Edinburgh

I said in my 2nd Instagram post that I would follow up on my trip to Edinburgh. So here is my full post (a bit late but nevermind!). Be warned as this post is picture & text heavy!

At the beginning of July me and me friend Bekah were moping about saying how we wanted to go on holiday to somewhere nice. Then after about half an hour of debating where we could afford to go & saying we wanted to explore a new city, the idea of Edinburgh was born!

We booked the hotel (well guest house) for a week on in our excitement to go and found a fairly cheapish one that said it was about 10 minutes walk from the city centre. I never actually took any pictures of the guest house or our room as it wasn't much to look at. It was a basic double room with an en-suite, TV, tea station etc. I can't actually remember the name offhand but if anyone wants the name or address leave a comment and I'll find it for you.

On the first day we arrived fairly early and decided to explore Edinburgh whilst carrying our luggage. We thought it'd be a good idea but boy were we wrong. After half an hour in the heat dragging ourselves up long steep streets we were both sweaty and complaining. However, it was still too early to check into our hotel so we went to The Natural Museum of Scotland. Even though our backs killed the entire way around it was absolutely amazing and I'd love to go again. The museum had over 4 floors and hundreds of exhibition spaces. One of my favourite exhibitions was the Natural World which was on several floors. So many animals! There were hippos, sharks, giant squids, whales, dolphins and various types of fish all dangling above your head which was an amazing sight. Taxidermy animals do scare me a bit but every single one looked fantastic.

My second favourite exhibition was the World Cultures. So many pieces of fantastic artefacts. The different types of masks were the highlight for me, most of them were used in various cultures as performance masks & were used to cleanse the soul or to scare away spirits. I also loved the beautiful set of prayer rolls (which I think were either Chinese or Tibetan) on the bottom floor.

However, there was one thing which came top for me in the museum. The Millennium Clock. The Millennium Clock is a type of tower which is over 10 metres in height, and is a timepiece which contains fragments of the past millennium. At the bottom of the tower a monkey stands turning the wheel and as you look up the figures of dictators such as Hitler, Lenin and Stalin stand out in the middle. These are used to show the pain and death of the past millennium. At the very top of the clock tower stands the figure of a woman carrying a dead man. This is the Pieta, and acts as a symbol, signifying the strength we need to move on. The tower is absolutely beautiful and if you visit the museum I definitely recommend going to see the clock.

After going round the museum and killing our backs we caught a taxi back to our guest house and went out in the evening. My friend Bekah is a vegan and we walked back and forth so many times to look at menus but after a while ended up at Nandos as they were the only restaurant we could find with a proper vegan option. Next time though I would love to go down Rose Street and visit the pubs and bars there. Rose Street was just hidden off the main shopping bit and had a few shops but mainly fancy restaurants and bars. It was adorned with pretty fairy lights and had a wonderful poem at the beginning of the street.

Day 2 of Edinburgh consisted of checking out of the hotel and going to visit the castle. We had previous trouble deciding whether to go to the castle or the zoo, but with the zoo being far away we decided on the castle. It was boiling and extremely sunny again so we searched for left luggage facility. The train station was really the only place we could find so we dumped them in there. I think it cost us £9 each which was ridiculous (and to make it worse we found £1 lockers in the National Gallery of Edinburgh later on!!) but it was worth saving ourselves from being sweaty messes in pain.

The castle was stunning and was a lot bigger than I expected. There were so many different sections to look at and walk around. The views from the castle grounds were gorgeous as well. I made both of us have the whole tourist in front of a view pictures but decided not to place them on this post as they're a bit cringey... Tickets for the castle were £16 each which I thought was a bit pricey, but overall it was worth it. If you're visiting Edinburgh for the first time going to the castle is a must!

After the castle we wandered around the old town part of Edinburgh which was filled with beautiful little boutique shops. My favourite of them all was one called Miss Katie Cupcake. The jewellery in there was so lovely and I ended up buying a pair of cameo earrings that I love. The woman behind the counter was extremely friendly and chatty to all her customers as well!

We then went from old town to the National Gallery of Edinburgh which was a lot bigger than I expected. When walking up the staircase lots of head figurines were layered above your head and looked fantastic (if you check my Instagram you'll understand what I mean). The best picture of all was one called The Skating Vicar which was amusing but brilliant at the same time.

Before catching our train home for a loooooooooong journey (4 hours) we sat in Princes Street Gardens. The gardens were so vast but filled with lots of people sunbathing/playing sports/reading. It was such a nice atmosphere.

Overall Edinburgh is a beautiful city. The places are nice, the people are nice and the sights are lovely. Just finishing this post is making me nostalgic and I'm dying to go back again. If you ever want to get away for a few days then Edinburgh is the perfect place!

Have you been to Edinburgh before? Where did you visit?

Alice
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