Scotland Week Part 1: Landmarks and Fun Times

This week on Seek Them Abroad, we're celebrating Scotland Week for the simple reason that last week I went to Scotland. It was so wonderful that I can't really contain it to a single blog post; thus, Scotland Week. Prepare yourself.

The ruins of Holyrood Abbey

The first cool thing about Scotland was that we took a train north from King's Cross to get there, which struck some Harry Potter chords in me. I love traveling by train so much more than planes. It's less stressful and easier, though possibly longer, but even that is debatable. It's a beautiful ride up to Scotland, though I have discovered that I do not know how to have a proper fun time on a train. We encountered both a bachelorette party and an 18th birthday party on the train, and when they started pulling bottles of vodka and bags of candy out of their backpacks, I knew I was doing it wrong.

Harry Potter history made here

As per requirement, we visited a lot of landmarks and monuments while we were in Edinburgh, most of which were all suitable old and cool. There were some spectacular graveyards and the monuments up Carlton Hill were also gorgeous. In addition to the traditional ones, I visited a few places that I deemed personal national monuments. The cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book and the hotel where she finished the last one, for example.

Just an average day at the castle.

Edinburgh is a spectacular city. It wasn't bombed during World War II, so all of the amazing old buildings are all still standing untouched. Not to go all architecture geek, but they're from all different styles and periods of time, which (along with the modern day high rises) creates an even weirder, eclectic look to the city than London. We did karaoke in a modern building on George street and then walked out into the night to see the ancient Edinburgh castle rising above the city. It's a weird feeling.

More to come on some specific experiences in Scotland, but I just wanted to share my initial feelings about the place, which are that I want to go back. Like, now. I want to see more of it, particularly the Hebrides and the far north. It's so distinct from England for begin so close. You can feel that you're in another country. Which, naturally, leads to the next post in Scotland Week: politics. It's an interesting time in Scotland right now. I'll tell you more about it later.

Typical Edinburgh street. The confusing bit it that the upper and lower parts
have the same street name, so I'm not sure how any mail is ever delivered successfully.

Early morning over on Carlton Hill (Note: this is not the Parthenon)