Two weeks ago I landed back at Toronto Pearson International Airport after being on the other side of the Atlantic for twenty six days.

When my sister made the decision to do a six month exchange in Scotland , I started to make my travel plans. Originally, I had this grand idea that Emma and I would be able to travel all over Europe for months on end and see all the sights, but of course that was a pretty lavish plan and ended up being a bit too much for my 18-year-old going to uni in the fall budget. Sure, I didn’t go backpacking across Europe, but I did get to see an enormous portion of the United Kingdom, which was an incredible experience. This was easily the most spectacular trip I have ever been lucky enough to take and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to do this.

Since I was away for quite a while, I have put a lot of thought into how I want to share all the aspects of my trip. I have come to the conclusion that it would make the most sense for me to write several posts outlining the specific things I did in each place that I visited rather than one gargantuan post with all twenty six days, that would be way too much sauce.

This trip had a lot of ‘firsts’ for me. It was my first time crossing the Atlantic, my first time staying in an Airbnb, first time travelling without adults, and my first time flying alone.

The trip began with my mom and I flying into London Gatwick Airport. From there we took a train up to Edinburgh where we spent a week. After that we took the train to York and spent a night there before heading back down to London for a week. At the end of our London week, my mom flew back to Canada and my sister and I took the train back up to Edinburgh. Following all this so far? Emma and I spent a night in Linlithgow, then took a train to Aberdeen and spent a few days there, then took a train to Inverness and stayed there for a few days, next we took a bus up into the Isle of Skye where we stayed for five days. On the final day that I was over there, Emma and I did a day trip to Stonehaven. I know this is a bit all over the place, I hope you were able to follow all of that, or at least some of it haha. If you got a bit lost somewhere between, say, York and Stonehaven, fear not! I will do my very best to clear this all up as I continue to share my experiences and as you continue to read.

Here is my Edinburgh experience/ guide, please enjoy 🙂

Edinburgh (March 26th – 30th)

Let me start out by saying that Edinburgh is easily one of the most beautiful cities that I have ever visited. Both the architecture and the landscape are completely stunning. Edinburgh was not bombed during either World War, so essentially all of the buildings are from the pre-war era and have so much character and charm. Every street is lined with beautiful old stone buildings as far as the eye can see, it is dazzling. There are private and public green spaces all throughout the city. I wish I could be there now to see all the beautiful flowers that are in full bloom.

Day One

On the afternoon of our arrival, my mom and I took a cab from Waverley Station to our Airbnb in New Town. New Town really isn’t all that new, it was built in and around the 18th century when the ‘Old Town’ came to be too crowded.

I must admit that when we first arrived at our Airbnb I was a bit nervous about what the inside of the flat was going to be like. The reason for my initial nerves was the dingy hallway into the building followed by four flights of extremely narrow, steep, winding, and dark steps that lead to our flat. Needless to say it was not fun to lug our suitcases up those steps.

As soon as we stepped foot into our rental my worried mind was put at ease. The flat was clean, bright, and comfortable, just like it looked in the listing. Whew!

After we got settled in, we walked down to Princes Street to do a bit of exploring and stretch our tired legs after many hours of traveling. We popped in to a cute little clothing/ home store called Oliver Bonas. This place gave me some serious Anthropologie vibes (never a bad thing). This isn’t an independent store because I came across another one later on in my trip, but it is still a very nice store with lots of great clothing and home items to chose from.

In Canada we have Chapters and Indigo as our big bookstore chains, in the UK they have Waterstones. The key difference between the Indigos at home and the Waterstones that I went into in Edinburgh are the buildings that they are in. The Waterstones I went into was in an elegant, three-storey, stone building with an incredible wood staircase that climbed from floor to floor. I was so in love with this place.

Mom and I were both pretty exhausted by the end of the day and were really not in the mood to wander off too far for dinner, luckily for us one of the restaurants I had searched up pre-trip was located right up the street from us! The restaurant we ate at is called Nova Pizza (not to be confused with Pizza Nova) and it is an entirely vegetarian Italian eatery. I was over the moon to have so many Ashley-friendly options available to me! Nova Pizza has both a vegetarian and vegan menu, each featuring tons of delicious dishes. I ordered the vegan + GF mushroom pizza and it was so much better than any other GF + vegan pizza that I have ever had at home. To end off on a sweet note, my Mom and I shared a vegan crémè brulé for dessert, so yum! I was very satisfied after this meal.

Day Two

We decided that it was probably best to only try to do one big touristy thing per day so that we could really take our time and take in what every caste, monument, landmark, etc. had to offer.

On our second day we decided to go and see the Edinburgh Castle. The castle is truly magnificent! It was constructed throughout various centuries making it a very interesting site to see. The oldest part of the castle, Saint Margaret’s Chapel, was built in 1130(!!!) and it is still standing!

Every day at one o’clock on the dot, one of the canons is fired off (don’t worry, they only fire a blank haha). We arrived just before one, so we were able to see the firing. It’s funny, there were so many tourists standing around waiting to watch the canon fire, but when it actually did fire people still screamed and were spooked. I thought that was quite funny. What did they think was going to happen?

By the time we were done at the castle it was pretty late in the afternoon and I was hungry. We found a lovely Middle Eastern restaurant called Hanam’s just off the Royal Mile (the mile of road that leads up to the castle). I had been craving falafels, so this place was just what I needed. The decor inside was very cosy and authentic. One of the many things that I love about the buildings in Edinburgh are the huge, gorgeous windows. Our table right next to one of said gorgeous windows.

For my meal I ordered bayengaan, which is a rice-stuffed baked aubergine, and, or course, falafels. They offer both a mango and rose water sorbet on their dessert menu. Now, I’m usually a mango sorbet kind of girl, but I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try the rose water sorbet and man oh man it did not disappoint! The best way that I can describe the taste is to say that it was like eating the scent of roses. That probably doesn’t sound very appetizing, but that is the best way that I can describe it.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering down the Royal Mile. Mom and I both bought some Celtic jewelry from Royal Mile Silver, a jewelry merchant on the street. The lady working at the stall asked us if we were Canadian, she could tell that we weren’t American by our accents. When we told her where we were from she had actually heard of our town because apparently her dad is Canadian and she has an uncle in Mississauga. What a small world.

Day Three

On day three my sister, Emma, came down from Aberdeen to join us for the rest of our trip. Before meeting Emma’s train at Waverley Station, my mom and I spent our morning touring around the Scottish National Gallery and climbing up the Scott Monument.

The Scottish National Gallery has an amazing collection of portraits and admission is free (win!). We spent about two hours here admiring the art. I’m not a huge museum person, so by the end of the two hours I was ready to do something else, preferably outdoors, cue the Scott Monument!

The Scott monument was erected in memory of the Scottish author Sir Walter Scott and is the largest monument in the world dedicated to an author. It is located just outside and across the street from the National Gallery. The monument is very interesting to look at. My best description is that it looks like someone removed a steeple from a Gothic church and placed it on a lawn.

For a small fee of ￡5 you can climb the incredibly narrow 287 steps up all four storeys of the monument. I was wearing a backpack and I must admit that I almost didn’t fit through the doorway at the top of the final flight of steps, that’s how narrow it is. The view from the top made the  extremely dizzying climb well worth it. I would highly recommend checking out the Scott Monument if you ever happen to be in Edinburgh, but be warned this could be counted as your workout for the month, so be prepared!

Next to the train station on Market Street there is a super cool art/ book store / café called the Fruitmarket Gallery. They have cute cards and lots of fun prints available for purchase. It’s a very “hipster” place and everyone sitting at the tables drinking their soy lattes wreaked of intimidating coolness, but in a good way, if that makes any sense haha.

Lunch was at Patisserie Florentin in New Town. This place is very charming. If you’re in need of a croissant or a tasty homestyle lunch, this is a good place to go. Also, they offer both gluten free and vegan options for those in need. I had a stuffed jacket potato, which seem to be a really popular item in the UK, and an almond milk chai latte.

The rest of the afternoon was passed popping in and out of stores in New Town.

We ate a late dinner at the Whiski Bar on High Street (part of the Royal Mile). They offer live music every night of the week and the atmosphere is exactly what you would expect of a Scottish pub: warm, fun, cozy and charming. The live music started around quarter after ten. The group that was playing did a mix of new and classic Scottish tunes.

Day Four

On our fourth day in Edinburgh we hiked up to the top of Arthur’s Seat, the main peak of the hills in Holyrood Park. We were lucky and had a clear, mild day, perfect for hiking. It takes about twenty to thirty minutes to hike up to the top. From ever part of the trail there are stunning views in all directions.

Arthur’s seat was packed with tourists, but that didn’t take away from the scenery, which was absolutely stunning! Edinburgh spans out in every direction and you can even see the sea from the top.

Once we had hiked down fromArthur’s seat, we did an audio tour of Holyrood Palace. Mary Queen of Scots, Queen of Scotland in the 1500s, lived in Holyrood Palace during her reign. The palace is still used today by Queen Elizabeth. Every summer during her Scottish visit the Queen resides in the palace. The rooms that are open to the public are obviously not the Queen’s private quarters, but they are still interesting to see none the less. The upstairs of the palace is extremely old and to be quite honest it smells awful up there. Considering how old the upstairs portion of the palace is (Mary Queen of Scots’ room is fully intact with original furniture and all) it has been very well maintained.

Attached to the palace are the remains of an Abbey founded in the 1100s. Photos are not allowed inside the palace, but photographs of the Abbey are allowed.

The hike up Arthur’s Seat in the morning and all the walking throughout the rest of the day left us all pretty exhausted. We decided to stay close to home for dinner. Across the street from our flat there was a cozy Japanese restaurant called Kenji Sushi. We ordered an assortment of sushi rolls, seaweed salad (my all time favourite), and some miso soup.

Day Five

Day five was our last full day in Edinburgh. It was gloomy and bone-chillingly cold all day, but that didn’t stop us from getting out and walking about all day!

Our day began with us walking over to the Grass Market. The Grass Market is an area in Edinburgh with lots of independent stores and restaurants. My favourite store that we went in to is called the Red Door Gallery. It offers tons of fun prints, cards, pins, and other fun items all made by local artists.

The statue of Grey Friar’s Bobby is in the Grass Market as well. If you are not familiar with the story of Grey Friar’s Bobby then I would suggest that you look it up, the story is too long for me to add to this already exceeding long post 🙂

This was the day that I got to meet four members of my Scottish family that I have never had the chance to meet before. We met up with my dad’s cousin Juliet, her husband Ron and their daughter Anna for coffee. It was so nice to have the opportunity to meet them! They are all very kind and have great senses of humour. Anna is 18 months old and is the most adorable little bean!

After our coffee date, we headed back to the Grass Market area and stopped in at Hula Juice Bar to get out of the rain and to have a quick snack. Hula is a very “me” place. They have lots of vegan and gluten free options for all m fellow veg people out there. I got a matcha latte to warm me up and a raw caramel slice (so yummy!).

We were invited to my Grandfather’s cousin Heather’s house for dinner (this was the fourth relative that I got to meet). Heather lives in the cutest cottage, called Rose Cottage, just outside of Edinburgh. Heather is an avid gardener, a fantastic home cook, and she has a black cat named Dirty Harry. Dirty Harry is not very well behaved. When he acts out, Heather scolds him like a misbehaving child, it is so funny! I can’t get over the fact that his name is Dirty Harry, it cracks me up!

Heather made a delicious Moroccan vegetable tajine for the main course as well as a Moroccan chicken dish. For dessert she served a fruit salad with homemade black currant sorbet made from the currents that she grew in her garden the previous summer. Everything was amazing! This was hands-down my favourite meal of the entire trip. Thanks Heather!

Getting to spend five days in Edinburgh was a dream come true. I have so much love for this beautiful city and I hope that one day I will be able to return. Thank you for following along on my little adventure, more to come soon 🙂

xx

Ashley

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