Edinburgh

For those of you who don't know, like me before this trip, Edinburgh(pronounced Ed-in-bur-ough), Scotland is a beautiful city home of Edinburgh Castle and where the first Harry Potter books were written! If you haven't figured out by now that I LOVE Harry Potter, then I don't know where you've been :P

Love the architecture!

Arriving in Scotland, I was amazed at all of the incredible brick buildings and architecture. Although I absolutely love all of the Spanish and Italian cities, it was great to be in a different atmosphere filled with both history and greenery! - and lots of hills. After walking up and downs some large flights of stairs (good thing our legs didn't hurt anymore from the Cinque Terre), we were able to start our day with a walking tour of the city! We visited the main sites and learned a lot of the fables that are infamous within the area. Sites included, but are not limited to: City Hall, Edinburgh Cathedral, the podium where big events are still announced today (complete with a unicorn on top), some Harry Potter sites, and some pubs with great stories.

Más arquitectura

School based part of Hogwarts

While in Edinburgh, I learned that it was the inspiration for many well-known stories, including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Maggie Dickson's - inspiration for Nearly Headless Nick, and more that I can't remember. It also was where J.K. Rowling was inspired and wrote her first few books. Harry Potter sites include Grayfriar's graveyard with gravestones that have the names of Tom Riddle Sr. and Jr., Moodie, and McGonagall (many are spelt different); the school and castle that Hogwarts was based on, and the elephant house where J.K. Rowling wrote the books.

Castle based part of Hogwarts

In addition to visiting these places, we also spent the next day exploring the castle and hearing the 1 o'clock cannon fired which is a tradition that had been done for hundreds? of years. Also, you can't leave Scotland without hearing some bagpipes and we were lucky enough to see someone playing them in the street, and we also found many stores that were selling some kilts. All in all, I'd say the trip was a success!!!