Here’s the short answer: Edinburgh was awesome.  Quick and cool.  Fun and fascinating.  A perfect getaway.

Well, okay, the getaway part doesn’t really apply to me – seeing as how I’ve “gotten away” on a regular basis for the better part of this year – but the plan was that I’d make the trip with one of my best friends, Hannah, a new mum of a beautiful baby boy.  At the end of the day, though, there were too many challenges, and I found myself in that familiar role on the road solo.

But I mean, really…there are worse things in life.

In fact, aside from Han having to stay at home, the worse thing about my 3-day venture was that it wasn’t nearly long enough.  For starters, Scotland is striking.  Lush and green hills, vast blue sky and prettily-painted, neatly organized neighborhood homes all lined the streets as I made my way into the city.  I could’ve happily stayed on the outskirts, but there was one thing calling my name: festival season.

In August, the entire city is wrapped up in a month-long series of festivals: the Free Fringe, the Five Pound Fringe, the Art Festival, the Military Tattoo and the Jazz & Blues Festival, just to name a few.  It’s sort of an organized mayhem, with people out in the streets performing their art and pelting passersby with flyers.

We tourists, by the way, are out in droves.  It was all good, though; one of the few times that I absolutely craved the energy that radiated from the huge crowds around me morning, afternoon and night.  I took a walk up to the castle, explored stone staircases radiating from the pedestrian-only Royal Mile (the main drag), walked a lot, met a few new friends, enjoyed breezy breakfasts on Carlton Hill overlooking the city, drank decadent hot chocolates in Hunter Square, feasted on low-key lunch outdoors at the Mosque Kitchen, watched a fire-juggling stuntman ride a high unicycle…

Everywhere I turned there was more sights to see and more scotch to sip.  Again, there are worse things in life.  *smile*

Street Performers

One of my faves - Spray Painter

Juggling Firestarter

How Green It is...