Trip to Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh Castle

Since we didn't exactly have any major plans for this summer as a family, my mother decided that we should just take the train to Edinburgh and see the sites. My ma have been to Scotland before with her auntie about 5 years ago and have always raged about how beautiful it was. Because there was only 3 of us, I asked if I could take my best friend, Gellie with me so I have someone to go around the galleries with and not get bored [and because we could get a discount if there was 4 people lel]. 

Our journey began at Kings Cross Station. By far my favourite station. Mainly due to the fact that it appeared in Harry Potter. But of course the beautiful interior.
I definitely wanted to keep comfy since the trip was going to take around 4 to 5 hours. Therefore, I wore plain black leggings from Zara, a plain white shirt from H&M, a black hat from Topshop and my red nikes.
 With a nice hot chocolate and toastie in hand, we were ready to depart.

As soon as we arrived, we straight away felt that we were in Scotland because the first thing we heard were bagpipes. We researched the weather beforehand but did not anticipate it to be too cold. The thickest clothing I bought with me was a denim long sleeved shirt. Rookie mistake. However, despite the cold wind, the sun was out.

On our way to our hotel, we spotted the Scott Monument, the Edinburgh Castle and the Scottish National Gallery. In addition to the beautiful view, the last day of the fringe festival was held so there were performers and booths everywhere. And during that 10 minute walk to our hotel, we definitely passed about 3 bagpipe players. It was such a great welcome!

After we dropped off our suitcases, we headed straight to the Scottish National Gallery. I was most excited about the Impressionist part of the gallery. Impressionism is by far my favourite movement and I was so chuffed to see Monet, Van Gogh and Seurat's work, displayed in the room.

We stayed at the Premier Inn in Princess Street and the view outside our window was the side of Edinburgh's Castle. Oh it was great! It was a great opportunity to act like idiots and pose like a model. With a great background like that.. I mean.. how can you resist.

On to the next day, we visited the Edinburgh Castle. We wanted to spend as much time as possible to look through every bits and bobs. The castle was HUGE! and that whole day was definitely needed to look at everything.

There was so much to see! The National War Museum, Great Hall, the Military Prison, the Scottish Crown Jewels and many more. We missed out the 'One o'clock Gun' because we were eating ahah! but the view of the Princess Street Gardens was awesome.

For souvenirs, I wanted to get myself something I could use but also very Scottish. And because I wasn't allowed a kilt, I just had to settle on a scarf.

What captivated me the most was the view of Edinburgh from the castle. The sun was shining and it made the architecture look breathtaking. 

Straight after the castle, we went to 'Camera Obscura: World of Illusions' which was only about a minute walk from the castle entrance. The building itself was a tower and every floor contained different types of illusions. Most of the pieces were interactive and we had so much fun laughing and in awe at them. My favourite was the Ames Room because it made my lil pal Gellie look hella giant compared to me.

For dinner, we went to Cosmos and met up with my childhood friends/ bros who travelled from Durham which was only around 2/3 hour drive away. The Cosmo in Edinburgh was so big and they actually served pork shiomai and it was definitely a cheat day for us all.

On the day before we leave, we hopped onto a sightseeing bus for a tour around Edinburgh. The last time I was in a sightseeing bus was when we went to London for the first time, almost 10 years ago. The bus was a brilliant way to see what makes Edinburgh so beautiful and along the way, we learned some 'Horrible Histories' by listening to it during the ride. The thing I hate about these buses was the fact that I found it difficult to take decent photographs of the view. However the hour ride around Edinburgh was a great experience, especially because of the weather.

We also stopped off at the National Museum of Scotland before heading to Nandos for lunch. The interior of this museum was absolutely amazing. I would've loved to have a great big ball there as it was just so elegant.

After lunch, we headed to the Edinburgh Dungeon. The best thing about this dungeon was that the actors had Scottish Accents. I absolutely loved the Scottish accent and I would really want one. This was the first time I've ever been to one of the dungeons and it was awesome. I really enjoy stuff like these, probably because there's something quite fun about getting scared. ahaha! We couldn't take any photographs in the dungeon however photographs were taken before the tour and during the drop ride. This have made me want to really go to the London one and see if it's any good.

Those few days were so much fun. Just because it was really nice to get away from reality and those days were just so relaxed. Edinburgh was a beautiful place and I really would not mind going there again.

Trip to Edinburgh vlog :)