On July 16th we drove to Edinburgh, and we had 2 nights there. Our first evening was a very traditional Scottish evening, where we had the chance to try a traditional Scottish dish: haggis, which is a meat dish made from sheep’s heart, liver and lungs and encased in it’s stomach. Needless to say, it’s description sounds extremely unappetizing. I was kind of hesitant about trying it but I figured since I was in Scotland I had to at least have a small taste! It was a lot better than I imagined! It was served with a layer of mashed potatoes on top, and it tasted almost like a liver-flavoured beef patty covered in gravy.
The best part of the evening was a traditional Scottish bagpiper show, with a well-known Scottish bagpiper dressed in a kilt and traditional Scottish clothing. Bagpipes are a strong tradition in Scotland, and our bagpiper was really good – at both bagpiping and at making us laugh. He told jokes in between songs, and kept us well entertained through the whole evening. It was a great show!
While in Edinburgh we had a full day free to explore the city, and so my first stop was the Edinburgh Castle, which is Scotland’s most visited paid tourist attraction. It sits on top of Castle Rock, and can be seen from all over the city.
Once we got up to the Castle it was just as amazing close up as it is from afar.
Luckily our tour manager had purchased our tickets for us online in advance so we were able to skip the 2 hour line-up to purchase tickets at the door! We spent a couple hours walking around and exploring the grounds, and manoeuvring around the hundreds of tourists!
Edinburgh Castle is also the location of the Scottish Crown Jewels, but unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos in that room. They were beautiful though!
From the Castle we had a great view of the city of Edinburgh.
After visiting the castle I decided I wanted to explore the city by just walking around. We spent most of the day walking down the Royal Mile – a main street in Edinburgh that runs about a mile long housing lots of shops, attractions and historical buildings.
I loved the feel of the city, it felt very historical, but had a modern feel popping out here and there. For example, there are many old historical beautiful buildings, and then amongst them there would be a modern building. A good example of this is the parliament buildings. They were designed by a Spanish architect in a very modern style, and they visually stand out from other buildings in Edinburgh.
The city is very easy to take photos of as it is very pretty in every direction. As you walk down the touristy streets there are lots of shops, and even bagpipers playing traditional Scottish music.
As we walked we would see cool buildings or monuments, and although we did not know what they represented or housed, we enjoyed seeing them and took lots of photos throughout the city.
At the end of the Royal Mile is the Palace of Holyrood House, which is the official residence of the Royal Family when they are in Edinburgh.
Next to the palace is the palace shop, where you can buy many official Royal souvenirs. It was in this shop that I decided to purchase an official replica of Kate Middleton’s gorgeous engagement ring (which was formerly Princess Diana’s ring, that William gave to Kate when they were engaged).
I enjoyed my time in Edinburgh. It is a bustling city filled with lots of life and culture. It is one of my favourite cities I’ve seen so far in the UK (with the exception of London!), and it’s definitely my favourite Scottish city so far! If I am in Scotland again one day I would definitely come back, as there is so much more to see in this amazing city, and I feel like I only got to see the tip of the iceberg here!
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