The Land of Scotch and Gin

I am completely charmed by Edinburgh. It's like visiting Hogsmeade Village (Harry Potter reference!!), especially in Old Town. Edinburgh actually reminded us both a bit of Victoria, BC. It also has a much more laid-back vibe than London and is pretty much exactly how we both envisioned visiting a part of Scotland would be like: hilly, old stone buildings, blustery weather, and a much more raw beauty. We both developed a cold our first morning here, unfortunately. But we were still able to do a fair number of activities (and perhaps a couple of activities helped combat our colds...?).

An overview:

- roughly 2.5 days in this beautiful city.
- 2 castles visited: Holyrood Castle and Edinburgh Castle. Holyrood Castle is the royal family's official residence in Scotland and is closed when they are in residence (apparently typically in the summer). We walked around part of the grounds and the outside of the castle, but did not tour the interior. Edinburgh Castle is actually a fortress vs a castle that people live in and we did tour this. Guides provide free 30 minute tours which we of course joined and found very informative. The Scottish Crown jewels are housed here (no photography allowed in here) as well as the old vaults that were used as prisons, particularly for prisoners of war during the various wars, including the Revolutionary War; old doors with graffiti are showcased, which includes what is believed to be the earliest etching of an old version of the American flag on British soil. Bonus: the daily one o' clock gun is shot from Edinburgh Castle. While there is a lot less pomp and pagentry than the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, it was still pretty fun to watch.

Can you see the American flag?

Nearly one o'clock!

- 1 "Gold Tour" visit to the Scotch Whiskey Experience. While not an actual distillery, it included many great elements: a silly barrel ride that takes you through a brief video of how scotch whiskey is made, a guide who provides a brief history of the drink, a viewing of the largest private collection of scotch, your own scotch glass to bring home, and tastings of 5 different types of malt whiskey (each tasting was a proper 25 mL!!). Bonus: meeting Josh, a young man in his mid-20s who lives in England. He was doing a carpe diem sort of trip having experienced a very serious health issue last year. ** An aside: I've had the privilege of meeting several people over various trips who have shared stories that remind me that time and life are gifts and to make the most of it. It always gives me perspective which I am grateful for and inspires me to make the most of each day. **

A small section of this very large private collection of scotch whiskey.

- 1 "Gin Connoisseur" tour at the Edinburgh Gin Distillery which is right in the heart of the city (a bit of a theme to our visit, we realize....). Ted and I both quite enjoy gin and had no idea until just before this trip that Scotland was quite a gin producing country! Tour includes a very funny guide who takes you through the history of gin making and the political and economic impacts of it in Britain over time, which was actually very fascinating, a tasting of 5 various types of gins/gin liquors and a full delicious gin&tonic.

Let the gin tasting begin!

- 1 hike along Salisbury Crags which overlooks Holyrood Castle and the Scottish Parliament. One can go further and hike all the way up to "Arthur's Seat". It appeared to include a long route consisting mostly of stairs hewn into the rock (kind of like the Grouse Grind in Vancouver). Our head colds, fatigue, and generally lack of fitness ultimately deterred us from doing this.

Hiking Salisbury Crags. How beautiful is that?

- a few strolls along the Royal Mile: the main drag in Edinburgh, particularly if you're a tourist. Filled with shops selling souvenirs and Scottish wares.
- various examples of architecture admired: St. Giles church, Scottish Parliament (controversially designed by a Catalan architect. Indeed, elements of the building are reminiscent of what you might see in parts of Barcelona but are based on various Scottish things, such as an interpretation of a famous Scottish painting), and New Town (Georgian style).
- a quick visit to the University of Edinburgh. Because. It's the University of Edinburgh!!!

" Old School", University of Edinburgh

- various requisite foods and beer/ale consumed, including: haggis (VERY delicious. Honestly!) And smoked salmon. We also found a neat cocktail bar that is housed in a cellar called Bramble. Very delicious. Bonus: clinking glasses and sharing friendly "cheers" with a solo traveller in a pub our first night who was also clearly as excited to be in Edinburgh as we were.

My Mint 500 served in a teacup wine glass thing. I can't remember what was in it, but it was delicious and I may have to recreate the glass when I get home.

- Other things: wandering down various "closes" - narrow corridors/side streets off the main roads. Some of the wandering around town highlighted the great pride in Scottish literary giants which tickles my fancy, having read some works be some of these authors once upon a time (I used to be a big reader! I have since fallen out of the habit); examples include Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott (in fact, one of the major train stations, Waverly, is reportedly the only station in the world named after a piece of literature). Also, Thursday, May 5 was the Scottish Parliamentary election, so we watched the news to see the outcome and see if we could learn about the various parties (it was a bit confusing. Closer to the Canadian system - we think). It was interesting -- there was absolutely no news on this until after 10pm (which is when the polls close) which we remarked on; during the Canadian Federal election in the fall of 2015, my parents were pretty miffed about the news coverage and the projected wins coming from the east coast (time difference, y'all).
- I had the added bonus of watching Ted develop pride in his distant Scottish heritage and looking up information on his sept and clan (Robertson, we discovered) and trying to find the clan tartan.

Slàinte Mhath, Edinburgh!
Onward to: Dublin, Ireland!