Beautiful old houses on the Royal Mile street in Edinburgh, Scotland
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Tag: Scotland
My Scottish memories: Edinburgh part II
Are you a fan of Agatha Christie? Well, if you are, read on and find out what she’s got to do with beautiful Edinburgh. You can also read on if you’re just interested in Scotland and Edinburgh
After we got back from Stirling we wandered a bit around New Town, Edinburgh. We came across St.Andrew’s square which reminded me of the Trafalgar square in London. Of course, we had to do a quick snoop around Hard Rock café and my husband bought himself a T-shirt ( he has one from Florence too while I have one from Lisbon). We walked down passed the old-fashioned Jenners department store to the Princes Street. For a change it wasn’t completely foggy so we got a good view of the Edinburgh Castle and the Calton Hill which we climbed the next day. Furthermore, there was the Gothic-style Scott monument and the grand Balmoral hotel on the left side. Tired from our lovely day trip to Stirling we walked back to our hostel and called it a night.
My Scottish memories: Glasgow
On the day of my husband’s birthday we left Edinburgh and went to Glasgow by bus. Upon arriving at Buchanan bus station we immediately took another bus that would take us close to the FC Celtic‘s stadium. Yep, with our suitcases! It wasn’t a short drive and we ended up far away from the center in a neighbourhood that didn’t look very inviting or tourist-friendly. The streets were almost empty and the people we did see gave us strange looks. However, we didn’t have to walk really far from the bus stop to the football stadium.
My husband was thrilled when we got to the stadium and we were lucky enough to see the team board their bus (they were obviously going to a match somewhere). My husband (then still my boyfriend) even took a photo of Celtic‘s manager! I was pretty much indifferent to the entire situation since the only reason we were there was his wish and my good-will 🙂 Then he went to the fan shop and got himself a football scarf. I was getting really hungry and when I’m hungry I’m not peachy to be around so we had early lunch at the first place we came across which was a rather small and dingy-looking establishment. I felt like I was in Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels movie. Also, I found it more difficult to understand English spoken in Glasgow than in Edinburgh.
After the lunch we caught our bus back to the main bus station. From there we walked to our hotel. We stayed at a hostel in Edinburgh but I found us a great deal for a night in Glasgow in one of Travelodge hotels. That room was far cheaper than our hostel room off Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Following a quick power nap we were ready to explore Glasgow. I wanted to see the Tenement house which was near our hotel but it was already closed. Pity! It shows the way of life in the early 20 th century so that would have been interesting to visit. Glasgow surprised me because I didn’t expect it to be so hilly. Furthermore, it looked very different from Edinburgh and it seemed like it was less visited by tourists. So we found our way to the center and Sauchiehall Street which is full of restaurants that are cheaper than in Edinburgh.
My Scottish memories: Stirling
During our week in Scotland in July 2012 we visited Stirling for a day. It was my husband’s idea to see it since his favourite movie is the Braveheart. The hero of the movie William Wallace was in the real life a Scottish knight who won the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 against the English army in the War of Scottish Independence. Alas, he was captured a few years later by the English and suffered a gruesome death.
It was pouring down in Edinburgh when we almost ran from our hostel to the bus station to catch the local bus to Stirling. But the weather soon picked up and our day in Stirling was even warm and sunny unlike the rest of our week in Edinburgh and Glasgow. I felt a bit sick on the bus but the green landscape and cows and horses and sheep which I saw from the bus soon cheered me up. We got off the bus at Stirling bus station and took another one that went to Stirling University campus. That was a waste of money because our original bus also went there. We told the bus driver where we wanted to go ( The National Wallace Monument) and he left us in the middle of the road not far from the monument. We saw it atop a hill and walked on until we got to the Visitor’s center. So it’s a bit tricky to get to this landmark if you don’t have a car since it’s actually located outside Stirling and relatively close to Stirling University.
My Scottish memories: Edinburgh-part I
The stories of Highland clans and whisky and kilts and friendly people came to my attention throughout the years so I decided to visit Scotland. I spent a week in Scotland in July 2012. Since I like primarily to visit the capital of a country and then explore a bit more (if time permits) I made a plan for my Scottish week which included Edinburgh and Glasgow and Stirling. Maybe not the obvious choices apart from Edinburgh, but I travelled with my boyfriend (now my hubby) and he offered a few suggestions that I took. He wanted to see Glasgow because of its football clubs Celtic and Rangers and he knew about Stirling because of William Wallace aka Mel Gibson in the Braveheart movie. Yup! I was an awesome girlfriend then and I’m now an even more awesome wife so not only did we visit Glasgow but we actually went to Celtic’s football stadium and he took a photo of its manager! I looked up Stirling in a guide book and was very happy to visit it. But the highlight of the trip was definitely Edinburgh. But I’m jumping ahead, so let’s rewind back to the beginning and start this story properly.
