Edinburgh

Edinburgh is an amazing European city and I am so happy that I took some time during my Scotland visit to see this place. Of course, timing has a great deal to do with why I enjoyed the city so much, but nonetheless it is an amazing city.

To begin with, the city offered non-stop activity and entertainment. I was let off of the bus from St. Andrews in St. Andrew's Square, where, there happened to be a Christmas Concert starting in about seven minutes! So I fought the cold (it was -1C, plus wind) and stood in the crowd singing Christmas carols. Being the good American, I had not let myself think of Christmas before celebrating Thanksgiving, but now that I had done that, I took full part in the Christmas festivities. Besides the Christmas Concert, there was a Christmas Carnival being held in the center of Edinburgh that was complete with an outdoor ice skating rink and music. So after a few cups of hot mulled wine and some German Bratwursts, I took a few turns around on the ice taking in the glow of Edinburgh at night.

One of the great things about the city is that it is somewhat cut in half by the fact that part of the city is built upon and over a hill which sits next to a shallow valley that comes up again where the rest of the city is spread out. The Christmas Carnival was held in this shallow valley so it was right in the center and surrounded by Edinburgh. While I was walking around the carnival, the Edinburgh Castle which is perched up on the highest hill kept watch as it was lit up with blue lights. I actually visited the castle the following day (Monday) where entry was free because it was St. Andrew's feast day, which is also why the castle was cast with blue lights.

Besides these activities, I visited the coffee shop where the author took her time writing the Harry Potter books (not so much a big deal for me except that they had good coffee), walked around and sampled some helpings from the local pubs, had a glass or two of Scotch Whisky (no "e" if its really Scottish) and tried hagis and cullen skink (a fish stew that just has a really cool name), both of which were excellent.

My trip to Scotland as a whole was great. It is defintely one of the great advantages of living in Europe, that travelling to other parts of Europe is so much easier and cheaper.