Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh, Scotland

Oh Edinburgh, the seemingly center of Scotland, both a bustling city and historical wonder. 

This was my second time visiting Edinburgh, the first with my wonderful husband and this time with my fantastic sister! 

A good friend of mine was getting married, so Meg and I took a week to explore the Scottish life. We spent the first half in Glasgow, and the second half here! 

Of course our lives revolve around food, so we started the day at a local cafe, and introduced Meg to a full Scottish Breakfast. We tried Black Pudding, and while the taste itself wasn't terrible, the idea of what it's made from put us off. 

         


Lots of little secrets to find throughout the city, including murals and pops of color around every corner!

We took a free walking tour of Edinburgh Old Town (thanks, Explorers!). It was absolutely freezing outside, and at one point it began hailing. But we survived!

Victoria Street, which is claimed to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. 

For more Harry Potter fun, Greyfriar's Cemetery is filled with J.K. Rowling's name inspirations, and was right down the street from the Elephant Cafe, where she wrote large portions of the books. 

Below is the headstone of a Mr. Tom Riddle.

  

Someone wrote in 'Sirius Black'

The hike up the Royal Mile is a must-do for first time visitors, with street performers, gift shops, and wafts of delicious food every few feet. At the top, you're greeted by the Edinburgh Castle and views of the city.

Meg and I also learned some new things while attempting to eat crepes!

At a local chocolate cafe, Meg asked if any of their crepes were gluten free, in which we were given a hard 'no.' Meg then ordered the chocolate pudding, as there was an attractive picture of thick liquid in a mason jar-type mug.

A few minutes later, Meg is brought a brownie and whipped cream. Confused, we asked if this brownie is GF, which again, we were told no. We explained we ordered the pudding, not the brownie. The waitress explained this brownie was the pudding. Turns out, Americans know pudding as a custard-like liquid. In the UK, pudding is a cake.

Looking back, makes sense since black pudding came in the form of a small round patty....or, a cake.
Thankfully, the waitress was awesome and took the brownie back, and replaced it with Meg's order of a hazelnut milkshake. yes, we are very healthy at 11am.

We learned a second thing from the wonderful waitress at Coro the Chocolate Cafe! We knew the UK is phasing out some of their currently to replace paper notes with plastic-type notes. Unlike American practice where our currency is always legal tender despite multiple updates, the UK's currency will have an expiration date. 

The five pound note has switched to plastic (polymere), but apparently some paper notes are still floating around. Well, when we had eaten previously at a hipster juice bar, the waitress returned my change with a paper 5-note. I remember her giving me a sidelong glance as she gave it to me, but I didn't want to judgy, so I pushed the weirdness from my mind. Until today, when the Coro waitress had to refuse the paper! 

That jerk at the hipster place gave me a paper note hoping my Americanism would keep me from knowing she was giving me expired money! And flippin A, she was right! We were so mad!

Thankfully, Meg has a bit of a McDonalds obsession, and the McDonalds staff were kind enough to accept the paper note.  Otherwise, I would have sic'd Meg on the hipster place to go get our plastic money back!

Anyway, that's the lessons learned for the trip.

The National Museum of Scotland is a frequently-suggested place to visit, but unfortunately we only spent an hour inside...

A rotating balloon exhibit, seen from inside and underneath

....because the fire alarm went off and everyone had to evacuate! Meg and I were standing on the second story in the atrium, and we suddenly see curtain doors (canvas with bars at the bottom) shutting at the entrances of the exhibits. People are running out, sliding underneath the closing separator, bringing flashbacks of scenes from the Titanic.

Before the alarms, Meg and I saw a handful of staff members standing near a fire extinguisher system that had a leak in it...not sure if that was related to the alarm, but fun fact.


Only a few blocks from the Royal Mile sits the Writer's Museum, which was housed in a building from the 1600s, one of the oldest surviving still-used structures, apparently. 

Also down the street is the Jolly Judge, a cute bar with a fireplace and cozy atmosphere. 

On the backside of the Royal Mile, a less-frequented area of the city leads down a hill and into some small shops and green courtyards. 

The backside of Edinburgh Castle. Apparently these are  still an active military barracks.

Clearly, Edinburgh is a dream! Highly recommend eating your way through the city and enjoying both the modern and historical novels!