My Trip To Edinburgh, Scotland

Scotland exceeded my already high expectations. So, I was super excited about road-tripping to Edinburgh. As we drove through the city, we couldn’t get over how creepy cool it looked. This was definitely a medieval city, with lots of tight, narrow passageways and lots of buildings layered on top of each other. I fell in love with its charm, history, and friendly natured people who call this capital city their home.

Edinburgh has many levels to it and is known to be a very haunted city. It’s had its fair share of serial killers, ghost appearances, and plague outbreaks. In the Old Town area, it hardly takes an imagination to make you feel like you’re stepping into the Middle Ages. The dark and gloomy structures lurk around every corner, from alleyways to the moldering graveyards. Those graveyards are cool during the day, but no way would you see me there at night. Nope!

It’s no wonder famous books were written in and inspired by this place. The inspiration is very obvious. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote his notorious novel about Jekyll and Hyde here. The story is said that Stevenson’s true inspiration came from William Brodie, a real-life Jekyll and Hyde who led a double life and was hanged for theft in 1788.

And of course, J.K. Rowling the British author famous for writing the Harry Potter series drew inspiration for her books from Edinburgh.  Again, you can clearly see these inspirations as you walk through the city.

One Harry Potter inspiration comes from the curving and colorful Victoria Street which inspired Diagon Alley. I personally like how they added splashes of color to liven up the place a bit more.

George Heriot’s School provided inspiration for the architecture of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And if you look closely at a few names of the tombstones from Greyfriars Kirkyard, you may come across real names of people that were used for the fictional characters in her books, like Thomas Riddle.

It’s common to hear the bagpipers playing along the Royal Mile. Even if it’s for the tourists, it’s very beautiful and I loved it.

If you love the haunted stuff, then you’ll be all about the Closes under and around the Royal Mile. Yup, I said under… Remember how I mentioned above that the city has many levels? It really does. You can step back in time and walk down underground to the old streets that were covered up in the 17th century.

A close is a narrow passageway or alley between two buildings. Some of these closes were found to be 8 stories high and completely covered up by the new Edinburgh. In 2003 Mary King’s Close was fully opened to the public.

Back in the 17th century, the Old Town of Edinburgh consisted originally of the main street full of markets, now known as the Royal Mile. It had a large number of small alleyways that led off to the north and south. The people that lived there were packed in like sardines, literally on top of each other and not in the best conditions. One tiny, dark stone room housed 12 people. The poor of Edinburgh lived in the belly of these buildings, some in interior rooms with no windows to allow in light or fresh air. Even though these closes were popular at the time, the cramped living situation made it one of the most deadly places to live when the plague struck because rats were drawn to the food market and their fleas spread the disease.

So they closed those areas up and built more layers above them.

There’s a lot to experience, so much interesting history and you can see traces of it all over the place. From the amazing bagpipers to Edinburgh castle which is built on top of a 700 million year old extinct VOLCANO. Crazy right?! It’s a must see to experience.

Nate and I covered a lot of the city by driving through it and then walking all over the Old Town. I highly recommend it because you find little gems off the beaten path.

Oh, I also need to mention that my brave hubby also tried Haggis. I didn’t try it, but good for him stomaching that.

Here’s a list of things to check out:

Edinburgh Castle

Palace of Holyroodhouse

Climb a Hill of Monuments

St. Giles’ Cathedral

Mary King’s Close

Royal Mile

Museums of Edinburgh

Tip: Some of Edinburgh’s attractions are covered by the Explorer Pass, which offers access to a bunch of attractions throughout Scotland.

 

What do you think of Edinburgh?

 

Have a great weekend!

XOXO,

Melessa