With Scotland being so close to England, it would have been a shame not to visit, and with a week off for the Easter break, it seemed like a perfect time to visit the land of tartan, rain, and J.K. Rowling. Ten of us (yep, ten) decided to head up for some time in Edinburgh, a few nights on the Isle of Skye, and then five of us stayed on to visit Glasgow.
While air travel is quite inexpensive around Europe, there is one thing that is much cheaper - the dreaded overnight bus. With it only costing the equivalent of $20AUD, it seemed like the sensible idea to pile into a MegaBus for 8 hours through the night. While I wouldn't put it up there with my top 10 travel experiences, there was one plus to it - I didn't have that awful feeling when one wakes up after a far too short sleep, because I didn't sleep the entire night. Would I recommend it? Depends on how much airfares cost - it isn't actually too bad, especially if the alternative is paying $200 for a return flight.
Tired, bleary eyed and hungry, we arrived to beautiful clear skies and castles. We stayed at the Castle Rock Hostel which was amazing because all ten of us were in the same room with no one else. It was like a massive slumber party (fun for us, probably not quite so much for our neighbours).
A few of us decided to go on a walking tour and while we were walking to the one we had originally planned on taking, we stumbled across a man in a kilt advertising walking tours and decided to abandon all plans and go with the Scotsman. While his accent definitely slipped a few times during the tour, it was really interesting to be shown around Edinburgh by a (supposed) local.
As J.K. Rowling did a lot of the writing for the Harry Potter books in Edinburgh, it's not surprising that she gained a lot of inspiration from its surroundings. This street is apparently what inspired Diagon Alley, and it's quite easy to see where the idea for Fred and George's joke shop came from...
After the walking tour, we went to the Elephant House cafe where J.K. Rowling used to spend time writing the Harry Potter books. We were especially touched to find a drawer in the table where we were sitting that had letters addressed to the author, or others fans. Reading through them and hearing how much the books had changed people's lives was really touching and we all shed a tear or two.
We then went to Greyfriars Kirkyard, the cemetery behind the cafe. Filled with hundreds of old graves, J.K. Rowling got many ideas for character names here, including the Tom Riddle's.
Feeling reinvigorated after our lunch at the Elephant House, we decided to climb Carlton Hill, a massive hill in the centre of Edinburgh offering views over the city.
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| Regrets in one photo - tried to take the short way around |
The second day dawned nice and clear - perfect for our hike up to Arthur's Seat. Now, while I love walking as much as the next girl, hiking up a massive hill isn't quite tailored to my level of fitness. However, nonetheless, I enthusiastically donned my leggings, Nikes, sunscreen and a brave smile, before beginning the climb up to the highest point in Edinburgh.
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| Pre climb innocence |
Thankfully, I wasn't the only one lacking a passion for climbing hills - here is 'Team Strugglebus' as we affectionately titled ourselves. Girls, I'm so glad I wasn't the only one receiving pep talks from people 60 years my senior as I bent over with my camera out, trying to convince everyone I was 'capturing the scenery' when really, I was just catching a quick breather.
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| Team Strugglebus at the top |
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| The whole crew together |
After eventually making our way down, we wandered around Edinburgh for a little bit, including popping into Mary's Milk Bar to have some ice cream, and looking at the beautiful castle next to our hostel. Edinburgh, 'the one city where you can go out uphill, and come home still uphill', is definitely one of my favourite places I have visited.
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