Next stop... Edinburgh, Scotland
After our race against time in Ireland, our quick 40ish minute flight was actually quite a treat. We flew with Ryanair, which for a short flight, was absolutely worth it but kind of reminded us of a New York taxi with wings. It was actually pretty cool because, with the Fringe Festival in full swing, there was a troop of actors on our plane heading to Edinburgh to perform.
Once we arrived in Edinburgh, the air was brisk and we were exhausted. The travel clock had reached a whopping 39 hours. We took a tram from the airport to our Airbnb which was extremely central! We stayed with Jess and we couldn't have lucked out more! With Fringe going on, it was quite hard to find accommodations, however, our Airbnb was beautiful. We were in a good location, with an amazing, unique host, and a hip atmosphere. We would absolutely recommend staying here! Jess, our host was incredible, bright pink hair and a personality to match! She filled us in on all the info for the flat and places we should go. Exhaustion had truly set in so we called it a night.
Sunday morning we made a makeshift breakfast out of all the snacks I had brought and then we were out onto the streets of Edinburgh. We set out with only one aim, find a tattoo parlor, other than that, we were just going with the flow. The streets of Edinburgh were just beautiful. I personally knew very quickly that I would love living there. We wandered around a little until we came to a hill that clearly led to great sites.
Mom had already joked around about Edinburgh being nothing but hills. She said "Even when you're going downhill you are still going uphill." That became one of our running jokes for the whole trip. We accidentally stumbled upon the monstrous Calton Hill. In all honesty, it was not a very long hike but boy was it steep! You had the option of stairs or a paved hill but there was no escaping the daunting incline.
View from atop Calton Hill.
After just a few stops to catch our breath we made it to the top. The climb was definitely worth it! This was the very top of the city! You could see everything from up there, from the sea to Edinburgh castle. It was breathe- taking. It also had several monuments atop the hill including the National Monument of Scotland, Nelson Monument, and the Dugald Stewart Monument.
After we were done exploring Calton Hill we found ourselves some Vegan grub at a restaurant called Hendersons. They had a good variety of options including vegan haggis which I have regretted a little not trying. Overall it was not the best meal we had ever had but we both enjoyed our falafel burger and chocolate cake! From Hendersons, we found ourselves in the heart of the Fringe Festival. There were street performers and people flyering left and right. We saw some cool stunts and magic and as well as some very cheesy vaudeville-inspired acts.
Our feet seem to be drawn to adventure because we honestly just kind of stumbled upon the Edinburgh Castle as well. This was another uphill trek but by then we were getting used to it! The Castle and National Gallery were there fairly close to one another. It was really cool because so many of the galleries had been turned into venues for the Fringe Festival. There were people everywhere!
We didn't go into the Castle, just walked its grounds but that was enough to get a feel for the culture surrounding us. We made our way back to the Fringe Market where we bought some small sterling silver jewelry from a lovely man from Spain. We, of course, sampled a local Starbucks and recharged a little. Pokemon Go may or may not have been involved.
Our day was coming to a close, and we had not found a tattoo place that could take us in but we had been on some amazing adventures! We closed out our night with some Vegan Italian food from Nova Pizza, which was delicious and owned by a true Italian, himself. Then, with full bellies, we made the pleasant 30ish minute walk back to our Airbnb, trying to take in every last sight before we left for York the next morning.
Edinburgh was gorgeous, definitely a place we would be willing to return to.
It's An Adventure...