Many of my close friends know that my heritage is very mixed and very unique. I am always proud to let anyone and everyone know that I am a quarter Cuban, even though I don't look the part. What I don't brag about quite as much is that I am also a quarter Scottish! So while finishing up my weekend in London, I figured a quick hop over to Edinburgh would be a great experience, especially to see where my Grandma came from.
The airport is tiny, as expected from such a tiny country, but it is also the biggest airport in Scotland, so there's that. From the airport, there's a tram/train thing that takes you directly into Edinburgh for like eight pounds roundtrip (a bit pricey because the pound sucks but overall not bad).
With the help of travel bloggers on Pinterest, I knew that there were luggage lockers in the bus station, which was also about half a block from one of the train stops. It was super easy to leave my bags there and be able to explore the city without literally being weighed down.
It took me a bit to get my bearings, and I knew I wanted to get to the castle but had no clue how to really get there. As it turns out, the train let me off in the newer part of the city, and eventually I found my way through a pretty little park up to the castle.
To see such a massive and authentic castle in real life was actually breathtaking, and I didn't mind paying the expensive fee for a ticket inside because I was already hooked.
There was tons to look at in the castle, from chapels, to great halls, to the old prisons. I even got to see them fire a ceremonial cannon! I was also able to try some Scotch in the castle, and it was disgusting but cool to say I had tried it in Edinburgh Castle.
You could spend at least an hour or two exploring the castle and its grounds, and once I was done I walked right on down the Royal Mile: a highly pedestrian area with great shopping and a handful of pubs.
I shopped for my Grandma, shopped for friends, took a picture with an owl (HER NAME IS HAZEL AND SHE WAS SO SWEET) and then went to the Greyfriar's Bobby statue to meet my tour guide for the free Harry Potter tour. (Greyfriar's Bobby is a statue of a dog and it's so cute and I really appreciate that they worship dogs as much as I do).
For those of you who aren't complete Harry Potter nerds like me, Edinburgh is known as the place where JK Rowling spent a lot of time writing the books in coffee shops and getting inspiration. So, this free tour meets every day and is just a walking tour of the old city, pointing out spots where JK Rowling would write, or where she based something off of, or anything to do with the books. We got to go into a cemetery where a few character names can be attributed to names from these graves (Thomas Riddell = Tom Riddle for example).
Once my lovely and entertaining tour guide was done with our tour, I was attempting to contact my roomie Sarah to find her and her mom in Edinburgh to have a drink before I head back to the airport. I couldn't reach her, but we somehow ended up in the same exact pub and so we hung out and enjoyed some beverages before I was on my way.
Of all of the places I have been to this semester, Edinburgh was one of my favorites. It was beautiful, quaint, and had so much character it was palpable. I would love to return and explore more of the Scottish countryside, but until I do, I will be left with memories of a great city (and a hellish travel experience, but more on that later).
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