Edinburgh | Day Two

Well we're back in Liverpool after two full days in Edinburgh, Scotland.

It was meant to be a quick trip because Tom had 

Two days off work and there were

zero trains returning today {Saturday} 

so we made it back via a lovely train last night.

The last time I was in Europe was two years ago when my small group

was backpacking the UK after our semester ended.

We spent three days in Scotland.

One day was spent on a Highlands tour bus.

The other day was spent storming castle ruins in North Berwick.

And the last day was spent in Edinburgh.

We did some walking around.

Saw the outside of Edinburgh Castle.

And that's about all i remember from Edinburgh.

This time around Tom and I stayed in the Historic part of Edinburgh.

The side of town with Buildings from hundreds of years ago.

History oozing out of every corner.

Pubs on every street smelling absolutely delicious.

We were in the center of it all.

And it was awesome!

After getting up and out we got some breakfast and hurried

on to what is now my favorite attraction in Edinburgh.

Holyrood Palace

 The left tower dates back to the 16th century while the rest is 17th century.

There aren't many pictures from this incredible Palace

simply because they would not allow photography in any part of the house.

It makes sense because a photo wouldn't be able

to capture the magic of this place.

Holyrood Palace is the official residence to the British Monarch in Scotland.

It dates back to the 16th century and was home to Mary Queen of Scots.

I watch Reign on the CW...which i'm sure loosely depicts the actual story of Mary,

anyways, it's a good little show and so when i learned that 

we were going to get to go into Mary Queen of Scots actual Bed Chamber...

Well, I started geeking out...

It was awesome!!

Mind you, the real history of Mary has given me some spoilers about the show.

Unless of course they decide to stray from historical facts and go for ratings.

I think we all know the answer to that...

The Palace is a must see!

We got to see all kinds of rooms with all kinds of history.

Even stood in the same room that Nelson Mandela

and the Queen stood in.

And we stood in a room where one of Mary's closest friends was murdered...

By her husband of all people...gasspp

Que spooky twilight zone music.

The Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth

use Holyrood as there Scotland home when they visit.

They also throw an annual Garden Party 

on the grounds every summer.

Oh how i wish i could get an invite to that.

After visiting the Palace we headed to Lunch.

We grabbed some tasty food at a place called Garfunkel's.

The lunch prices were amazing AND they gave free refills.

Which is not strange in America but here in the UK

free refills are almost unheard of.

So when you get them, you know you're in a good place ;)

Next we headed up to Edinburgh Castle.

Right when we got out in front of the Castle

this insanely cold wind blew in and I thought

i might die from hypothermia before we even made it inside.

Spoiler alert...the wind did not die down.

I was also hoping that once inside the Castle 

we would be able to go inside and view some grand

rooms like we did at Holyrood.

That's not really the case at the Castle.

The Castle...as i should have known...

was more of a Fortress than a grand Palace.

There were Canons everywhere you looked 

and prisons and armory rooms.

There was a grand hall which was pretty

but it was covered in weapons.

We visited a Chapel on the grounds which

is the oldest {still standing} building in Scotland.

It's from the 12th century.

The Castle was pretty awesome.

You can't walk into something as massive as that

and not think it's crazy cool.

However my personal opinion is that Holyrood was better.

Mostly because it looked like it came out of a fairytale

and well...I'm a girly girl.

That being said...Edinburgh Castle is wonderful.

I thouroughly enjoyed it...however if you want to visit 

I would suggest the summer months when you're not

freezing to death or being blown off of a castle

by crazy killer wind ;)

After leaving the Castle we decided to go into

Camera Obscura World of Illusions.

We went in here because it had funky mirrors outside

and it looked like it might be a fun way to avoid

the wind of death for like an hour.

And it was pretty stinking awesome.

For twelve pound you found yourself in a maze of mirrors.

to drawing on a black image with lights,

to trying not to throw up in a spinning vortex thingy.

It was so fun and so worth it!

This picture...I can't...I just can't ;)

After we left the fun obscura place we went 

and found a Starbucks where we ate some paninis

and waited about an hour before going back out into the 

cold and wind that wants us dead.

We collect our bags from the nice people 

who held them for us at the place we stayed and

then headed over to the train station to head

back to Liverpool.

We had some time on our hands so we got some fries at burger king

and just sat around and people watched for a good hour.

The Edinburgh train station is really nice

so it made waiting fairly easy.

We popped onto our train when the time came and

here we are back in Liverpool.

That is...until our next adventure..

London and Florence are on the list.

My travel bug is back in full swing

I just wish my wallet would catch up ;)

Head over to Edinburgh if you ever get the chance.

It is a town you won't regret visiting!!