Edinburgh Excursion

A weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland was more than I could have imagined!! We were able to travel on a coach bus full of international students from Coventry University to Edinburgh through a program called "Let's Go!" This program offered us travel and accommodations but let us tour on our own. So glad we found this opportunity!! They will also be having day trips to York and Cardiff that I look forward to attending:)

Below are my favorite memories from the trip. If you ever go to Edinburgh, these are a must!!

1. On the first day we found our way up Calton Hill. The National Monument of Scotland was one of the sites on Calton Hill. We had our fair share of climbing and pictures on this.

2.  Calton Hill was by no means strenuous. The hill was not huge, but the view was incredible!! We went around Sunset, so the lights within the city began to light up and the sky was incredible! None of my pictures do this view justice.

3. On our second day we woke up at the crack of dawn to hike up Arthur's Seat mountain to watch the sun rise. This was by far the most incredible experience I have had in a long time! It was simply breathtaking! But seriously, it was a tough hike so it was actually breathtaking!! The path that we took was very uphill and we were moving very fast in order to make in time for the sunrise. It took us only about a half an hour, but there were many other paths that could have been taken for a more leisure morning. At the top of the mountain you could see the entire city of Edinburgh, the ocean and St. Andrews. Again, my pictures did not do the view justice.

4. After our long hike up and down Arthur's Seat, we made our way to The Elephant House. This gourmet tea and coffee shop has become famous as the place of inspiration to many writers over the years. J.K. Rowling sat and wrote much of her early novels looking out to the Edinburgh Castle similar to this image below. The bathrooms were like a shrine to Harry Potter haha. It was a magical experience being here, but the mocha and pastry was incredible as well!! 

5. After a museum, more sight seeing and a little shopping, we made our way to Princes Street Gardens where we saw this incredible view of the Edinburgh Castle!