A Wee Bit o' Edinburgh, Scotland

Brian and I ventured north this past weekend to visit Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was about a 7 1/2 - 8 hour car ride, but the scenic vistas along the way made the drive seem a lot shorter. Seeing as how Brian and I both grew up and have always lived in a place with little to no elevation, we are always amazed to see mountains and giant hills!

We arrived in Scotland on Friday around lunchtime and headed straight to Edinburgh Castle, which seemed more like a giant fort complex. It's always amazing to us to see such history in these places - you can even see the room where Mary Queen of Scots delivered the baby who would become the first King to rule over Scotland and England. The day was really rainy and cold though so after venturing around the city for a little bit after the castle, we sought cover in a restaurant where Brian tried traditional Scottish haggis, which is basically the intestines of a sheep...

On Saturday, we got up early and headed back near the castle to explore the Royal Mile that runs through town. It's supposed to be a good part of town for Scottish culture and shopping, but overall we were pretty disappointed. There were just so many cheesy Scottish souvenir shops, and once you've seen one or two, you've seen them all! We skipped the shopping and focused more on the cultural side of Edinburgh, which included visits to the Musem of Childhood where you got to see toys dating back more than 100 years and a visit to the Holyrood Palace which is the official residence of Her Majesty the Queen when she visits Scotland each year.

Probably our favorite stop though was to the Scottish Whisky Experience. You actually got 'into' a whisky barrel and traveled through the journey of making whisky (very similar to Finding Nemo or other rides like that at Disney, except with alcohol)! We then did a whisky tasting where we decided neither of us is really fond of the substance. The tour ended up with a HUGE collection of rare whisky bottles. Definitely a must-see for anyone visiting Edinburgh!

On the way home, we stayed off the main highway and took the more scenic backroads through Scotland back to England. More on that adventure to come soon... In the meantime, click here to see pictures from our trip to the city of Edinburgh.