A Wee Bit of Scotland

I didn't give Emily much of a chance to settle in London before we were packing our backpacks for our first weekend excursion, off to Edinburgh! One of my classmates from high school is studying at the University of Edinburgh for the whole year and was gracious enough to let us stay in her dorm room for the weekend which made the whole trip possible. We left the house at 6am to head to Kings Cross and catch our 7am train. The four and a half hour trip was full of short naps, Netflix, and beautiful scenery. The nice thing about the early morning train was that we had so much the day left when we arrived in Edinburgh.

My friend, Haley, had a two hour class when we arrived so we headed to a cafe to grab some brunch and wait for that to end. Within seconds of emerging from the main station, we fell in love with this city: it's stunning! I am a sucker for the stone buildings and architecture that you just don't see as often in America. Haley met up with us and we hopped on the bus to go to her dorm. It was her roommate's birthday that day so we helped pull off a tiny surprise of balloons and a donut cake. One of the best parts of the weekend was how incredible kind Haley, her roommate, and other friends were to us. They truly made us feel welcome and included in all the events they had planned.

Haley's dorm has the beautiful backdrop of Arthur's Seat behind it and since the weather was good on Friday, we decided it would be the best day for our hike. It looks a little intimidating from the bottom but we didn't find the hike to be too challenging and the views were absolutely breathtaking!! The pictures don't even begin to do it justice.

We had picked the perfect time to head up too, as the sun was just starting its descent and made for really cool lighting in pictures but it was still light enough for a safe descent. If anyone ever makes the journey to Edinburgh, this needs to be on your short-list of things to do.

We headed back to the dorms and were able to shower before getting ready to go out and celebrate Genna's (the roommate) birthday. We went out for a movie and then to an Indian restaurant for dinner. By the time we got back at 11, Emily and I were thoroughly exhausted and very ready for bed and the prospect of sleeping in.

Saturday morning, we went to brunch at the university dining hall before heading out to the Royal Mile to tackle some of the main attractions of the city. First stop: Edinburgh Castle. The fortress sits on the top of Castle Rock and looks over the city, dominating it's skyline. It became a royal castle under the reign of David I in the 12th century. It had been the home of Kings of Scotland for centuries and still houses the royal crown jewels. But ever since the 17th century, it has served more as a military stronghold and barracks than a royal residency, with the royals deferring to Holyrood Palace on the far end of the Royal Mile.
We spent close to an hour and a half wandering through the various exhibits on display and learning about the military history of Scotland and a tiny bit about the forced abdications of Mary Queen of Scots. We once again enjoyed pretty views over the city as the skies were still clear for us, it was just rather windy! But still doesn't compare to the winds I experienced back in Amsterdam.

The royal mile is iconic for its stores, whiskey tastings, amazing restaurants and lodging. We couldn't visit Scotland without giving whiskey a taste for the first time. I had only had it before in my favorite Irish coffees, but never straight up. We took a tour at the Scottish Whiskey Experience which started off with a barrel ride that was like a mini-amusement park ride that explained the process of how whiskey is made from barley, water, and lots of time. They also explained to us the five different regions of distilleries in Scotland. Each have a distinctive taste and flavor experience associated with their whiskey. For our tasting, we got to pick one of the five regions to try. Emily and I made sure we got different regions so we could share. I wasn't not ready for the strong taste, and struggled to finish my glass. But I am so glad we did it, we learned so much! Including the difference between Irish and Scottish whiskey.

We did some shopping in all the cashmere and tartan plaid stores that line the royal mile. I bought a cashmere burberry shawl while Emily bought a scarf that happened to match it. Our last stop of the afternoon was St. Giles Cathedral. Unfortunately this beautiful church is no longer Catholic but it was definitely worth a visit.

It had really pretty gothic architecture, dim lighting and gorgeous large hanging chandeliers. But its most unique feature was definitely the brightly painted cobalt ceiling color. It certainly made it stand out from the other churches that we have been visiting. I am really looking forward to our art history and architecture class that we have to take once we get to Rome. I've missed studying that type of material.

The girls had planned a fun evening out for us on Saturday night. They invited some friends over to the dorms and then we all went to a university event called The Big Cheese. It's a student-run club that plays throwback music, like think 2012 and before. It was a ton of fun, and reminded me of one of my favorite playlists on Spotify! All and all, it was a super fun evening but we were certainly ready to pass out by the time we got back to the dorms.

Sunday morning we got up for Mass at St. Columba's which was only a short distance from the dorms. Afterwards we had plans to walk a mile back towards the royal mile to finally visit Holyrood Palace. But hunger got the best of us, I spotted an adorable cafe across the street which ended up being the perfect place for a quick Sunday Brunch. Not only was the food tasty and the coffee strong, the view of the quaint streets of Edinburgh was the picture perfect!

We finally made it to Holyrood Palace, which is the formal residence of the Queen whenever she comes to Scotland. We are making our way through all the famous royal castles and palaces, and plan to complete our checklist as soon as we get back to England. You could certainly tell the difference that you were in Scotland versus England based on the furnishing. This was the home of Mary Queen of Scots and her son James the first before she was forced to abdicate in favor of her son and flee to England.

Until the 16th century, when the two countries were joint under the same monarchy, this was the principal residence of the Scottish monarch. But even before that in the 10th century, it was the site of Holyrood Abbey and there are still foundational remains of the church and part of the nave is still standing.

Despite the rain, we wandered out into the gardens to explore the vast grounds that span until you reach Arthur's Seat in the background. We knew that the dorm was close to Arthur's Seat so we figured it would be super simple to get back to Haley's. My phone was running low on power and I didn't want to drain it completely to open up the map app. Big mistake, we definitely went probably about an hour out of the way to get back to the dorm. But finally two soaked girls arrived back to the dorm just as the other girls were getting up and back from breakfast.

Haley had volunteered to show us around the campus center of University of Edinburgh along with some of the other hip and trendy parts of the city, including the vibrant colored Victoria Street. We said our goodbyes and headed off to the train station to start our journey back to England. We were glad to not be carrying around our heavy backpacks anymore. The weekend escape from London was great and another country has been crossed off our list. I don't understand why more students don't visit Scotland before their Rome semester, because it was truly amazing!

The Brunette