Everything Edinburgh

I was already in love with Scotland before this trip began. I do a LOT of research for my trips and I was completely enamored. We stayed in Edinburgh, right on the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is a stretch of shops and restaurants that begins at Hollyrood Castle and ends up the hill at Edinburgh castle. Edinburgh was built on the ruins of a volcano, so the inclines are a bit steep. Combine that with chunky cobblestone streets and sleeting rain and you know you're going to have a tricky time with things. But it is so worth it. We were able to escape the city for a day and wandered around the Scottish Highlands, explored ancient castles, and felt for a second as if we left modern times behind. 

Highlights

✴ THE HIGHLANDS! I loved the beautiful mountain landscapes, rugged lochs, and deserted castles. Not to mention, the Highland Cuhs (cows) are ADORABLE.

✴ Try the Haggis. It wasn't my favorite thing in the world, but I was the only one in my group who gave it a shot. Don't be afraid to try new, weird things!

✴ J.K. Rowling is from Edinburgh and seeing all of the Harry Potter inspiration and important landmarks was really neat. I had one free morning to myself, before I left for Ireland, where I walked down to the Elephant House Cafe and listened to the first chapter of the first Harry Potter book. It was a pretty special experience, call me a nerd ALL you want, I don't care.