Edinburgh 2018
Back in the UK again! This year, I brought my mom and cousin over to the UK with me to explore Scotland and a new part of England. The flight over was LONG and the travel day was just exhausting all around, for me anyway. When we arrived in Edinburgh on Monday, we waited at the airport for Alice's flight to arrive, got a taxi to our AirBnB, and then walked to the nearest Nando's, because of course we did.
We then wandered down to Princes Street, into Princes street gardens, and decided to watch the sun set on Calton Hill. On our way back, we decided to walk the Royal Mile for a bit to find a grocery store. We stayed up too late and had to get up early to shower to go on our first tour! The tour on Tuesday took us to Dunbar, Lindisfarne, Alnwick (Aw-nick) Castle, where Harry Potter and Downton Abbey were filmed, Alnwick Gardens, and Chillingham Castle. In Dunbar, we really just stopped for a bathroom and coffee break. I bought two GIANT macarons and I didn't even finish them both. They were pretty good though.
Lindisfarne, AKA Holy Island, is an island that can be driven to when the tide is out. We got out and took photos of the causeway and saw where the little platform that people can go to call the coastguard when they have to abandon their car because they decided to drive when the tide came in. We wandered round there for awhile, I bought and sent a postcard, we got part way to the castle but couldn't go all the way because we didn't have time. We did a mead tasting, wandered through a graveyard, which I really enjoy doing, then got back on the bus and set off for Alnwick castle.
Alnwick Castle was a bit disappointing. There were children EVERYWHERE. They are really milking the whole filming location thing. They had broom riding lessons, some sort of dragon activity. You could only go in a few rooms other than the state rooms. It was cool that it is an inhabited castle. The library, which we were not allowed to take photos of, was AMAZING. Like two levels and they have an extra floor that goes round the outside of the room for the second level of shelves. In the library, for tours, the have to move a foosball table, their personal bar, a bunch of mixers for the bar. There's a TV in there, theres ornate gold frames with modern pictures of the family with dogs and doing things. It's kind of amazing. I can't imagine living in a fancy place like that, though, the couches don't look like you could just plop down on them and relax.
We went to Alnwick Gardens, which were really cool but we didn't get to spend that much time in there, which was slightly disappointing. We went through a labyrinth, but it wasn't that difficult to find our way out of. We had to cut this tour short to go back and tour the state rooms and we never got a chance to go finish the tour. On our way back, we stopped to see the outside of Chillingham Castle, which is supposed to be one of the most haunted castles in Britain (I think). I would have liked to go in. Apparently there's a torture chamber in there. We made one quick stop at the causeway again to see that the road was gone after the tide had come in, and then we were back on our way to Edinburgh. We went to Whiski, one of Alice and I's favorite places in Edinburgh, for dinner, and headed back to the flat.
On Wednesday, we had our one and only free day in Edinburgh, which we chose to spend in St. Andrews! First thing, though, we sent my mom and Teresa to the castle to do the tour, since Alice and I did the tour three years ago. We went to find something at Harvey Nichols instead and came back empty handed. The train to St. Andrews was about an hour long, and we had to catch a bus straight from the train. We were lucky, the bus was there and going to leave as soon as we got off the train.
St. Andrews is LOVELY. I really liked it. It was quiet and quaint. We walked around the Old Course area for a bit then set off to find food. We found a pub called The Central, which was pretty cheap and had decent food. After lunch, we went to wander around the Cathedral and the graveyard, which was pretty cool. I don't know what it is about graveyards, but they are fascinating. I probably wouldn't fee the same way in the US, because the headstones are not near as old. We stopped and had gelato at Jannettas Gelateria, which was delicious, before stoping back at the Old Course to go to the shops and buy the souvenirs we needed.
When we were walking along the road next to the 18th hole, we were trying to get pictures of the famous Swilcan bridge. We ended up running out on the course while there was a group putting on the 17th so we wouldn't get hit by them teeing off. It was a bit scary, there was no telling when they were going to finish putting. After getting back to Edinburgh, we went to a bar based on The Big Lebowski. We were supposed to have food there, but that wasn't a thing. The drinks (which were all different variations of White Russians) were good, but the management wasn't great. Since we didn't have food and it was so close to 10PM, we had to hurry and find a place with food for dinner. The only place that would serve us was a burrito bar and we had to do takeaway. It wasn't terrible, but wouldn't have been our first choice.
Thursday, our final full day based out of Edinburgh, was spent on a tour to Rosslyn Chapel. Learned that Roslin is the city where Dolly the sheep was cloned. Super weird. We weren't supposed to take any photos in the church, but I didn't know that and I have one of a stained glass window. The chapel was pretty, the grounds were pretty. We walked down behind the chapel to see the castle, which was pretty much non-existent. There was a staircase that went down pretty far underneath the castle. I was the only one that wanted to do that walk, so I did it alone. It was pretty. There were a lot of birds, I walked across a sketchy bridge, it was peaceful but noisy with nature. It was a bit strange. Hiking back up was a bit of a challenge.
We stopped in Melrose for lunch and had an okay lunch. Not the greatest. We wandered around the little town, went to the Priorwood Garden, and walked around the outside of the Abbey fence, we didn't want to pay to get in. We got ice cream and headed back to the bus. The driver almost left a family because they thought we were leaving 30 minutes later than the actual time he told us. From there we set off to a photo op at Scott's View, which was one of the nicest parts of the trip so far. I LOVE a good view. Our final stop was Glenkinchie Whisky Distillery, where we were taken around the distillery and given two whiskies to try. I'm not a whisky drinker, so I wasn't the biggest fan.
Back in Edinburgh, we went shopping a bit, got pizza delivered, and we started getting ready to leave the next day. There were no good movies on, so we watched one of the only DVDs they had in the flat, which was Ocean's 11. I got to FaceTime my dad and my little Nugget before we went to bed. This morning, we got up, got all our stuff packed, cleaned up the flat, and got in our taxi to start the next leg of our trip! It's been a good trip so far. I'm so tired already. We have just under two weeks to go before we head home. I am really excited for the rest of the trip, but being home and not walking 20,000+ steps a day sounds appealing, too!
More soon xxx
We went to Alnwick Gardens, which were really cool but we didn't get to spend that much time in there, which was slightly disappointing. We went through a labyrinth, but it wasn't that difficult to find our way out of. We had to cut this tour short to go back and tour the state rooms and we never got a chance to go finish the tour. On our way back, we stopped to see the outside of Chillingham Castle, which is supposed to be one of the most haunted castles in Britain (I think). I would have liked to go in. Apparently there's a torture chamber in there. We made one quick stop at the causeway again to see that the road was gone after the tide had come in, and then we were back on our way to Edinburgh. We went to Whiski, one of Alice and I's favorite places in Edinburgh, for dinner, and headed back to the flat.
On Wednesday, we had our one and only free day in Edinburgh, which we chose to spend in St. Andrews! First thing, though, we sent my mom and Teresa to the castle to do the tour, since Alice and I did the tour three years ago. We went to find something at Harvey Nichols instead and came back empty handed. The train to St. Andrews was about an hour long, and we had to catch a bus straight from the train. We were lucky, the bus was there and going to leave as soon as we got off the train.
St. Andrews is LOVELY. I really liked it. It was quiet and quaint. We walked around the Old Course area for a bit then set off to find food. We found a pub called The Central, which was pretty cheap and had decent food. After lunch, we went to wander around the Cathedral and the graveyard, which was pretty cool. I don't know what it is about graveyards, but they are fascinating. I probably wouldn't fee the same way in the US, because the headstones are not near as old. We stopped and had gelato at Jannettas Gelateria, which was delicious, before stoping back at the Old Course to go to the shops and buy the souvenirs we needed.
When we were walking along the road next to the 18th hole, we were trying to get pictures of the famous Swilcan bridge. We ended up running out on the course while there was a group putting on the 17th so we wouldn't get hit by them teeing off. It was a bit scary, there was no telling when they were going to finish putting. After getting back to Edinburgh, we went to a bar based on The Big Lebowski. We were supposed to have food there, but that wasn't a thing. The drinks (which were all different variations of White Russians) were good, but the management wasn't great. Since we didn't have food and it was so close to 10PM, we had to hurry and find a place with food for dinner. The only place that would serve us was a burrito bar and we had to do takeaway. It wasn't terrible, but wouldn't have been our first choice.
Thursday, our final full day based out of Edinburgh, was spent on a tour to Rosslyn Chapel. Learned that Roslin is the city where Dolly the sheep was cloned. Super weird. We weren't supposed to take any photos in the church, but I didn't know that and I have one of a stained glass window. The chapel was pretty, the grounds were pretty. We walked down behind the chapel to see the castle, which was pretty much non-existent. There was a staircase that went down pretty far underneath the castle. I was the only one that wanted to do that walk, so I did it alone. It was pretty. There were a lot of birds, I walked across a sketchy bridge, it was peaceful but noisy with nature. It was a bit strange. Hiking back up was a bit of a challenge.
We stopped in Melrose for lunch and had an okay lunch. Not the greatest. We wandered around the little town, went to the Priorwood Garden, and walked around the outside of the Abbey fence, we didn't want to pay to get in. We got ice cream and headed back to the bus. The driver almost left a family because they thought we were leaving 30 minutes later than the actual time he told us. From there we set off to a photo op at Scott's View, which was one of the nicest parts of the trip so far. I LOVE a good view. Our final stop was Glenkinchie Whisky Distillery, where we were taken around the distillery and given two whiskies to try. I'm not a whisky drinker, so I wasn't the biggest fan.
Back in Edinburgh, we went shopping a bit, got pizza delivered, and we started getting ready to leave the next day. There were no good movies on, so we watched one of the only DVDs they had in the flat, which was Ocean's 11. I got to FaceTime my dad and my little Nugget before we went to bed. This morning, we got up, got all our stuff packed, cleaned up the flat, and got in our taxi to start the next leg of our trip! It's been a good trip so far. I'm so tired already. We have just under two weeks to go before we head home. I am really excited for the rest of the trip, but being home and not walking 20,000+ steps a day sounds appealing, too!
More soon xxx
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