Edinburgh, Scotland

They actually bagpipe here.

This weekend I graced the town of Edinburgh, Scotland with my presence. I was happy to go but I wasn’t expecting much. Although I had been there before, I didn’t remember too much of it, but how different could the country be from Ireland? The climates of both countries are relatively the same, both of them have history of hating the English, and both love to drink. Well, although these things are true, Edinburgh is nothing like any Irish town I have seen and my experience this time was much richer than my visit when I was 13. It was awesome.

The front of Edinburgh Castle.

Edinburgh has a reputation of being a notorious party town. There is a TV show I sometimes watch here that is like the American version of Cops except the police on the show only deal with drunken partiers instead of actual criminals and Edinburgh is always a main location for finding these drunken idiots. Well, this weekend I put the city’s reputation to the test and although I was lucky enough to not encounter police or cameras, I can tell why they come there to get footage.
Three of us stayed with a friend of one of us at his apartment with his English and Scottish roommates. They were incredibly accommodating and fun to drink with. They took us to the coolest bars and showed us the town as they knew it. Scotland is known for its beer. There is a ton of variety and it is a haven for local micro brews. Most beers are known as bitters and are served warm and uncarbonated. The casks are stored in cellars and the bartender pulls a lever pumping it up rather than just flipping a tap. The first time I saw it was at a bar our friends took us to called Catley’s that has 30 Scottish beers on a rotation and it blew my mind that people served beer in this fashion. The process of pulling beers is done all through the town though and I rarely ever had the same beer twice.



The castle from below. I'm guessing the people living in it hundreds of years ago felt like badasses.

The other St. Giles...


The actual layout of the town is probably the most interesting I have ever seen. Millions of years ago there was a volcano there that produced huge rock formations. Then when the last ice age hit 10,000 years ago, glaciers came through and cleared the rock out. One part of the rock was so hard though that the glacier split and went around the crag. This left a huge rock in a ravine with sloping debris trailing past. This formation is called crag and tail and created a perfect defence position which people have been living on for centuries and now hosts the town’s center. The tail of the formation is now a charming street called the Royal Mile with shops, pubs, and landmarks in the Gothic architecture style. (One of the attractions is known as St. Giles Cathedral. Protestant name stealing bastards.) At the top of the street is the imposing and stunning Edinburgh Castle that houses the Scottish Royal Jewels and museums highlighting Scotland’s past. More hot spots and areas of interest are located in the ravine and the surrounding hills so the whole town is linked with bridges and steps and getting lost is an easy thing to do.
The people of Edinburgh were fantastic too. Wherever I went red headed Scots greeted me warmly and talked and talked. They are a very proud people (some of whom still where kilts) and love to talk about Scotland. Their dialect is clear and calming and fun to listen to, just don't make the mistake of calling them English; they are Scottish and don't mind telling you! In all, the trip was a blast and the city’s charm and the kindness of its people left a great impression on me. I hope to see it again someday.

The cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter novel on a napkin. I'm a big fan.