Edinburgh, Scotland

At 4:30am, Sunday February 11th, the alarm goes off and it is time to fly to Edinburgh. After a very chaotic two hours, we arrive to the London Gatwick Airport and rush through security as best we can. I split up with my roommates and head for my gate. For the first time in my life, I am traveling alone internationally. I ran to my gate and made it just in time before they closed the gates for good. Soon enough we are in the air and on the way to Edinburgh, Scotland. An hour and a half later, and a low visibility landing, we made it to Scotland.

My first stop is coffee and breakfast, followed by the Edinburgh Castle. I bought tickets ahead of time so it was easy to scan my barcode and walk right in. This castle is absolutely massive and there was so much to see. I also bought the audio guide so I could listen to the information on my own. The information was educational and enlightening as I learned more about Scotland's history as a country. There was the National War Museum of Scotland, One O'Clock Gun, and even the Honours of Scotland, which are on display in the Crown Room. These are the oldest Crown jewels in Britain, made of gold, silver and precious gems. After walking around for two hours, I headed to Greyfriar's Kirkyard, said to be the most haunted cemetery in the world. There is even Harry Potter graves within this cemetery. Afterwards, I walked to the Scott Monument which is a display of the Victorian Gothic style. I grabbed another coffee and continued walking until I arrived at Holyrood Palace. Like the castle, I bought tickets for the palace ahead of time so I scanned in and received my audio guide. Holyrood Palace is the official residence of the Monarchy in Scotland and it contains so much history. People within the royal family still visit this palace to this day for events or official duties. Following this, I grabbed lunch at a nearby pub and then walked up to Calton Hill. The view from the top of this hill is breathtaking and was so much better than I could have imagined! It was worth the hike up.

Later that evening, I shopped around before my dinner reservation at 8pm at The Basement. The Basement is a restaurant with Mexican-inspired food. I ordered a lychee raspberry and rose mocktail, birria tacos, and churros with chocolate sauce. The entire meal was perfect and I walked home very stuffed. After a long but fulfilling day, I went to bed to prepare for my 3:40am alarm set to head back to Florence. Edinburgh was just as beautiful as I expected and I truly which I could've had more than one day here. Hopefully I will be back!