Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh castle view

Edinburgh gave us our first, and so far only, housesitting experience on this trip. (more on that soon!) We felt so fortunate to have a free place to stay as well as a great home base to explore Edinburgh. Our housesit was right along the water, about 40 minutes walking from the town center.

We arrived one night before our housesit began, so we decided to treat ourselves to a fancy hotel.
And it. Was. Fancy! And of course, I got zero photos.
We enjoyed a dinner out, then camped out in our sweet room for the night. We’d have the whole next week to explore Edinburgh, so we could afford to sit this evening out.
We watched the Eurovision finals and a terrible Irish horror movie about a monster who kills in the dark in the Irish countryside, From the Dark.  It was wonderful! We took long showers in the massive bathroom, wore bathrobes all night, and drank wine. It was perfect.
Confession, I read up very little about Edinburgh before we arrived. Don’t judge.  I heard, “medieval town” and “very charming” and I guess I didn’t need to know much more.
Because of our lack of any research, we were not prepared for the giant castle on a hill overlooking the whole city that greeted us when we arrived. We were astounded!  And honestly, I’m glad that it caught me by surprise. What a thing to behold! I tried to imagine what it would have felt like being loomed over like that by your ruler. Safe? Dominated? Over the centuries I’m sure a bit of both. The castle is high up on a hill and can be seen from almost everywhere. It’s hard to get lost in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh castle
view from Edinburgh Castle

View from Edinburgh Castle

We explored this amazing city and also started to work on our traveler mode. Ireland was really dedicated to our “honeymoon”, so we didn’t work too much. But now that we were in Scotland, we started working more, cooking more, and finding some kind of routine that would work for us on the road.
The routine thing is still a work in progress and we’re constantly shifting based on where we are and travel days.
We did enjoy some kitschy experiences, like the Edinburgh Dungeon (highly recommend!) and found a great free ghost tour.
Edinburgh Dungeon drop

The feeling of being “dropped” from the hanging platform – minus the rope around your neck.

Edinburgh Dungeon - How could he???!

We spent hours exploring the castle, tried haggis, and drank some whisky. (Scottish whisky vs. Irish whikey – The Scotts leave out the “e” ) We enjoyed a slower pace and found some amazing walks through town. Edinburgh is very pedestrian and bike friendly.
 Edinburgh walkway tunnel
I wish we were able to make it out to the Highlands on this trip. I hear they are spectacular!
Next time for sure. Until then, I’ll just binge watch Outlander on Netflix and begin daydreaming about our next visit.

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