More Edinburgh!

Edinburgh

The Royal Mile & Thistle Room

One of the most popular and well-known destinations on Edinburgh is the Royal Mile, which is a long street filled with restaurants, shops, and street performers. You can knock it out in an afternoon, unless you like to wander and spend time in every store.

 

Aint she pretty?

Rose Street

The Scott Memorial is built and named after Sir Walter Scott, the famous novelist and playwright. For about five pounds you can walk to the top! Although I hear it's quite claustrophobic.

As you walk around the mile, small alleyways shoot off the main road every few hundred feet. Some are gated closed, some lead to apartments, some whisk you away to more shops and restaurants! They're called Closes (as in hold something close),  and are mini adventures!

View down Advocate's Close on the Royal Mile

Afternoon tea was hosted by The Dome on George Street, a gorgeous restaurant with views of the city. We met our friends and the bridal party (since we're in Scotland for a wedding) and chowed down. Thankfully for Meg, they also have Gluten Free options!

After tea, Meg and I headed back to the Royal Mile to explore and find dinner. We found a small alley (called a Close) that led to an underground bar. We ordered a few drinks and Haggis Bites which were quite yummy!

Meg ordered a hot spiced buttered rum, I ordered wine and then an Aztec Cocoa which was hot chocolate with rum and smoked paprika!

If staying in a B&B while in the city, chances are you'll find the little-known areas that stay hidden from the general population. This lovely area was between our flat and the city center, so we were treated to some glowing artwork on our walks!

The St. Guiles Cathedral on the Royal Miles may seem like another historical artifact smack dab in the middle of the city. But trust me, it's beautiful both inside and out, and has a hidden gem inside!

The Thistle Room

St. Giles Cathedral

The Thistle Room is now one of my favorite locations in Edinburgh. Inside the St. Giles Cathedral, this Chapel is the home to the Order of the Thistle, the highest honor in Scotland and second highest in the U.K.  The Order of the Thistle is comprised of 21 Knights, including 5 of the Royal Family, and headed by the Monarch. Knighthood is for life, so once a Knight passes away, the Monarch appoints another. They are chosen for their good deeds and work for the country and around the world. Once chosen, they meet once a year in this chapel to discuss what they can do in teh coming year to better the world.

The colorful bits above each chair are the emblems of the Knights, which represent who they are, where they come from, what they do, and what matters to them.

St. Guiles Cathedral from the Royal Mile

The living Knights all have specific chairs and emblems which represent who they are. The chapel itself was hand-carved from oak by two brothers in an 18 month span. 

The five members of the Royal Family's seats, with the Monarch in the middle

This is the Monarch's (Queen Elizabeth's) chair

The coat of arms on the Monarch's chair 

The handrests are carved animals that represent gifts once given to the Monarch. Animals from the Scottish Menagerie were presented to the Monarch back in the day. 

Again, the woodwork was created by two brothers...only two, in less than two years. Amazing!

Leeds :: Ruins & magic cocktails

After our lovely time in Edinburgh, we jumped on a train to Leeds, a town about two hours north of London, to see our friend Lucy. I met Lucy while traveling Eastern Europe about two and a half years ago (Summer of 2014), and we've been good friends ever since!

She was gracious enough to take time off work to show us her city and take us to some amazing places.

Yes, I'm a dork and took a photo of the trolley on the train

Lucy picked us up from the train station and took us to a local place where she knows the owners, and we had some bomb-diggity pizza and sweet potato fries. The Britons sure do know how to make their Italian food!

After lunch, we went by a local park that had actually incorporated a cathedral ruin into it. The park and cathedral are open to the public, so there were families picnicking, playing rugby, and kids running around the stones and grass.

 


 

 

Afterwards, we stopped by a shake shop that made custom shakes to your liking, which meant throwing in a piece of pie, cake, candy bar, ice cream, what have you. Didn't snag any photos of it, unfortunately. 

But next was a giant shopping center called the Trinity which encompassed a few square miles, I'm sure!

We found our way into a supermarket in one of the department store's basement (strange, I know), and Evan and I oogled at the different types of eggs they carried. Non-refrigerated and quite colorful. We saw pink, dark brown, and green eggs which depending on the type of chicken. 

One thing we love about Europe is there lack of preservatives, hormones, and chemicals used in their food. All of their cows are grass-fed compared to grain-fed American cows. Believe it or not, we could tell a difference! The quality of food in Europe far surpassed that of the States'.

These eggs were a light green

Also, different flavored milk. We had very little exposure to flavored milk in the states, so we were shocked at the range of flavors the UK had. We bought some banana milk, and it was pretty good! Simply tasted like bananas and milk... 

Their chocolate milk tasted about the same, but their regular milk was definitley more rich and satisfying.

After wandering the town a bit, we found a place in the mall to eat dinner. The mall was techniacally indoors and outdoors, since the roof didn't connect to the walls of the building. Interesting, considering the UK is notorious for rain and wind...and it was definitley windy that day!

First stop was the Alchemist, a bar that specializes in drinks that change color, change taste, and fizzed with dry ice.

Lucy and I shared two drinks- one that changed color, and one that changed taste. The video is Lucy pouring the different syrups into the color changing one to, well, have it change color.

Evan ordered a daquri-like drink that tasted like bubblegum.

The next morning, Lucy had to work so Evan and I ventured to the local market to look for breakfast and snacks. It was a mix between higher-end products and fresh food, and what Americans consider a flea market. We did score some delicious pastries and a jug of milk to have for breakfast, though.

We stopped by the Corn Exchange, which was a circular building of shops. We think the building used to be the place traders came to exchange their goods, but the only thing going on that day was a bunch of high school-aged kids playing ping pong.

After the markets, we walked to The Royal Armories Museum which Lucy recommended. It had 5 stories of weapons, self-defense tools, and-- you guessed it-- armor dating back centuries. 

A 5-story column displaying armor and weapons

This man had a fine moustache on his jousting helmet

This man had a lot going on...horns, glasses, and a dripping nose

Whoever rides an elephant into battle is a badass

At noon, we hopped on another train to head to London!