On top of the wonderful time I had in London, my friend Becca and I went to Edinburgh for the weekend. Before going o Edinburgh, I never imagined myself visiting the city at this point in time of my life. In the end, I loved my trip to Edinburgh. The city is filled with the old-world charm of stone buildings and cobble-stoned streets, awesome Scottish accents, beautiful views at all angles, and of course more Harry Potter references.
March 11th
My trip to Edinburgh continued right after my trip to London, which made getting to my flight a little stressful. I had to make a mad dash from Wimbledon in my business suit with a 15 pound backpack to the train station to catch an express train to the airport. Luckily, I made it to the airport with 30 minutes to spare before the gates closed. Although, the flight was delayed for 40 minutes due to traffic. I arrived at the hostel later in the evening. Once I was settled in, I went to dinner and walked around the area near the hostel. Our hostel was in a great location, 5 minutes from the Edinburgh Castle, in the city center, and had a lot of bars and restaurants near it. Since Becca and my flights were at different times, due to flight availability, I had to explore by myself. When Becca finally arrived she dropped her bags off and then we went out to the bar Three Sisters down the street.
March 12th
A day full of exploring! At 10am, Becca and I decided to walk around the area near us, where we saw a cute little market. At 11am we went on the free walking tour our hostel held. Some of the sights on the walking tour included: Greyfriars Kirkyard which is one of the most haunted cemeteries (apparently Edinburgh is one of most haunted cities in the world); George “Bloody” Mackenzie tomb; George Herriot's School which inspired the design of Hogwarts from Harry Potter: Greyfraris Bobby statue; The Elephant House where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter;
National Galleries of Scotland; St. James Monument; North Bridge; St. Giles Cathedral; the heart spot on the ground on the Royal Mile. This spot is where people used to pay taxes and today it’s the only spot legal to spit in Edinburgh. Of course I had to spit in the heart; Deacon Brodie’s Tavern; The Scotch Whiskey Experience; the Edinburgh Castle; the Last Drop bar, which is where people would have their last drink before they were hung; Maggie Dickson’s Pub. After the tour was over, we went shopping before our next tour: City of the Dead. The tour took us to area near the South Bridge and into the underground vaults of the South Bridge. Before we entered the vaults, our tour guide told us the vaults were some of the most haunted places in Edinburgh and that the show Ghost Hunters has filmed segments here. Going into the ground and 1st level wasn’t too bad, but going to the 2nd level was the most frightening part. Before we went up the second level, our tour guide gave us a little speech. He hold us that many people who enter the vaults don’t like to go up to the 2nd level because weird and freaky events happen up there. Since he needed the money, he was going to take us up there. The next thing he told us was if we feel a cold spot, not just cold because we are in Scotland, but tingling and the feeling of needles, then we should move. If we get the same feeling twice, we should get his attention right away because one of two things is going to happen. Either we are going to faint or going to get scratched by the spirits in the room. When he told the group this, Becca and I looked at each other with the look “he has to be kidding,” and “what did we get ourselves into.” Our time on the 2nd level wasn’t too bad, just a little freaky. Of course to heighten the tense atmosphere, our tour guide told us 2 stories: one being about a little girl being led by the black spirit into a corner and another boy being badly scratched. Luckily, Becca and I both came out of the tour without scratch. Our next stop for the day was the Scotch Whiskey Experience. During our experience, we took a ride in a whiskey barrel to learn about the whiskey making process, sampled one kind of whiskey, and saw the largest whiskey collection in the world, which contains 3,384 bottles.
Afterward, we went shopping on the Royal Mile and Princes Street to find the cashmere scarves Scotland is known for, which was a successful mission. For dinner, Becca and I decided to go to the restaurant Mums and eat haggis like our tour guide at the hostel suggested. Before I ate haggis, I had no idea what it was and was told not to find out. Not knowing what haggis was, I would say that the meal mashed with the neeps and tatties was okay. After finding out haggis is sheep liver, heart, and lungs minced with onions, oatmeal, suet, salt, spices and mixed with stock, I won’t ever be eating that again. Later in the night we went out to 2 clubs down the street, both being the complete opposite of each other. Opium played rock and metal music to dance to whereas Sneaky Pete’s played techno. Never in my mind did I imagine I would be dancing to metal music, but the night was a lot of fun.
March 13th
The first thing we did on our last day in Edinburgh was the Edinburgh Castle.
During our walk through the castle we saw the Great Hall, National War Museum of Scotland, The Regimental Museum of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, and the Military Prison. By far the best items we saw at the castle were the Honours of Scotland, the nation’s crown jewels. The jewels were amazing!! After the castle, Becca and I walked along the Royal Mile to pass time. On our walk we stopped at Fudge House to get some fudge. We kept walking down Canongate and ended up at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is the Queen’s Palace in Scotland. We only walked around the outside of the Palace.
Across the street was the Scottish Parliament. Near the palace was Holyrood Park. In the park is the Salisbury Crags, a large cliff. Since Becca and I had time before we needed to go back to the hostel, we decided to walk up the cliff. The view from the cliff was amazing!! You could see a wonderful view of most of Edinburgh. At 2pm we left the wonderful city of Edinburgh.
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