Edinburgh, Scotland
We spent the first half of our trip in Edinburgh, and it was just as I hoped it would be! I’ll do a separate post on the logistics of where we booked, cost and all of that, but for now let me tell you that our vacation came with a guided walking tour of the Royal Mile and Edinburgh castle.
Now normally, I am not a tour group kind of person. I like to be able to explore where and when I want. But, as it came with the trip I thought we’d give it a go and it was actually fantastic.
Our guide walked us down the royal mile, pointing out landmarks and giving us bits of their history. I don’t know that I’ll ever be less than in awe of the beautiful architecture I see throughout Europe. We walked right up to the castle - with the exception of the hubby who we dropped off at a pub about half way through the tour. No shortage of pubs in the area, if anyone had any doubts about that! I was very impressed with his ability to walk that far with pins and screws only recently added to his leg, but there was no need to test it with an uphill walk over cobblestones.
On the way we passed the writer’s museum and JK Rowling’s golden handprints, and some rather beautiful churches and cathedrals.
Once the group reached the castle we were free to explore as we liked and I happily wandered the grounds. Walking the same halls and rooms that Mary Queen of Scots once did, was a pretty big highlight for me.
From the castle courtyard (I’m sure there is a proper name for it, but that’s what I’m going to call it) the views back over the city were unbeatable.
It was honestly such a great way to see the city and it really gave us a good idea of what we wanted to explore further before we moved onto the second half of our trip in Glasgow. I will say we spent a decent amount of time just checking out shops and pubs and wandering down promising looking side streets. My favorite pub in the city was The World’s End Pub, and obviously I spent a decent amount of time at the Boy Wizard store - though I didn't buy anything because there were too many choices!
We did have one very special fancy dinner while we were there but that will have it’s own well deserved mini-post.
On the our last morning in Edinburgh we took a sunrise stroll and stopped at the cafe where Harry Potter was written. Despite the fact that it wasn’t open, it was a great way to say goodbye to the first half of our trip.
Until next time!
