I just got back from Edinburgh for the weekend! It was absolutely incredible, I really want to go back before I leave I feel like I could have seen so much more. The city has such a historic feel, all of the buildings look so old and all of the streets have cobblestone. JK Rowling was living in Edinburgh when she wrote Harry Potter, so I considered this a pilgrimage and was relating everything we saw to Harry Potter in some way. I was also very excited to visit Scotland because of my name history. Although McGill sounds Irish, it is more Scottish than Irish. I was going to get the family history printed out, but it was 20 pounds and looked like a rip off. This is a long post, I couldn't leave any of my pictures out!
We left on Saturday morning and drove up to Edinburgh, with a pit stop at the Scottish/English border, which was so green and gorgeous. It had been raining most of the ride so we were happy that the sun came out so we could take pictures!
The cars in the back kind of ruin this picture
Scotland!
England on the left, Scotland on the right
Soooo pretty
After a 5 hour drive we arrived in Edinburgh. We stayed at a hostel in the Grassmarket where public hangings used to take place. All of the pubs in the Grassmarket had names that related to this such as "The Last Drop" This was taken right outside our hostel-we were fortunate enough to have an INCREDIBLE view of Edinburgh Castle. Harry Potter Reference #1-In the movies, Hogwarts is positioned on top of a rock, did JK Rowling get this idea from Edinburgh Castle?
Myself with Edinburgh Castle in the background
Myself, Annik, Stasia, Brooke, Grace, Audrey, and Jade
Our hostel! It was so cute! If you are ever in Edinburgh stay in Arc Roch hostel, the staff is so friendly and it has such a cool environment. There were lots of knick knacks everywhere and cool decorations down in the lobby area.
We went and explored the city afterwards. First we went to Greyfriar's Graveyard. Greyfriar was the guard of this graveyard for a very long time, and when he died his dog stood guarding his grave for 14 years. The cemetery is now called Greyfriar's Graveyard, and there is a headstone for his dog, Bobby at the entrance. This isn't the actual grave for his dog, since documentation was so bad the people of Edinburgh forgot where they buried him!
Greyfriar's Graveyard was absolutely gorgeous-there was moss covering almost all of the headstones, and the way the sun fell on everything was stunning.
Harry Potter Reference #2-George Heriot's school was right next to Greyfriar's Graveyard. You can't tell in this picture, but there are 4 towers. This is where JK Rowling got her inspiration for the idea of Hogwarts! Later on when she became a billionaire, her children attended this school.
George Heriot's School
George Heriot's School
Harry Potter Reference #3-There was a Professor McGonagall that was buried in Greyfriar's Cemetery right next to George Heriot's School. He was an Poetry professor at the school, but was so awful that his students would invite him to poetry nights at pubs just to see how many people would throw beer at him.
My grandma's maiden name on my dad's side was Murray! There were Murrays all over Greyfriar's Graveyard.
I found a Grace Murray! Even though I am named after my Great Grandmother on my mother's side of the family, I still enjoyed the connection
Harry Potter Reference #4-There was a Thomas Riddell buried in Greyfriar's Graveyard! Coincidence? I think not. Even though the spelling is different I guarantee JK Rowling got the idea from this graveyard. I attempted to find it, but was unsuccessful so I got a picture online. I'm bummed I couldn't find it, I would have liked to put some flowers on Voldemort's grave
Harry Potter Reference #5- Maybe she got inspiration for Zonkos Joke shop from this little shop? I think I was just trying to relate everything back to Harry Potter at this point of the trip.
Greyfriar's Graveyard
Outside Greyfriar's Graveyard, there was a statue to tribute Bobby. There was lots of resturaunts and pubs around that were named after Bobby or Greyfriar.
Looking down a street in Edinburgh
Harry Potter Reference #6-This is where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. She couldn't afford to heat her flat, so she would come to The Elephant House, order a cup of coffee and stay the entire day writing. The staff didn't appreciate it, but now it is a local tourist site, every time I walked by there was a pretty long line.
I was very excited
Sunset
Sunset
St. Giles Cathedral -This technically isn't a cathedral because it is not Catholic anymore. But they still call it one anyways.
Looking down the Royal Mile
Edinburgh Castle at sunset
Edinburgh Castle at sunset
I am slightly obsessed with all of the different teapots and teacups that the UK has. If they weren't so fragile I think I would start collecting them to take home
A local delicacy in Scotland is deep fried mars bars. The Scottish are the most unhealthy people in the UK, and I can understand why after going to the Clam Shell. They had EVERYTHING deep friend-chicken, pizza, cheeseburger, hamburger, hot dog, and MARS BARS! We had heard that we had to try the deep fried mars bars, so me and 3 other girls bought 2 so that we each got a half of one. I was pretty skeptical, but they were INCREDIBLE! I thought it tasted like a chocolate filled waffle, and because it was fresh the entire Mars Bar was melted and delicious. I think my heart slowed down a little bit after I ate it, but it was so worth it
The Clam Shell had all of their deep fried delicacies just sitting out for everyone to see
Mars Bar!
The Royal Bank of Scotland at dusk, just off the Royal Mile
Before dinner we went to a pub to get a pint and relax, there were loads of stereotypical Scottish men who had been in the pub all day and were yelling at each other, I found it so entertaining. This is my flatmate Ariana, Annik, and I.
Scotland has Scottish pounds instead of English pounds. You can use them in England, but apparently people aren't happy if you do. I made sure I used all of mine up!
After dinner Stasia and Grace decided they wanted round 2 of deep fried mars bars...I passed
After dinner we went on a pub crawl! All of the pubs we went to were really fun, and I loved the atmosphere of all of them! There were lots of internationals there and everyone was having a great time!
Stasia and I
Grace and I-I have never really hung out with another Grace or Gracie before, and I'd have to say it takes getting used to. I always think people are calling me when they are calling her!
Jade, Brooke, Grace, Stasia, and I. It was so cold and windy in Edinburgh that we had to keep our coats on the entire night!
"There are only two kinds of people in the world, the Irish and those who wish they were"
One of the pubs had a live band playing really good music, it was great!
The next morning we woke up bright and early to go hike a volcano called Arthur's Seat. To get there we walked the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is actually 200 feet longer than a mile, and stretches from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. I'll talk about Edinburgh Castle later, but the Palace of the Holyroodhouse is the Queens Royal Residence when she is in Scotland. The picture above is part of the Royal Mile.
Canongate Church, where the Queen and Royal Family worships when they are in Edinburgh. After William and Kate were married they came here, but I can't remember what they did and can't seem to find it on the internet.
Scottish Parliament building
Scottish Parliament building
The gates to the Palace of Holyroodhouse
The start of our hike up Arthur's Seat. Now let me just say this hike is about as hard as Camelback Mountain. It doesn't look to hard, but when you have done a pub crawl the night before and got very little sleep it was incredibly difficult. Luckily when we reached the top all of the work was worth it!
Arthur's Seat Again
Taking a break-I look a lot happier than I really was
Almost at the top, with Edinburgh behind me.
Heading up the final stretch! It looks nice and sunny, but it was SO windy!
Alright, so we just climbed up this really steep volcano and had an absolutely incredible view of Edinburgh. I had my DSLR camera with me, and snapped a few pictures of Stasia, then I gave it to her to take pictures of me. And as she went to take a picture, my camera died. I was really really upset about it. Luckily she had her camera so she took pictures of me, but I was so bummed out. If you know me well, you know that I almost always have one of my cameras with me, especially when I travel. When I travel with my family, my mom just points to things for me to take pictures of. From this Edinburgh trip alone, I took 250 pictures from just a day and a half. I was really upset. Now that I am done venting, look at the picture of me with Edinburgh!
Edinburgh! You can see the Royal Mile with the castle at the top and palace at the bottom if you look closely
After we hiked down the mountain all of us felt surprisingly better and energized. We went to a little place called Chocolate Soup for lunch, which specialized in fudge and soup. I got delicious tomato soup and a spinach, mozzarella, and pesto sandwich! After lunch I felt like going off by myself for awhile so I went to explore Edinburgh Castle. It was 14 pounds to get in, but I had read a lot about it so I decided to splurge on a ticket and a guidebook that led you on a little tour through it, with pictures. While I was in the castle, I brought my camera back to life and got a few pictures! You weren't allowed to take too many pictures, but the views were amazing.
Edinburgh New Town
St. Margaret's Chapel is on the left. It is the oldest building in the castle being built in 1130 as a private chapel for the royal family.
Inside the Palace Apartments
Scottish National War Memorial-you weren't allowed to take pictures inside but it was absolutely incredible. There were flags and banners that had been used in war and books filled with the names of all the soldiers who had died.
I went online and got a picture of the main Shrine, which has St. Michael defeating a dragon hanging above. It was incredible.
Looking down at the lower part of the Castle
Edinburgh
There was a museum dedicated to the Regimental Museum of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. It told the history of this army and was so interesting! I couldn't take pictures, but they had this statue outside.
The other side of Edinburgh-You can see Arthur's Seat in the background!
The building where the Honours of Scotland are. Once again, I couldn't take pictures.
Got a picture online! The Honours of Scotland are the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword of State. They are the oldest grown Jewels in the British Isles, and were first used for the coronation of Mary Queen of Scots in 1543. The big stone is the Stone of Destiny, which was used as a seat for Scottish kings to be enthroned on. In 1296 it was forcefully moved to Westminster Abbey where it was used for coronation ceremonies for most of the monarchs of England. In 1950 four Scottish students stole it from Westminister Abbey, had underground parties with it and then returned it to the castle!
After I explored the castle for a good two hours I got some shopping done, and then we started our journey back to Leeds. I was exhausted by the time I got back. I really want to go back to Edinburgh one more time before I leave, I feel like I didn't get to see everything I wanted. And if you read all of this, thank you. There were a ton of pictures and so much to tell this is a super long post! Oh and on the sidebar I added a list of countries I've been to and cities I've been to!
-G
