We left York on Saturday after a nice run along the wall and a quick stop to buy my hat and caught the train up to Edinburgh. By the time we got into town we had time to stop by our hostel and get our stuff put away. Then we headed out to explore the town. We were hungry so of course we went in search of something to eat. With so many great pubs around we stopped by the Castle Arms and each enjoyed another bite of pub food; me with my bangers and mash and Emily with her Sausage and yorkshire pudding.
After dinner we went in search for a fun pub and found a fun one called winkies. The crazy thing about it was it was set up with a whole bunch of American decorations representing the south. It was a blast and we enjoyed listening to a live band that played some great blues and met some of the locals. A trip around the dance floor with a scotsman was a fun welcome to the country. Later that night we headed back to our hostel, The Caldonian, and met some of our hostelmates while playing pool and drinking freshly squeezed orange juice.
The next morning we decided to climb Author's seat. It was a fun walk with amazing views of the city the entire way up. The crazy thing about it, is that it is located right in the middle of the city. Holyrood Palace is located at it's base and it gave great views of the sea.
Our new friend David joined us on our little hike.
The views were amazing!
We also found some ruins on our way down.
We were famished afterward so of course we headed to a pub for some good food. Afterwards we headed back home to the hostel and prepared for the rest of the day. We took a bus to a little part outside of town looking for the Edinburgh calvary chapel. In our rush to make it to church on time we left the directions back in our hostel. So instead of actually making it to church we found ourselves wandering around Danderhall asking everyone we came across if they new where the church/ bible college was. No one had a clue, but it did give us a chance to talk with some of the locals... We came back to the city, had some dinner, explored a bit more then headed back to the hostel and hung out for a bit with our hostel friends before heading to bed.
The next day we explored the castle and learned more about Scotland's history. It was a lot of fun and an amazing castle!
Saw many real versions of these guys throughout the town :)
After the castle we decided to go for tea and lunch. Found this cute tea house on the Royal Mile. After tea we made the decision to stay in town instead of exploring another city. There were still things we felt like we didn't see so we wanted to get to know Edinburgh a little more. on our way back up royal mile we found this amazing map shop that sold antique maps and pictures as well as prints of them. We found a couple maps and I found a picture of Edinburgh that we had to bring back so I added a map/picture tube to my giant hat box to continue my collection of odd things to carry around with me while backpacking. :)
After shopping a bit we headed to another point of town where there was an observatory and a few monuments. We went up in one that was designed to look like a telescope. It had an extremely tight winding staircase to the top with lots of steps and a tiny door at the top. We squeezed through and enjoyed some more amazing views over the city.
Here's Nelson's Column.
After exploring the monuments we walked through the princess street gardens which we beautiful. Even Edinburgh is preparing for the Olympics!
After another search for fun pubs we finished our night with the one we stopped at the night before. They had open mike night so we got to hear more singing and playing from some of the locals. It was great and we were taken surprise when one guy started with Johnny Cash. We stayed there for a while then headed back to the hostel. Had to get to bed so we could be rested for the next day of traveling to the Highlands!!!!
We left York on Saturday after a nice run along the wall and a quick stop to buy my hat and caught the train up to Edinburgh. By the time we got into town we had time to stop by our hostel and get our stuff put away. Then we headed out to explore the town. We were hungry so of course we went in search of something to eat. With so many great pubs around we stopped by the Castle Arms and each enjoyed another bite of pub food; me with my bangers and mash and Emily with her Sausage and yorkshire pudding.
After dinner we went in search for a fun pub and found a fun one called winkies. The crazy thing about it was it was set up with a whole bunch of American decorations representing the south. It was a blast and we enjoyed listening to a live band that played some great blues and met some of the locals. A trip around the dance floor with a scotsman was a fun welcome to the country. Later that night we headed back to our hostel, The Caldonian, and met some of our hostelmates while playing pool and drinking freshly squeezed orange juice. 
The next morning we decided to climb Author's seat. It was a fun walk with amazing views of the city the entire way up. The crazy thing about it, is that it is located right in the middle of the city. Holyrood Palace is located at it's base and it gave great views of the sea. 
Our new friend David joined us on our little hike.
The views were amazing!
We also found some ruins on our way down. 
We were famished afterward so of course we headed to a pub for some good food. Afterwards we headed back home to the hostel and prepared for the rest of the day. We took a bus to a little part outside of town looking for the Edinburgh calvary chapel. In our rush to make it to church on time we left the directions back in our hostel. So instead of actually making it to church we found ourselves wandering around Danderhall asking everyone we came across if they new where the church/ bible college was. No one had a clue, but it did give us a chance to talk with some of the locals... We came back to the city, had some dinner, explored a bit more then headed back to the hostel and hung out for a bit with our hostel friends before heading to bed. 
The next day we explored the castle and learned more about Scotland's history. It was a lot of fun and an amazing castle!
Saw many real versions of these guys throughout the town :)
After the castle we decided to go for tea and lunch. Found this cute tea house on the Royal Mile. After tea we made the decision to stay in town instead of exploring another city. There were still things we felt like we didn't see so we wanted to get to know Edinburgh a little more. on our way back up royal mile we found this amazing map shop that sold antique maps and pictures as well as prints of them. We found a couple maps and I found a picture of Edinburgh that we had to bring back so I added a map/picture tube to my giant hat box to continue my collection of odd things to carry around with me while backpacking. :) 
After shopping a bit we headed to another point of town where there was an observatory and a few monuments. We went up in one that was designed to look like a telescope. It had an extremely tight winding staircase to the top with lots of steps and a tiny door at the top. We squeezed through and enjoyed some more amazing views over the city.
Here's Nelson's Column.
After exploring the monuments we walked through the princess street gardens which we beautiful. Even Edinburgh is preparing for the Olympics!
After another search for fun pubs we finished our night with the one we stopped at the night before. They had open mike night so we got to hear more singing and playing from some of the locals. It was great and we were taken surprise when one guy started with Johnny Cash. We stayed there for a while then headed back to the hostel. Had to get to bed so we could be rested for the next day of traveling to the Highlands!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment