated with it, along with a story about a dog who guarded his master's grave for 13 years.  Those cool stories aside, J.K. Rowling also saw the graveyard, and actually used many of the names written on the tombstones for her books.  So I got to see Tom Riddell's grave (Voldemort), along with someone named McGonagall; and there was apparently a Crookshanks somewhere (but I didn't have time to find it). 

"Scottish Currency"
Awesome mailbox
Absolutely disgusting Haggis
Greyfriar Bobby's Dog!
-M