Destination 1 - Edinburgh

We couldn't have picked a better place to start off with...Edinburgh went above and beyond any expectations that we had when arriving at the city. The city has an almost mythological presence to it, as you get your first glimpse of the castle towering over the city.

Al and I arrived in Edinburgh in the evening, and not exactly an ideal one. It was rainy and rather cold...much to our surprise, however, this was the only time we had to deal with rain during our entire vacation! After checking in at our hostel (in a 30 bed room, mind you), we went out and explored what we could. All in all a very relaxing night - we went to Deacon Brodie's Pub for dinner, which was recommended by one of our professors who lived in Edinburgh before moving to Innsbruck. After hearing horror stories about how awful british food is in general, we were THRILLED with our food...steak pie, and "Lumpy Bumpy" for dessert...couldn't tell you exactly what was in it, but it tasted like heaven (DESPITE the name)!

One of the famed "closes" in Edinburgh. Some are said to be haunted by victims of the plague.

On our only full day in Edinburgh, we did as much as we possibly could! The weather was awesome, so we were able to do a lot of outdoor activities, which was great. We started out the day at the Scotch-Whiskey experience - a rather corny explanation of how they make Scotch. Yes, it was a bit early, BUT we got half-price admission, a free dram of whisky, AND a Glencairn Glass as a souvenir.

After that, we explored High Street (The Royal Mile) during the daylight. When they say "High" street, they aren't kidding - it's a bit of a hike to get up there, with the castle at one end, and Holyrood house at the other.

Edinburgh Castle


The Royal Mile!

Barrel ride at the Scotch-Whisky Experience...wonderfully tacky. These things went about 1 mile an hour.

High Street!

and again...

After exploring, we headed up to the castle for the 1 o'clock gun...at 1pm sharp every day, they fire this cannon from Edinburgh Castle. This is a tradition that has been going on for hundreds of years, initially started as a way for people to set their clocks.

I have to tell a bit of a side story about this experience...when going to see the 1 o'clock gun, I went up by myself. Al didn't feel like paying the admission fee, so I headed up solo. As I stood with my camera, waiting for 1 to roll around, a little old man sauntered up next to me. There are times when you can just tell when someone is itching to start up a conversation, and this was one of these moments. Without any formal introduction, he goes into a lengthy description of his day-to-day life, the fact that his brother's birthday was the day before, and a complete history of the 1 o'clock gun! It was one of the neatest experiences of my life!

"You see, normally I come every day [he wasn't joking...he even had it timed out]...well, not on Mondays or Tuesdays...that's when I go to the laundrette and get my affairs in order. Yesterday was my brother's birthday, so I didn't make it then. He said that they were having a 21 gun salute FOR his birthday, but then later I came to find out that it was for the Queen, and not for him. You see that man getting ready to fire the gun? His name is Shannon, so they call him Shannon the Cannon! What d'ya think about that? The man who used to fire it every day died last November. Have you seen the new parliament building? Oh, it's just hideous!"

Just like that! No pauses to catch his breath...the man was a machine! This was probably my favorite part of visiting Edinburgh. After asking me where I was from, he told me that he had been to the US - San Francisco being his favorite city. I'll never forget what he said next - "There's only one city in the world more beautiful than San Francisco...you know where that is?" No, I replied. "Just look around you!" ...and this huge smile spread across his face. I had officially fallen in love with Edinburgh.

The Castle entrance

"Shannon the Cannon" and the 1 o'clock gun

My new friend took a picture for me!

Monmument along Princes Street

After our experience with the castle, we grabbed lunch and made our way to Calton Hill, via Princes Street. The Calton monument and an unfinished monument are located on top of the hill, and it offered a spectacular view.

View from Calton Hill

Unfinished monument

Calton Memorial

After that, we headed to the National Art Gallery, which was surprisingly free!!! Definitely worth making our way through...the impressionist paintings were probably my favorite (as usual!)

National Art Gallery

Typical Storefront window along the Royal Mile

After our loooooong day, we grabbed a big dinner on the Royal Mile, and then searched for a pub. We ran across "Half-Hangit Maggie's" which had student/backpacker discounts. The story behind the name is worth mentioning as well. Apparently it's named after a woman who had been sentanced to be hanged, and amazingly survived and recovered to full health. She was hanged in the square just outside the bar.

We grabbed a couple pints and wrote our postcards, doing our best to describe the magic of the city. The next day, we were heading off to Paris!


A pint of McEwan's at Half-Hangit Maggie's