Glasgow – Gettin’ friendly in the monument…

We made it to our next destination everyone, Edinburgh. Only a 1 hour drive from Glasgow making it extremely accessible.  This will be another short stop but definitely a must see. It has been almost 4 years to the day since I was in this city and I almost forgot how beautiful it was. Made it to our Airbnb and checked in. This new place is really nice. A real bed, which is a nice change from the last place with a pullout couch where you could feel every bed spring and bar under the thin mattress. I mean, it was 30$ a night so we couldn’t complain and the place came with a pretty adorable cat so it wasn’t all bad.

We’re are staying in Gyle, about a 30-40 min bus from Edinburgh’s city centre. So we hopped on that bus pretty quick after dropping our bags off — eager to see the sights. First stop was the beautiful Scott Monument, right in the heart of the city centre with a back drop of the Princes Gardens and the famous Edinburgh Castle. A Victorian Gothic monument to an author named Sir Walter Scott and the largest monument to a writer in the world. This tower is just over 200 feet tall and has 3 platform viewing areas that you can get to by walking up what seems to be a never ending narrow (and I mean narrow!) spiral staircase made of sandstone which consists of 288 steps to the top viewing platform. This staircase is so narrow that if you are going up and someone is coming down, there are spots that someone cannot get by you. Prepare to almost kiss someone if you do need to pass and hope they smell nice cause you’re gonna get close, thankfully i showered today so they all got lucky! The hike and the 5£ is well worth the amazing panoramic view of the entire city.

The rest of the day was walking around, taking in the streets and culture of the city. I can never get enough of the old Victorian buildings and the beauty in every one of them. There is so much history to learn behind each street and every turn you make its almost overwhelming to think about. We enjoyed just taking pictures of the streets, looking in little shops and hunting down a place to eat. Its a nice change restaurant wise from Glasgow as they are a little more diverse when it comes to food. Its not just pubs on every corner…well don’t get me wrong…there is a pub on every corner but there are also a lot of Indian, Mexican, Japanese and Thai places that are easier to find and you don’t have search high and low for. Pubs are a great way to get a feel for city and its atmosphere but I can only eat so many burgers and chips! We found a great Japanese place just in time to dodge the rain (for those that know me, I am a tad fond of Asian cuisine so I was pretty happy) called Wagamama. I was able to have my low carb Tuna steak dish (I’m trying to be as food conscious as possible! Most travelers understand how easy it is to gain weight when traveling — you want to try everything!) and Mark got a duck rice dish. We were very impressed with our meal. We finished off the evening walking through the city until our feet hurt. Decided to head home around 8pm to call it night. Tomorrows agenda includes castles, gardens and cathedrals! Stay Tuned and thanks again for reading!