Edinburgh

Inspiration can be found in the strangest places. In my case, the inspiration for my travels (therefore, for my posts) even comes from Anne Hathaway’s movies. To be more precise, from one of my favorite movies with her: One Day. The story, which I adore (despite its not so happy ending, but… shhhhh! I don’t want to spoil the magic of seeing it by yourselves), starts early in a grey slightly blue-ish morning in Edinburgh and… bummmmm! It struck me! Next thing, I was searching in IMDB what amazing city that was and, immediately after, I was buying a ticket to go to Edinburgh. It was already two weeks ago (seriously, I know it is a tremendous cliché but, indeed, “time flies”) but it feels like if I was still there. The energy I received from the people I met and from what I’ve done and discovered is still with me… At least until my next trip!

View of the old part of the city (from the new one).

The Scott Monument or Edinburgh Tower.

Hotel Balmoral, the meeting point...

Enjoying the statues on the North Bridge… While crossing to the other side of the city. 

The city narrow streets or “close” gives it a very mysterious flavour that the Edinburghians know how to use for their own profit. Every day, when the sun goes down, you can join one of many Edinburgh Mysterious/Terror/Dark Tours. Interesting, although a little bit creepy!

Saint Giles under the snow!

No matter how the weather is, never forget to spot and spit on the heart in front of the Cathedral, it brings you good luck in love. Because I was staying quite close from High Street, where the Saint Giles Cathedral is, I passed it several times and each time I stopped and spitted on the heart. In my case, every bit of good luck is needed!

The Edinburgh Castle, one of the most important castles in the UK. One of the most beautiful they also say…

I didn’t go in though (Upssssss! I must confess that I prefer museums than castles), nevertheless I loved the view from the Castel hill with the Ocean at one side and the snowed mountains at the other. 

The view from my room the next morning.  

Despite the weather, Martina (my host from Couchsurfing) and I went for a walk.   

Quite close from her place we found a perfect sightseeing spot to the Arthur’ Seat, the extinguished volcano that you can also see in the movie One Day and that in Spring and Summer is a perfect natural “balcony” from which you can see the entire city. Although this time I had to content myself with just enjoying the view from the city to the mountain. I have to go back to Edinburgh some day soon, in Summer, to be able to enjoy Arthur’ Seat in all its full potential (well, in Winter you can also do it as some guy – which you can’t see by this picture – was doing… he was skiing and making the most out of the circumstances, although apparently – and according to Martina – it is forbidden to ski in Arthur’ Seat). 

But because the weather was terrible and wasn’t getting any better we decided to go indoors. In Edinburgh there are a lot of cool museum and Martina is as interested in art as me, so we had a wonderful time visiting them all and hiding from the snowstorm. 

The previous and the next pictures were taken inside the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and as you can see there are portraits even in the windows made out of stained glass. 

The idea is very interesting (of course the museum is not so important as the National Portrait Gallery in London but it has its particularities, being this one of them)…

… And the reflection of the light in the walls create a beautiful effect that photographs very well (not like us)!

But, for me, the most interesting part about museums in the UK is that they “invite” you all the time to touch, to smell, to see from up close, to experience. I remember the very first time I went to London, I must have been 10 years old, and that in the Natural History Museum I was able to interact with almost everything. It is perfect! And not only for the children, also for grownups this makes everything so much fun. As a matter of fact, this is something that I was expecting to see in New York, for example, but didn’t. I think that it must be something from the UK… In Edinburgh I felt this “welcoming” attitude again. In every single museum I’ve been visitors were invited to interact, especially in the Royal Museum of Scotland, where this picture was taken. 

That second day we had an amazing lunch (the haggis from the first day in The Last Drop were very tasting as well) but the mash and the sausages from the Mum’s Great Comfort Food were so yummy!!! And, even better, the Whiskey Cider they served me was a very nice surprise and a first, that I wished to have repeated more often but no one else in Edinburgh seems to know about this kind of cider. A pity! But hopefully next time I’ll be in London I can find some. 

Walking in the high part of Victoria Street...

The other "face" of the Edinburgh Castle, seen from Princes Street. 

Saint Cuthbert church and its cemetery covered with snow. 

As said before: creepy city!

But not everything was creepy… And neither the snow matter all that much! Actually I kind of really liked it. It was the first time in my live, despite the fact that I travel a lot, that I was able to wonder in a city covered with snow. So, as you can imagine, I found it pretty cool! 

In my last night we gather together in a bar near Martina’s flat, with all her flat mates, to celebrate her birthday. 

All the girls are from Bulgaria, as my host, and they’re super nice, young, full of energy and with amazing stories to tell…

It was an amusing night in the Southern Pub, a lovely begin of Martina’s birthday (although I had to leave in only a couple of hours to catch my plane to Amsterdam and from there to Madrid) and a perfect closure for my three days escape to Edinburgh. 

It was so nice to meet every single one of the girls (it was the first time I was couchsurfing, although I already host more than 10 people in my flat in Madrid, and I was super happy with the experience and with my hosts). I was very very lucky to have found all these charming ladies and really appreciate their hospitality! ♥ U! The previous picture, from the drawings in the snow, goes for all of you…