“Everyone is Scottish, they just don’t know it yet!”

The travel extravaganza began on a Sunday, with a bus, train, shuttle bus, airplane and taxi which lead me, Amy and my friend Katie (who I met from Kalamazoo and lives in the Toulouse region) to York, England. I know what you are thinking – I thought you were going to Scotland? Well I did go there, but it was a cheaper way to go through this roundabout itinerary. Plus, Amy decided to go home for a few days instead of joining us in Edinburgh, so we were able to stay at her house that first night after so much travel (cannot be thankful enough to her and her parents for having us!).  

The following morning, Katie and I were off to Edinburgh via train. Once in the city, we checked into our hostel and set out to have some lunch and explore. As this was my first hostel experience, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. Thankfully, this hostel’s staff was more than helpful and friendly, making the trip that much better! The staff told us to go to this great lunch place which serves traditional Scottish pig roasts with a choice of haggis or stuffing. Needless to say, our trip was off to a pretty amazing start with this meal. 

Yup, pretty delicious!

After this great meal, we walked around the heart of the city – The Royal Mile. This is the main road in the city and contains many of the best pubs and sights, including St. Giles Cathedral, Holyrood Palace (where the Queen stays when she’s in Edinburgh), and at the very top of the road, Edinburgh Castle. The castle is on a raised hill in the center of the city – in fact, the rest of the city was built around the castle, making for some fantastic sights of the city if you go into this breathtaking fortress. It was quite fun to wander around this expansive castle on a hill and to imagine the lives of the people that once lived there. The only downside was the rain that drove us to take cover a few times.

St Giles Cathedral

Edinburgh castle

Although I have been to Edinburgh before, this trip I saw it from a different perspective entirely. I couldn’t stop staring at the architecture of all the buildings, almost gothic. It was a great time to come to Scotland as well, as the trees where crisp with their autumnal colors, leaving traces with the leaves that fell to the ground. I had been feeling quite disappointed with Fall in Provence, as Fall is my favorite season back home. Scotland made up for the lack of seasonal change I had been experiencing – I am so glad I got to soak up all the Autumn shades while there. 

I mean really, look at this view!

That night, we decided to go on a ghost tour, which ended up being really cool. Edinburgh is a city with a pretty dark past, including witch hunts in which many women died for unjust reasons, vaults filled with homeless and crime beneath the city, etc. Even the town’s nickname “Auld Reekie”* shows its disgusting nature: as the whole town is lead up to the castle, all of the roads are on a slant downward. In the old days before modern plumbing, at 10pm every night everyone would open their windows, call out to make sure no one was below, and throw their sewage out their window. Pretty disgusting, right? The best part is that sometimes people would be walking back from the pubs and would miss this warning… and that is where the term “shitfaced” comes from. The tour that we went on took us down to the vaults themselves and we got to hear some of the darker Edinburgh tales. This town definitely got me in the Halloween mood, with all the dark stories, gothic buildings and even quite a bit of decorations – a good change of pace from the non-existent decorations in France!

The second day in Scotland we decided to take a day trip to the highlands in the North, with the main goal to see Loch Ness. Leaving at a very early 7am, we ventured through the rolling hills of the highlands, being told tale after tale by our amazingly energetic and proud Scottish tour guide. He is the one that said the quote that is the title of this post, and he went on to prove that everything we know to be from our own countries was truly of Scottish descent. Again, a very proud man. In general, I have noticed that the Scottish are incredibly proud people AND incredibly friendly. Even more so than the Irish.**

Just an example of one of the beautiful views of the highlands

I was so enthralled by the highlands, I don’t know if I can quite put it into words. This area is definitely one of the most breathtaking natural wonders I have seen, you simply must go to see them yourself as the pictures don’t show how massive they are. During the tour up to visit Nessy, we visited Ian Fleming’s*** estate, saw where they filmed a scene of Skyfall, saw the bridge used in the filming of Harry Potter, saw Glencoe and the Three Sisters (where they superimposed Hogwart’s Castle for the movies), and saw a lot of Lochs. That’s right, not lakes, but lochs. Look it up. 

Home of James Bond

Where they filmed Skyfall!

Hogwarts castle is right here. I know you can't see it, you just have to use your imagination.

Then, we finally arrived at Loch Ness. Although we did not see Nessy, it was wonderful just to relax by the bonnie banks of this huge, deep loch, where known flesh-eating fish reside. The calm that I felt here as well as during the rest of the trip to the highlands was nice and a refreshing contrast to the big city atmosphere of Edinburgh. The sun even decided to come out for a bit, something that rarely occurs in Scotland. 

It is so black due to the level of peat in the water.

Just kidding, we totally did run into Nessy! We are best friends now.

After returning to Edinburgh after our long day, we decided to get some traditional Scottish food at a nearby pub called Fiddler’s Arms. Although I had tried it the last time I was in Scotland, I decided to give haggis a second go. I wouldn’t say I hated it… but I will say that it was the last time I will be eating it. But hey, when in Rome!

Wednesday morning, we went on a walking tour of the city provided by the hostel. It was great to walk around and see a few of the sights we had not seen before, and to hear even more history of this incredibly dark city. We visited Greyfriars Kirkyard, which is a graveyard that is known for the old graveyard keeper John Gray and his dog. After the keeper died, his dog continued to roam the graveyard, protecting it from grave robbers. The dog, known as Greyfriars Bobby, became a national symbol, and even had a right to vote (before women mind you…). The statue and his grave are the most visited in Scotland.

Greyfriar's Kirkyard

Look at that little dog!

Also, in this graveyard were graves which were inspirations for J.K. Rowling as she wrote Harry Potter. You will find graves holding the names of prominent characters in the books, including McGonnagal, Moodie and of course Lord Voldemort himself. The private school right outside of the graveyard, is also said to have been the inspiration for Hogwarts. And, a five minutes walk from the cemetery, you will find the now-famous Elephant House, where Rowling spent hours writing the first draft of Harry Potter on paper. So basically, I just went on a Harry Potter tour without knowing it. And of course, I loved every minute of it.

LORD VOLDEMORT

Hogwarts in real life?

Where Rowling made magic

That afternoon, since it was such a beautiful day, we decided to walk up to Arthur’s Seat, a large hill which promises amazing panoramic views of the city. I had read that it took about an hour and with the weather as beautiful as it was, I was anticipating a great hike. Although the sights were beautiful, an easy hike it was not. The strong gusts of wind were pushing against me the entire way up, nearly taking me over the edge of the hill a few times. But the view at the top was worth it, even if I had to sit down for pictures because I could not hold my balance due to the strength of the wind. And oh yeah, it was a bit muddy too. So true to my klutzy nature, on the way back down the hill, I fell and slid, making quite a mess on an unfortunate area of my body. I guess you could have called me “Auld Reekie” after that incident.

See that hill there? Yeah, I climbed that.

Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat

That evening, we took the train back to York and stayed with Amy and her family (once again, a million thanks!). On the way back, we couldn’t help being a little sad about leaving Scotland, as it was such a wonderful few days. But very early the next morning (with a 3:45am wake-up call to be exact), we were off to our next country already, with the bonnie banks of Scotland a distant memory in our minds. 

*Translation: Old Smelly. Yum.

**Sorry, Guinness.

***Writer/Creator of James Bond.