My flight out of Rome landed early Tuesday morning, and for a moment I forgot that I wasn’t in the Schengen Area anymore, so going through Passport Control was a strange surprise. The Scottish man checking my passport was extremely friendly, but scolded me for only staying for 3 days. After grabbing my bags, I took the tram to the city center, which was absolutely stunning. Beautiful, old, black buildings were surrounded by lush green parks, and the old fabric was broken up by the occasional modernist building. I just couldn’t wait to start taking pictures, so I was that awkward tourist scrambling to hold all of her bags and a camera at the same time.
Because Ashley, Robby and I were all meeting in Edinburgh from different places, I was the first one in town and had some time to kill before they arrived. I finally made it to my hostel, where I dropped my luggage and went out for breakfast at a small place recommended to me by the hostel staff. The restaurant was called Hula, and while I did feel a bit strange eating at a Hawaiian themed restaurant in Scotland, its menu boasted delicious smoothies so I decided to give it a chance (I haven’t had a smoothie in months). As soon as I sat down, it started raining outside, and suddenly I felt more Scottish, despite being surrounded by tropical flowers and bright colors. I ordered a “sunshine in a cup” smoothie and sourdough toast with avocado, sun dried tomato, an assortment of seeds and smoked salmon. I know I don’t talk about food much on this blog, but this meal was more than worth mentioning. This was one of the most delicious meals I’ve had since being in Europe… like right up there with paella and souvlaki. Please enjoy the following photo and try not to lick the screen:
After breakfast, I made my way to St. Giles Cathedral in the heart of Edinburgh. Much like the English, the Scottish do the gothic style a little differently. The vaults in the church were painted a bright blue with white ribs, matching the Scottish flag perfectly. The altar stood at the crossing of the nave, rather than at the end of the apse. Right as I walked in, the Pastor began a sermon in which he mentioned Calvin and Hobbs AND Mexican food, so I decided to sit down. It isn’t often than I get to experience a space through sound (other than choral hymns), so it was interesting to hear a single voice reverberate through the church.
As I left the church, it started raining for the second time that day, but I figured it wouldn’t last long. I strolled down the street, popping in all the souvenir shops I could find. I immediately noticed how proud the Scottish are of their clan heritage. Every shop contained items with the clans’ crests and plaid patterns. Suddenly I felt left out for not being from Scotland (it’s no surprise that “Walton” is English). Once the sun came out again, I walked down the street outside and stopped at a ring stand to buy some beautiful Celtic designed jewelry. Shortly after, Robby texted me that he had arrived, so we met back up at the church. I certainly didn’t mind visiting twice.
The sun was still out, so we decided to wander around the parks in the center of the city. The grass was unbelievably green, but we weren’t allowed to walk on it, so we admired it from afar. We stopped at the Scott Monument, which was essentially just a massive, gothic style spire in the center of the park, dedicated to the writer Scott (not the Scottish people). We continued onward towards the top of Calton Hill, which is home to a few more memorials and an old observatory. You could see the whole city of Edinburgh and the North Sea from the top of the hill. Every black building, every gothic spire, every pub’s gold letters… it was breathtaking.
By this point the rain had started again, so we took shelter in a free maritime war museum on the hill. That’s another thing the Scottish are very proud of: their war history. I’m not one for war museums, but it was a nice place to keep dry. When the sun came out, we made our way back to the hostel to wait for Ashley and her brother, Ben. The common room had free hot chocolate and tea, so it was a cozy break from the chilly weather outside. We checked into our Lord of the Rings themed room, but didn’t stay long before venturing out to the Edinburgh Castle, which was conveniently right across the street. We didn’t spend long at the Castle, but we did manage to see the Crown Jewels of Scotland and the oldest building in Edinburgh (surprise, it’s a church).
As we exited the castle, it started to rain for the 5th time that day, so we tucked into some local scarf shops. The Scottish are known for their lambs wool scarves, and they were so soft that I couldn’t resist buying one. For dinner, we followed the advice of our hostel staff yet again and ate at the Royal Mile Tavern, home to a delicious meal called Highland Chicken. Every single one of us ordered it, along with some Scottish beer, except for Ben, who tried the famous Scottish whiskey (he’s the only one of us who actually likes whiskey).
We rushed back to the hostel to get there in time for the traditional dancing outing. We were taken to a local pub that cleared the floor and gave traditional Irish and Scottish dancing lessons. There was a pretty huge crowd and the dance floor was packed. The guitar, violin and accordion music was energetic and fun. Some of the dance moves were complicated, but everyone was at the same level of “I’ve never done this before so I look ridiculous” – ness, so it was a blast. Unfortunately this event only happened on Tuesdays, so we couldn’t go back the next night, no matter how badly I wanted to.
The next morning, we boarded an early train to Stirling, which is a city about an hour Northwest of Edinburgh (making it both the furthest North and furthest West I’ve been all semester).
Important side note: Scotland has bagels AND cream cheese, so breakfast was delightful. Anyway, we were in Stirling to see the ever-important Stirling Castle, the childhood home to the ever-important Mary Queen of Scotts. Stirling sits at the most narrow part of Scotland, so the castle’s location was crucial in Scottish war history. The castle was nice, but the real treasure was the view from the castle. At the foot of the Scottish Highlands, there are striking hills in all directions, and the sun hits them beautifully.
Next, we visited a nearby cemetery and another small, gothic church. Both were beautiful, but we couldn’t stay long because we had to get back to Edinburgh. When we arrived, we stopped in a local pub for lunch, where I had traditional haggis, mashed potatoes and turnip, all of which were delicious.
To walk off the calories from our heavy lunch, we decided to climb Arthur’s Seat, which is a massive hill in the center of Edinburgh. Along the path up, we stopped at old chapel ruins that were surrounded by bright yellow flowers. My friends probably thought we stopped because I like history, but really I was just super out of shape and needed a break. We took a few more breaks to “admire the view” as we ascended, but once we FINALLY made it to the top, it was the views that took my breath away instead of my aching body. We could see all of Edinburgh, and the intermittent dark clouds set the perfect, dramatic mood. The wind at the top of Arthur’s Seat was, without a doubt, the strongest wind I have ever experienced (yes, even worse than Stonehenge). There were several instances that I actually thought I might get knocked off the top (but hey, anything for that Instagram, right?).
We descended the hill almost as slowly as we climbed it, so by the time we got to the bottom, we were ready for a sweet treat. We stopped in a local candy store for some delicious chocolate that we ended up eating in the common room with another free hot chocolate. By this point, we were pretty beat, so we ended up going upstairs for a nap.
By the time we woke up, it was 9:30, and most pubs had stopped serving dinner. I guess we’re too used to Italy, where people eat dinner really late in the night. Our hostel staff recommended a late-night dinner place that served thick burgers and gallons of beer, so we decided to check it out. The burgers were juicy and the atmosphere was warm and welcoming, so it was a pretty successful night. Despite our two hour nap, we were still dead tired and decided to head back to the hostel for a night in.
The next morning, Ashley and Ben had to get to the airport for an early flight to London, but Robby and I had some time to explore the city before our late afternoon flight. I convinced him to go to Hula for breakfast because I was craving another avocado salmon toast. Afterwards, we made our way to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, one of the three official residences of the Queen. We were mostly here to see the old abbey ruins, but we couldn’t buy a ticket for just that, so we saw the palace too. This ornate set of rooms was full of pictures of the Queen, a few of which featured the pope (I swear we can’t escape Rome). After getting through the palace, we visited the beautiful abbey. Its dark stones were beautiful against the bright blue sky that replaced the missing roof. We stayed here for a really long time, admiring every grave and gothic detail.
For our last few hours in Edinburgh, we decided to explore the west side of the city by foot. From Arthur’s Seat, we could see a group of gothic spires, so we were determined to find what we knew would be a massive gothic church. We went into about 3 churches before finding THE one we were looking for, and it was definitely worth the wait. This was probably the biggest church we went to in Edinburgh.
We had lunch at a small place by our hostel that served fish n’ chips, but headed to the airport shortly thereafter (which is where I’m sitting now).
Edinburgh was a pleasant surprise. The people were the friendliest that I’ve encountered in Europe. Every single one was outgoing and excited to show us their heritage (and honestly, their accents helped a lot too). There were barely any smokers in Scotland, so the clean air was an amazing change from the suffocation-inducing air quality of Rome. But I think the thing I loved most about Edinburgh was the mix of built environment and nature. I don’t think the city would be the same without its massive hills and vast parks.
I think it really promotes a happy, healthy quality of life that I could see myself living in if I were to return to Europe (if it weren’t for the freezing temperatures, that is). One regret I have is not having time to explore the highlands. If the landscape in a city could be that stunning, I can’t imagine what it’s like in the untouched highlands. I guess that’s something I’ll save for my next trip, because I’ll definitely be back for you, Scotland.
Number of Columns Hugged: 7
Days Since Mexican Food: 136
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Read more from Haley at https://haleywalton.wordpress.com/
To find out more about the U of A Rome Center semester program for Architecture, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/romecentersemester/
