So you should all know by now that randomly booking travels is a bit of a pastime of mine, and my recent trip to Edinburgh was no exception. Most of the concept behind going was down to Em, I'd picked and insisted on the trainwreck which was to become our trip to Belfast, and rightfully so it was her time to choose where we headed next. And damn, she chose well.
Edinburgh is such a beautiful place to go, with so much to see and do. We crammed every second of being there with as much as we could, including some really good food (seriously, for students we have never eaten so well!), and of course, some very good pubs and bars.
Edinburgh is such a beautiful place to go, with so much to see and do. We crammed every second of being there with as much as we could, including some really good food (seriously, for students we have never eaten so well!), and of course, some very good pubs and bars.
(One of the best pics I've taken..)
We decided against booking a hotel room, instead opting for a bright apartment on Airbnb which was really central to everything we wanted to do. I would totally recommend checking them out, it made the experience much more personal and relaxed, with more freedom than staying in a hotel room, plus it saved a bit of money.
(The light was incredible in the flat, and there are MANY selfies to prove this)
Our first full day in Edinburgh was dedicated as 'museum and shopping' day. I think it's fair to suggest we had too much fun in the National Museum of Scotland. I would recommend that anyone planning a trip to Edinburgh goes there, it's honestly incredible. We got lost, thought we'd somehow ended up inside another museum in a museum (museum-inception?), laughed, composed our own piece of 'world music' (spoiler - it was awful), Emily got far too excited about the space section, and I lost my mind in the Native American section. The NMS exceeded all our expectations for a museum, and considering it was free to get in, was a completely wonderful way to waste our morning.
(Faces of pure joy)
After trying and failing to find the Anatomical Museum - plot twist, it was shut for June - we headed back into New Town, for a bit of shopping. It was a sad fact that we were a) broke, and b) only travelled with hand luggage so there was no way we could shop until we dropped. However, I did treat myself to a playsuit, which made an appearance at Wildlife that weekend.
That evening we decide to do what we do best, go out drinking. We found a wonderful place called The Black Rose Tavern, and it happened to be Open Mic Night. Fantastic. There was some serious eye-candy, singing and playing the guitar, as well as the guy running the night. At first, we thought he was fairly attractive, but as the night went on, he just got weirder and weirder. He was the most overly enthusiastic man I've ever seen in my life. He was singing and dancing and clapping along to every single song, and completely lost his mind during one guys performance when he changed riff ("WHOA GUYS THAT WAS INSANE, HE NEVER PLAYS BUT WHOAAAAAA") I'm not sure if he was high on life or something else, but overly enthusiastic open mic guy, I salute your positivity.
(One of the acts at open mic night)
Edinburgh Castle was firmly on our agenda from the second we booked the trip, and it did not disappoint. We went fairly early to beat the queues, and decided we couldn't be bothered to follow the tourguides (I was there with a Medieval History student, I didn't need a tourguide!). The Castle is packed with so much history, and it was truly beautiful. There was so much I didn't expect to see, and quite frankly, there was just simply so much to see. I ummed and ahhed about buying myself a tiara in the gift shop, (Princess Hazel has a nice ring to it), and fought my way through all the crowds to see the Scottish Crown Jewels.
As you come out of Edinburgh Castle, you find yourself at the top of the Royal Mile. We decided to wander down the mile, past the millions of shops selling cashmere and tartan, or shortbread, grabbed a Starbucks, and headed back.
Following the delights of Open Mic Night, we headed back to The Black Rose Tavern, only to discover it was Karaoke night. Let me just tell you, all my dreams were made true that night. Firstly, there were some singers with...um.. questionable talent? One guy absolutely killed the classic 'Hungry Eyes' so badly, I still quince when I hear it on the radio. The guy running the show was easily the best singer to grace the microphone, and his sarcasm was on point. However, all this alone wasn't as brilliant as the fight which broke out while we were there. A trio of Chinese tourists came into the bar, absolutely smashed, and over the course of the evening ordered 48 jager-bombs. 48! They were playing a weird drinking game which loosely looked like Rock Paper Scissors, but with a lot more shouting, and about 100x more drinking. One of the girls decided she wanted to sing, and somehow fell out with the guy running it, and slammed his laptop shut. He kicked off and tried to get her removed, and failed, and she picked up a drink and headed over to him and his laptop. I swear to god she was going to pour it over his laptop, and Em and I and this couple behind us all leapt up shouting at her to stop. It was seriously intense. They knocked all their drinks off the table, the girl went running off to the toilets, I had to go and check she hadn't drowned in her own vomit (she didn't), and the karaoke reluctantly resumed. At this point, another of the Chinese girls declared it was her birthday, so the guy running it played happy birthday, but no was singing because everyone was too busy fighting. The guy running it turned the music off, and sarcastically said how it was the most depressing birthday ever, which still cracks me up today!
(Saw this outside a pub, and oh my is it true!)
The morning after the brilliant night before, and it was sadly time to leave Edinburgh. However, there was still one more thing to do, which was to squeeze in getting a tattoo. This has become somewhat of a tradition now, that whenever Em and I travel somewhere, we get inked. There was only one option for me, to get the alchemical symbols for air and water, which represent Florence and the Machine's new album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. I got it on the outside of my wrist, and I completely love it.
(Freshly inked and loving life)
So in conclusion, Edinburgh is incredibly lovely. The people are very friendly, and there's certainly a lot to see and do without breaking the bank. There is a lot of history to explore, and the castle is a must for anyone visiting. If anything, it offers incredible views of the surrounding city as well as hundreds of years worth of history. Definitely check out a few of the bars and pubs, because that's where the memories are really made, and maybe, just maybe, you'll witness a brawl.
That's part one of Em and I's week of travels over, as the following day we headed down to Brighton for Wildlife festival!
Much love ♥
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