Blogs from Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 14

Today's our day for exploring around Edinburgh. It has been clear skies, but cold. The hop-on-hop-off bus systems in these cities are fantastic, we used it today to get a good overview of the city getting out past the botanic gardens and down to the port in Leith. Did you know they have the tallest palm tree in the world growing here? imagine that a tropical plant in this place. Did you know they also have the tallest greenhouse... We found a real gem in the National Museum of Scotland, a beautiful collection of buildings and amazing collection of natural history and Scottish history. I've always marveled at the number of inventions and scientific breakthroughs the Scots have made, and they are all here in the museum. However, the most amazing feature of this museum is ... read more

After our four days in London, Mom and I made our way by train to Edinburgh. After riding the train for four hours, it was nice to get up and walk a bit. Little did Mom and I realize what laid in store for us. Packing all of our luggage, we had to climb steep stairs and walk long hills to get to where we were staying. We finally arrived to our apartment, exhausted and realizing how out of shape we were. After dropping everything off, we headed out for a walk around the medieval old city. The architecture in the city is amazing and makes you feel like you are walking back in time. We made our way to the castle and looked around the outside before making our way down the Royal Mile and ... read more

Geo: 55.9503, -3.18761We had originally planned on bringing in the New Year in Prague but then we found out that Easy Jet offered a $50 direct plane ride to Edinburgh Scotland. Why was this significant? Edinburgh is consistently ranked as one of the top places to be in the world when bringing in the New Year. The blindingly obvious thing we overlooked was the notion that we were no longer twenty-somethings who enthusiastically strive for an alcohol induced coma crowded together with thousands of their new friends.New Years Eve is so big in Edinburgh that they give it it's own name, Hogmanay, and they extend the celebration for 3 consecutive days. The roots of Hogmanay, although a little uncertain, perhaps reach back to the celebration of the winter solstice among the Norse (and this invites a ... read more

So I’ve had some… interesting experiences on trains. Mostly the good type of interesting I think, but I could be wrong. In addition to the experience on September 27 as told by a previous blog, I’ve met a woman who knits for the Royal Family, and more than one struggling rock band. These interactions really only occur when I’m travelling alone, which I don’t do often but I’ve done enough to realise that I seem to attract a certain brand of person when out alone. The overwhelming majority of people I meet when out alone, regardless of the mode of transport I have employed, are musicians of the hard rock persuasion. They also seem to want something from me, whether it’s help muling drugs or a pound to buy a CD or recommendations for places to ... read more

Loooonnnggg flight. Air Transat has modeled their business platform after those successful sardine canning companies. The flight was smooth but we were packed in tight. A little bumpiness but other wise very smooth. We were wondering if the pilots had made a wrong turn over Greenland because after landing in Glasgow there was a slight sprinkle & then the clouds cleared out and we had blue skies over Edinburgh. Check the map...we are in Scotland right? The first stop was at the Falkirk Wheel. Nope it is not a tire swing in a farmers field. It is an engineering marvel. Designed to connect the canal system between Glasgow & Edinburgh it raises and lowers boats over 35 meters. Extremely quiet and very smooth. Elke was in the gift shop and didn't see it run the first ... read more