It was one last drive over the Forth Bridge, leaving the car at the airport and a bus ride later I arrived at my final destination: Edinburgh! The last two days of my British summer!
I wondered why everything was especially expensive when I was looking for a place to stay. I didn´t know that the Fringe Festival is going on in Edinburgh the whole of August and it´s just huge! Baskers and streets artists everywhere, thousands of shows all over the city and then there was also the “Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo” in front of the castle. The city was crammed with people!
My Airbnb was just a short walk from the castle and so I decided to explore the area a little bit.
Greyfriars Kirkyard
The graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk (church) in the Old Town exists since the 16th century and is a beautiful calm spot in the busy city. Quite nearby is one of the coffee shops where JKRowling used to write the first Harry Potter books and I can imagine how she strolled around the graveyard to get inspired.
Greyfriars Bobby – a loyal dog who guarded his master´s grave.
Performances everywhere…
Edinburgh Castle
The last time I was in Edinburgh I missed visiting the castle, so it was on the list for this time. Along with millions of other people…. but as I still had two days left on the “Explorer Pass”, which gives you access to hundreds of landmarks and sights in Scotland, I just decided to quickly go in, have a look around, enjoy the view and come back another time.
Erin and I had planned to meet at Loch Lomond for her photo shoot but as it was raining cats and dogs we rescheduled for Edinburgh, not thinking about the masses of people (it was a Saturday after all), delayed trains and some other obstacles. But we made it work and found some quieter places..
The Balmoral – one day I´m gonna stay there and enjoy all the Scottish luxury!
Later in the day, I met Meg who had just finished university and wanted to celebrate this milestone with a photo shoot in the city where she had spent her student life before she would head back to Yorkshire (or maybe somewhere else – the whole world stood open for her). We went to Calton Hill and Meg danced above the city!
