Following my time in Italy I spent a few days in London before heading back out on the road (not flying this time) to Edinburgh, Scotland. Following my Thursday evening class Bart and I hopped on a coach at Victoria station (it is very convenient being so close to a major transportation hub) bound for an 8 hour journey to Scotland. We arrived in Edniburgh at 7 a.m. long before anyone in the city was to be awake. Wandering from the bus station to our hostel we got our first sneak peak of Edinburgh as the sun was rising. Edinburgh is a very quaint city divided into two halves, the old city includes the famous Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle, and the new city with a major shopping center, government buildings, etc.
After dropping our things at our hostel just off the Royal Mile we relaxed for a bit with a guidebook in hand planning the next two days of our visit. With the castle opening around 10 a.m. we had some time to kill and made our way to the Elephant Café. The Elephant Café is most famous as the location that J.K. Rowling sat as she began to write the Harry Potter series. I can see how its location could be very inspirational with the rear seating area overlooking an auspicious graveyard and the castle perched high above the hill.
Below is a photograph of the castle from the café.
Following breakfast we went to explore the castle. Honestly, this might be terrible to say, I don’t think the inside of the castle was worth the 25 dollar (12 pound) admission fee. Needless to say, we were able to see many of the museums and exhibits highlighting the reign of the Scottish empire. The most memorable portion of the castle visit was the Scottish crown jewels and the firing of the one o’clock cannon.
Below is a photograph of the one o’clock cannon just after being shot.
After viewing the castle we explored the rest of Edinburgh including the newly designed Parliament building (which won some design award a few years back), hiked up the small portion of Arthur’s Seat, went to the Scottish history museum (where we saw Dolly the first cloned sheep and learned that walking used to be a professional sport), and ended our day with a visit to a pub on the Royal Mile.
Day two in Scotland sent us north of Edinburgh on a Scottish Highlands and Whisky Tour. Our first stop on the bus tour (approx. 16 people) was at the Glenturret Distillery, home to the Glenturret single malt, just one component of the Famous Grouse Scottish Whisky. The taste test was quite unique. I never realized how many distinct flavors and aromas are present in whisky. The taste test began by scratching a card with six distinct flavors (smoke, citrus, chocolate, that’s all I remember) that are present in the whisky. Following the scratch and sniff activity I was better versed in tasting the Whisky.
Below is a shot from the distillery tasting room.
Following a quick lunch in the distillery lounge we continued our tour north of Perth towards Dunkeld. The Scottish countryside is covered with castles, beautiful estates, and rolling hill after rolling hill. This is quite possibly the most picturesque country I have ever been to. I wish I had more time to explore the countryside. Unfortunately, after a short hike near some waterfalls (oh, how nice the “mountain” air was) and r a quick stop in a Crief we made our way back to Edinburgh. Our quick two day one night visit of Scotland was coming to an end as we grabbed dinner and walked a giant circle around the castle before boarding an overnight bus back to London.
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