A Summary of the first two days we spent in Scotland, in one of the most beautiful and enchanting cities in the world.
Andrew and I finally did it. After talking about it for a couple of years, working to pay for it, skipping date nights, taking a short honeymoon--we finally got on the plane and went to Scotland. It was a trip of a lifetime, and our first international trip together. They say you learn a lot about a person when you travel with them. You see how they handle the unknown, how they handle stressful layovers, what they're willing to try to eat, and how they take in the breath-taking sights. You learn a lot about a person when you travel with them, this is true, and what I learned is that there isn't a better travel companion for me than Andrew.
The First Day
We left on Monday, March 18th from Detroit Metro Airport at 7pm. After a layover in Paris, we arrived at Edinburgh airport around 11am the next day, March 19th. The sky was blue as we rode the tram from the airport into the city, a quiet 20-minute ride, and as we got closer to the historic district, Edinburgh Castle loomed from afar over the city.
I remember feeling nervous at first, thinking that maybe Andrew wasn't going to enjoy Scotland like I had when I first came in 2015. Was he going to like it? Would he find the city as mysterious and exciting as I did? Would I still enjoy it, being back a second time? As we drew closer and closer to our stop in the middle of the city, I wondered what would this trip bring us.
We got off the tram at Princes Street, the Sir Walter Scott Monument to our right, the Balmoral Hotel in front of us (this was where J.K. Rowling wrote the last chapter of the Harry Potter Series, btw), and Old Town just across the bridge beyond the Scott Monument. The streets were bustling, the sun bright, and we were finally here.
We were in Scotland. I had returned.
Our hotel was in New Town of Edinburgh, the part of the city built between the years of 1760 and 1850, full of open courtyards and Georgian style townhouses with brightly painted front doors. It was a five minute walk to our hotel, Hotel Indigo Edinburgh, a beautiful hotel off of York street. Our room had a giant tv at the foot of the bed, a stocked refrigerator with chocolate cream puffs (they were delicious), milk for the morning cup of tea, and sparkling water. In the bathroom, we marveled over the towel rack which was heated so you could have a warm towel after your shower, and after conversing with our hotel concierge on where to go first, we dumped our belongings, freshened up, and hit the streets to explore. By the time we left the hotel, it was 12 noon.
The weather was perfect for walking around the city: blue skies, and the sun was shining just enough to make us unzip our jackets and enjoy the slight breeze. Following the advice of our hotel concierge, we walked from New Town over to Old Town, an area of centuries old buildings, bustling sidewalks full of shops, cafes and tea rooms, and hidden throughout the city was a labyrinth of alleyways called "closes" that disappeared beyond corners, or down into the dark. It was a stark contrast to the wide open streets of New Town. Here, the buildings towered overhead, many of the sandstone buildings black with time.
At this point, any worries I had were completely gone. The magic that enthralled me back in 2015 was HERE, stronger than ever, and Andrew with me. Without planning to, we quickly made it a point to explore each close to see where it led, to see where it beckoned us and into the unknown.
We walked from the top of the Royal Mile in Old Town where Edinburgh Castle was perched over the city, to Victoria Street full of the brightly painted shops screaming Diagon Alley from Harry Potter, all the way to Calton Hill to get a twilight view of the city before heading back to the hotel to get freshened up for dinner. Whether it was the time change, or the excitement from the day, what was intended to be a brief moment to lie down on the bed turned into us falling fast asleep without dinner for the night.
The Second Day
Having gone without dinner, we woke up the next morning ravenous and ready to start the day early. Being further north, the sky was as bright as noon at 7am, so we headed out to seek food before our 9:30am admission into Edinburgh Castle.
We originally planned to eat breakfast at Forsyth's Tea Room located in Chalmer's Close, but after finding it closed for the morning hours, we decided to eat at Cafe Edinburgh off the Royal Mile. And it was here that I finally experienced a Scottish Breakfast.
The Scottish Breakfast consists of:
Eggs (cooked any way)
Bacon (over there the bacon is sliced thicker)
Toast and jam
Potato Scones (called tatties)
beans (must be in a tomato sauce)
sauteed mushrooms
charred tomato
haggis (a savory pudding of sheep's heart, liver, and lungs mixed with oats and other spices)
It was delicious, especially the beans with the poached eggs when you scoop them together with the potato scones. Andrew ordered a toasted bagel with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. This shocked me because Andrew does not eat fish back home. But he loved it. We marveled over the food in quiet contentment, the food too good to pause for words. I wrote in my journal after finishing, and Andrew read up on some history of the various closes we visited yesterday, and some we hoped to spot today.
After breakfast, we walked uphill toward Edinburgh Castle which stands at the top of the the Royal Mile. At first, we were going to walk through the castle and its museums without any kind of guide, but as we were passing the main gate, we noticed that audio guides were available for 8 pounds per person. With neither of us knowing much about the castle, we decided to spend the extra money in order to get a better understanding of its history. We were so thankful that we did.
A more cursory exploration of the castle might have taken only a few hours, but with the audio guides, which were packed with even more information to take in, it took us over half the day. We wanted to take our time and soak in the history of the castle, which spans more than a millennium. This was fine with us; it was a gorgeous day to be outside, and we enjoyed walking together and listening to history while exploring the ancient fortress.
Andrew loved the castle, and I loved watching him read every piece of information for every artifact in the museums. Even when I grew impatient to move on. :)
One of my favorite parts of the visit was going inside the oldest building of the castle, St. Margaret's Chapel. Built in the 11th century by King David I in honor of his deceased mother, St. Margaret's chapel is a tiny one room chapel that is still used to this day for baptisms and weddings. Standing inside its ancient walls, thinking about all the years these walls have stood, reminded me how brief a hundred years must seem to it.
Like I said, we spent most of the day inside the walls of Edinburgh Castle. There's too much to say about everything we saw to write about, so all I can really say is if you're able, go to Scotland and visit the castle yourself.
Whether you're interested in architecture, history, or how the castle has inspired literature over the years, it is worth the trip. And since I brought literature up, an event that had taken place within the walls of Edinburgh Castle inspired the Red Wedding of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire Series. The event was called the Black Dinner. Read more here.
After the castle, Andrew and I went on to explore some famous Harry Potter hot spots in the city, the first perhaps the most famous: Greyfriars Kirkyard, where J.K. Rowling found the name of the series' antagonist, Thomas Riddle while taking a walk.
We observed the grave sites of long dead aristocrats and influential people in Scotland's history. The carvings in the headstones were fascinating: some had angels and cherubs, while others had grinning skulls or Death in his hooded cloak standing watch over them in the hundreds of years since their passing. We took our time reading the words carved into stone, some lamenting the loss of a life cut short, others rejoicing in lives well lived.
When we reached Thomas Riddle's grave, it was apparent other Harry Potter fans had stopped by to pay their respects to this man who (I assume) had no idea that his name would some day be the inspiration behind some fictional wizard in the twentieth century. Fresh flowers were placed at the foot of the plaque, and a well worn path led us to where other's had gone before us. Thankfully, the kirkyard was quiet and hardly anyone was there, so Andrew and I continued on, heading out to find other places to explore,
and to let those who had gone before us continue resting in peace.
We stopped for a snack at Elephant House Cafe, another famous place for Harry Potter nerds. It was here that J.K. Rowling would spend hours writing early drafts of the adventures Harry and his friends had before taking her walks through Greyfriar's Kirkyard. Andrew ordered a brownie sundae and I had a hot chocolate with Bailey's cream called Fleur's Fantasy, and a chocolate-orange cream cake.
It was delicious, and quite a snack.
After Elephant House Cafe, we decided to walk to one of the neighborhoods outside the city center, called Dean Village. When I came to Edinburgh back in 2015, I wasn't able to visit Dean Village, so it was high on my bucket list to see when we came for this trip. But as we were walking towards the village, we noticed a path that veered off the beaten path, and headed down along the River Leith and beneath a giant bridge. Hearing birdsong, the sound of rapids, and the unknown calling us, my desire to see Dean Village evaporated and we walked on, away from Dean Village and towards a place not read in the pages of travel guides and tourist maps.
It was as if we were miles from the city, when we were only a brief walk from the hustle and bustle of city life. Magpies watched us with intelligent eyes from the branches of trees above us, and Grey Herons walked delicately in the marsh grasses along the river bank as they stalked minnows and toads. I bird watched, binoculars in hand, and walked over jutting rocks to sit in the middle of the river.
Surrounded by nature, it was the perfect capstone to our second day in Edinburgh, and the last day we would spend there until we returned at the end of our trip almost a week later. We were both nervous about what the next day was going to bring, about us renting a car and driving on the opposite side of the road, but excited at the same time. Once out of the city, the rest of the country was as much of a mystery to me as it was to Andrew. I had never been outside Edinburgh, and I was excited to share in the suspense of anticipating what Scotland had to offer next.
And believe me, Scotland has a lot to offer.
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