Travel Notes – Edinburgh, Scotland

Thursday, June 29th, 2006

I really don’t have a lot of words to describe Edinburgh. Nothing I say will ever do its beauty justice. I only spent 3 nights in this quaint yet modern city but I brought home with me almost 900 snapshots capturing her beauty. I strolled through its streets all by myself and had the best of what mother nature could possibly offer. I was given plenty of warm sunshine, a gentle morning drizzle and a captivating curtain of fog on my last day there.

I found a nice comfortable Bed & Breakfast that served delicious breakfast every morning and if I poked my head out or sit on the windowsill of my room, I could see Edinburgh Castle looming in the near distance. The museums I went to were incredible and the cobbled stone streets looked nostalgic.

I visited Holyrood House, the queen’s palace in Scotland and marvelled at its beautiful gardens. The Royal Mile was another place I thought was fascinating and I found myself going back there several times. I went to the Scottish Parliament and explored every corner of Our Dynamic Earth and travelled back in time to five million years ago. I tried out the 3D Loch Ness Experience and giggled in my seat as I put on the 3D glasses in the dark.

There was one morning where I started out real early so I could have the Princes Street Gardens all to myself. I sat down on the bench and smelled the blooming flowers’ fragarances in the early hours of my second morning in Edinburgh. But after all that, I think the highlight of my trip was in fact my hike up to Calton Hill and eating lunch and dinner at The Elephant House.

The view of Edinburgh from Calton Hill was just absolutely breathtaking and it was here that I laid down my tired body and had a small picnic with a bottle of Pret A Manger’s fresh apple juice, a packet of Pringles, a small butter shortbread and Kit Kat’s new chunky peanut butter chocolate bar. And about The Elephant House, well, those of you who are big fans of Harry Potter (I’m not, by the way) might want to visit this cosy restaurant/coffee shop because not only do they serve really delicious food, but it was also here that JK Rowling first started working on her worldwide known masterpiece over cups and cups of coffee. The owner sat at my table to chat while I ate and told me she was a loyal regular at this place.

There were so many other places that I visited and if I mention them all here, I’d be losing an entire night’s sleep. My last day in Edinburgh was sealed with a nice cloudy fog hovering over Edinburgh Castle and Princes Street. The three nights I spent under its sky was enough to make me want to return there some day.

Castle Street Castle View's entrance Inside Castle View
Castle Street in the evening from my bedroom window Edinburgh Castle as seen from my window The dining room at Castle View
Cereal, anyone? Juices, tangerine and jackfruit. Yum! :-) My vegetarian breakfast at Castle View
Holyrood House Inside garden of Holyrood House The palace gardens
Road to Our Dynamic Earth Our Dynamic Earth A closer view of Our Dynamic Earth
The Scottish Parliament Passage to Our Dynamic Earth from The Scottish Parliament The Queen's Gallery
Princes Street Gardens Park benches in Princes Street Gardens The little cottage inside Princes Street Gardens
Another corner of the Princes Street Gardens Edinburgh Castle peeping through the trees Old beautiful buildings as seen from Princes Street Gardens
The Royal Mile Entrance to Edinburgh Castle Museum of Scotland and The Royal Museum
The Elephant House on George IV Street The Elephant House Menu at The Elephant House
My hot chocolate with marshmallows at The Elephant House My lunch at The Elephant House, onion and cheese quiche Inside The Elephant House
The final hike up Carlton Hill The objects up on Carlton Hill The Monument
The Monument again A path up on Carlton Hill Breathtaking view at the end of another path
Holyrood House (left)and Our Dynamic Earth (right) as seen from Carlton Hill The view from my picnic spot at Carlton Hill My so called picnic!
One of my favourite shots of Carlton Hill St Giles Cathedral One end of The Royal Mile
My table at dinnertime at The Elephant House Cheesy garlic bread with salad for dinner Princes Street
The shroud of fog on my last morning in Edinburgh Edinburgh Castle hiding behind the fog Princes Street covered in fog in the morning

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