A Weekend in Scotland

This last weekend, I traveled with my group to Edinburgh, Scotland. I’m not sure I really had a preconceived idea of Scotland; I guess I didn’t think it was all that different from England at first. However, the difference between London and Edinburgh was very noticeable to me. Edinburgh has less of a busy city vibe to it, and almost reminded me of Canterbury a little bit. I absolutely loved exploring the Royal Mile and all the shops and culture here, as well as getting to hear bagpipes on the street corners.

On Friday night, some friends and I went on an underground ghost tour of the city. The ghost tour was a really unique opportunity to get to see beneath the city in the vaults, and learn a lot of rich history that I never would have suspected otherwise. The city felt like it had a lot of stories to tell, and I’d be interested to come back another time in life and hear more of them.

My personal favorite experience while in Scotland was the Highlands bus tour. The views, even just out the window, were breathtaking and truly something I’d never seen before in Virginia or any other place in the UK so far. It was a wonderful break from the busy city, although I love London, a new pace is always refreshing. The tour made me think about booking some other bus tours during weekend travel, even though I am prone to motion sickness, it is a really efficient way to see a lot of the highlights of a big place all at once. It was a tiring day, but probably my favorite so far! On Sunday, we toured Edinburgh castle. I enjoyed the history of the castle as well, and getting to see another set of Crown Jewels! One of the best parts of my trip was probably getting to hold a real owl on the streets of Scotland. I feel like that’s just stuff that doesn’t happen everyday! Overall, Scotland feels very magical to me and I am very grateful for the opportunity to all come together and get to have all of these experiences as a group with my peers.