Scotland

I have just returned from a week in the lovely land of the Scots!

I flew to Manchester last Monday and took a 3.5 hour train ride through the northern English countryside with some glimpses of the lake region. I arrived just as the sun was setting, and it is difficult to say simply, but I think Edinburgh is probably the single prettiest city I have ever been to. Stepping up and out of the Waverley Train station, you face the sunken Princes Gardens directly across the road, a lush valley of a pocket park dividing the medieval Old Town and the grandly planned (like 1765 okay) New Town. Standing up at the far left end of the Princes Gardens is Edinburgh Castle, the peak of Old Town sitting on an extinct volcano. Looking onto the park from the right side is the metropolitan Princes Street of New Town, with an incredibly beautiful and tall gothic memorial to Sir Walter Scott - a tower-like thing so elaborate it looks like an entire cathedral has sunken into the ground with only its tallest peak left standing. Surrounding you are the classic black cabs, double decker buses, a handful of other historic structures I can't quite remember and in the distance are the snow topped Scottish Highlands.

So ended my first minute in the city.

We then walked up hills and hills (coming from Denmark, this was a treat) to Brendan's flat in Old Town where we were welcomed by warm roommates and a delicious mince meat pie dinner. High ceilings, cheery English art students and a best friend from home are certainly a better welcome than a stinky hostel.

We saw quite a bit over the next few days. I was quite lucky to get a week of sun - although mostly the semi-clouded Scottish kind - and we took full advantage of it. On Tuesday we climbed Arthur's seat for a lovely picnic at the top. We took the "Radical Road" route (seriously) up, which I highly recommended - except perhaps if you have small children. It gives you a breathtaking view of the city and a decent workout.

Photos will mostly be courtesy of Brendan because an entire roll of film snapped in the diana when I was rewinding it on the bus back to Edinburgh... but I still have photos to be developed from a half Copenhagen/half Scotland roll. Fingers crossed! My patience has been running thin lately with the toy camera, but with the dSLR still broken I have little choice.

On Wednesday I also headed up to Aberdeen to visited Becca for a few days. Among other things, I saw and heard seals by the sea, learned to say "hiya" and what "mingin" means, drove over the Forth Bridge and felt truly Scottish eating haggis after coming home from the bar.

More photos soon, but for now it is really nice to be back in Copenhagen.