Made the trip down in 2012 and I cannot wait to visit Scotland again. I often say to my Fiancé I will love to retire in a small village in Scotland… I think he still thinks I am kidding, guess i have a lot of work to do to turn that joke to reality.

I found Scots a charming and fun people… Something about Edinburgh was enchanting, perhaps it was the numerous castles, nature or cultural history. Edinburgh took its place as my 2nd most favourite city in the UK, topped by none other than Liverpool of course :p . Edinburgh had character, modern but rich in history. I would be walking down a modern shopping street and turn to see a cobbled side street which immediately made me feel like I was about to step into a page in Oliver Twist or something..lol

The city is divided into the old and new town. The old town is preserved as a UNESCO world heritage site as it has kept most of its medieval buildings and street plan. We stayed in the old town and had a beautiful view of the new town from our area. We found our 2 bed apartment on booking.com. It was quite central and easy to move about by foot; less than 10 minutes walk away from Edinburgh Castle. It was interesting to see that the currency there though of equal value to the British Pound was different. We went to the ATM and got Scottish Pounds notes…Guess a lot of resentment still prevails for the English

The apartment was less than 5 minutes by foot to The Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is formed of a number of streets between two iconic locations in Edinburgh; Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace. Holyrood Palace is the official residence of the British Monarch in Scotland; whenever the Brit Royals are in town they live there. The Royal Mile is thus a major street in Old Edinburgh…and royal of course.. lol

Edinburgh Castle was amazing…It sits atop castle rock at the left end of the royal mile. We saw some crown-royal jewels but were not allowed to take any pictures, they were jaw dropping…I really wanted to sneak one but my conscience did not allow me. I also especially enjoyed seeing the dungeons where they kept some french prisoners who were captured during a war. The room where Queen Mary gave birth to King James VI of Scotland and King James I of England was also exciting. The Scots and English struggled for control of the castle throughout the wars of independence.

The War Memorial was amazing and for some reason emotional for me. We went into this memorial room which had the names of every soldier that died in combat and it was lit with candles. We were not allowed to take pictures inside as a sign of respect.

Then we were off to the Dungeons!

From the castle we went on a hike up Calton Hill.(Don’t know where we got the strength from) Calton Hill is also a World Heritage Site….Loved my Panorama Shots from up there! You get the best views of the entire beautiful city of Edinburgh from there…Some of us took naps, played games and listened to music to the view. Would never ever forget this experience.

We called it an evening after that….was an amazing day that has clearly lingered on in my heart…x