Memories from my vacations in Scotland (part 2: spring of 2010)

Part 1 can be found here
Fast forward almost 10 years and we're in spring of 2010. Now this time I did have a digital camera so I have a lot of photos. My friend Olívia and her mother came to Europe so I met up with them in London before taking the train up to Edinburgh.I arrived in London the day before that Icelandic volcano erupted and luckily we had gotten train tickets in advance.
We spent four days in Edinburgh. Staying at The George Hotel on George Street. A wonderful hotel with a very, very friendly staff. The restaurant where you have breakfast was also very nice with very nice staff. The waitress who got embarrassed when I asked if the tip was included or not and said yes please, and got even more embarrassed, when I asked if she wanted wanted some since it wasn't, was very cute too. Next time I'm going to Scotland I will be staying at that hotel for sure.

A trip to Edinburgh is not complete without a visit to Cockburn Street and it's small shops. You can find Cockburn Street near Waverley Railway Station serpenting it's way up the hill to The Royal Mile near the North Bridge. I had to take this photo of the street sign because although it's not pronounced like people think it does ('ck' is silent and the 'o' is more like an 'oh'), when you read it the first time it sounds like something you will get from having unprotected sex with a questionable person.

There are many small museums you can visit. The Museum of Childhood Musem of Childhood on The Royal Mile is one of them. It's ok. If you like old toys and dolls you definitely should go! The only other museum that I've been to in Edinburgh is the National War Museum of Scotland. It's located inside Edinburgh Castle and is very interesting indeed.

Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe is a store on The Royal Mile that is a must if you like anything about Christmas decorations. Personally I'm not a big fan of decorations but I did buy some as gifts. It's nice to see that a store like that can survive though. Open almost all year around too if I'm not mistaken.

Again I had some bad luck with Palace of Holyroodhouse. When we finally made our way down there it was closed for the day. I did get to see what the Scottish parliament building looks like after it was finished though. So not a complete waste of time. Also I got to take this nice photo of my friend in front of a gate.

The next day we took a bus tour with Scotline Tours up to the Highlands and Loch Ness. It was a very nice tour and the guide (Sir Peter) was very good. First stop on the way was in Callander. There we got to meet Hamish the Hairy Coo. It's not the first time I've seen highland cattle, but I'm sure a lot of tourists are fascinated by the cow with long hair. Before we got there though we passed Doune Castle very briefly. I wasn't able to take any good photo of it. For those who don't know, Doune Castle is the castle used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's almost every castle in the whole movie. Next time I go to Scotland I will try to go there to see it up close.

One of these peaks is Ben Nevis. I can't say which one because I don't remember which one was pointed out to me. Also the clouds makes it hard to see which one is the highest. However this photo was taken at the second world war memorial. I did take a photo of that too, but I can't post too many photos or else this blog post will never end.

When we had arrived at Loch Ness we got off the bus for a while at Urquhart Castle. After having an hour or so to walk around and take photos we got on the boat Jacobite Queen and went all the way up to Inverness. The photo was taken through the window of the Jacobite Queen.

Edinburgh Castle was our destination the next day. I think we looked at everything they had in there. Seeing the crown jewels are totally worth the entrance fee. Again I can't post all the photos I took there so I decided to pick one from outside the entrance.

Last day in Scotland we started off with a trip to Stirling to see the castle there. It's a very, very nice town and I wouldn't mind living there. On our way up to the top of the hill I saw this sign and thought how great it would be to have that law in Sweden as well. I really hate walking around like if I'm walking in a mine field. Especially at night when you can't really see if there's anything other than the street where you put your feet.

Anyhow, we had a pleasant morning walking around in the castle learning a lot about the history of it and from up there we got a faraway look at the Wallace Monument through the mist. After we had seen everything we could at the castle went down the hill again and found a nice little pub where we had lunch.

In the afternoon, after we got back to Edinburgh, we went for a walk in Princes Street Gardens. It was a lovely spring day with lots of people around and I doubt anyone would actually try to bathe in that fountain. Although I guess they have that sign there for a reason.