Scotland: The End

The trip of a lifetime.

Our whole time in Scotland was like a dream.

Then I got sick, lol.

This meant some shuffling around of activities, but we had a complete blast the last few days out and about in Edinburgh.

We took one beautiful day and did some walking tours.

Our first tour was through a part of the Underground South Bridge Vaults in Edinburgh with Auld Reekie Tours. These vaults date back to 1700. They were used as living quarters, brothels and bars over the years. They were also used for “black magic” and a local coven set up a temple in one of the vaults to banish the negative energy.

These vaults are creepy, that’s for sure.

Outside the vault entrance of the Wiccan Temple

After being creeped out by the most excellent tour guide, we bummed around town a bit before our evening walking tour.

We checked out Holyrood, Arthur’s Seat, Scottish Parliament and of course we had burgers, lol.

Loved all the little “secret streets” off the Royal Mile

One of the quotes on the wall down to the Scottish Parliament

The Heart of Lothian (you spit on this…for real)

Our evening tour was one of the free walking tours held by SANDEMANs. We chose this Dark Side tour to hear more about Edinburgh’s creepy history. Our guide was awesome. He was really funny and gave us multiple opportunities to stop and take pics along the way. The most amazing views were from Calton Hill. Calton Hill is the home of the National Monument and Nelson’s Monument.

The National Monument (also known as the National Shame)

Going down Jacob’s Ladder (they moved coffins up and down these stairs)

Walking Tours are a great way to learn about the city and the guides are great for giving you tips and tricks for food and attractions.

We were lucky enough to be staying close to the Edinburgh Zoo, so our next day was spent with the animals, after some food at the Cocobean Cafe. We were lucky enough to see one of the pandas 🙂

Our last day of running around Edinburgh was spent in town gathering goodies to take home and making sure TeenThing had motion sickness meds, as the plane ride over was not fun for her.

So, before we packed it in, we had to go to The Scotch Whisky Experience! We did the Silver Tour and had a great time. I wish I had gotten a video of TeenThing’s face when she tasted her whisky, lol. The tour ended in the largest whisky collection (3,384 unopened bottles of whisky). It was amazing.

We both chose to taste whiskey from the Speyside region

Our Sunday was spent resting and getting ready to head home to Nova Scotia. We had to be in bed early to get up at 4:00 so we could grab the bus into the Glasgow Airport.

On our way, we talked about “the next time we visit”, and I sure hope we do get over again. I am in love with Scotland!

Thanks for coming along with me on our little adventure.