April 21-24
Edinburgh was probably my favorite city that we visited, perhaps because I didn't have to use public transportation and could see everything just by walking (though we did constantly have to circumnavigate around the castle multiple times a day because, of course, it was right in the center of everything...good thing I like castles!). The unicorns, ghosts in the underground vaults, and potatoes served in the diners played a huge factor into it, too, though.
The playground even had a castle!
The first day was blue skies and sun. In the afternoon, it felt warmer than London.
UNICORNS!! The national animal of Scotland!
We ate nachos at a Frankenstein-themed restaurant.
The next day, the buildings were hidden in a thick layer of fog. It was gorgeous.
This is the cemetery that J.K. Rowling saw from her spot at the Elephant House Café, where she started writing Harry Potter.
The most famous gravestone in the cemetery belongs to a dog. People leave sticks on top for his ghost to play with.
Edinburgh wins for best museum. There was such an odd assortment and everything was interactive. It felt a bit like a children's museum, but it wasn't labelled as one. All museums should be modeled on this principle, where hands-on is not just for kids. After so much travel, lack of sleep, and constant bombardment with history and cultural facts, I enjoyed and retained the most information from this museum.
Yes, that is a hippo hanging from the ceiling, with all the other sea creatures.
I found out that the scientific name for a llama is "llama glama."
Dolly the sheep!
The medieval feeling of the city appealed to me, and Scotland seems best experienced in the fog.
This church has a stained glass angel playing the bagpipes inside.
Locals spit on this heart. They also know not to jump when the cannon is shot off every afternoon at one o'clock.
In the evening, we took the most chilling ghost tour in the UK, to the underground vaults. This is the only picture I took, but we were led through an underground labyrinth. Each tiny room was only lit by a few candles placed in the center. The dim lighting and shadowy corners made the place seem truly haunted. Our guide was dressed in a cape, and she told us the three main ghosts seen below: a little boy, a cheerful shoemaker, and a crazy man who wants everyone to get out of the tunnels. I didn't see any, but I'm happy that I'm not the person who is sent down there in the dark to light the candles.
No comments:
Post a Comment