Since I knew I was going abroad, I knew I wanted to visit Edinburgh. It’s where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, and I’d just heard so many good things, namely that it was like a more quaint, less crowded London. I know some people may scoff at that comparison, but that was what I had heard.
One of my friends in Spain and I decided to meet up with one of her friends studying abroad in London for a final trip after the end of finals. When the time came for the trip, I was actually dreading it a bit because I was just exhausted. I know it sounds really spoiled to complain about “too much world travel,” but packing and unpacking, going through security, hauling luggage on the Metro every other weekend takes a physical and mental toll. There’s a reason why most societies these days aren’t nomadic. It’s because it’s a rough life.
Edinburgh in the background
As soon as we landed though, I was pretty happy with my decision to go. It was Ireland’s greenness mixed with the posh cobblestoned streets and architecture of London. I was in love with the aesthetic. Even the restaurant we ate at was quaint. It was called Under the Stairs and had the look of a hobbit’s den with wood furnishing and mason jars of candles on the tables. Our roommate we discovered before bed was a 30-year Canadian named Joe who had already alienated us as roommates by stinking up the bathroom before we got there.
Our first full day there we visited Edinburgh Castle, which sits up on craggy rock over the city like a real-life Hogwarts. Before that though, we had eaten breakfast at the Elephant Café, which just so happens to be the café where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter. As a huge Potter fan, I had goosebumps the entire time. It was kind of like visiting Chapel Hill where Sarah Dessen lives or sitting on the bench from The Fault in Our Stars. It was pure inspiration for a writer like me.
The café where Harry Potter was born!!!
At the castle, which is pretty expensive at a full 20-some pounds, we saw the changing of the guards, a memorial to fallen Scottish soldiers in both World Wars, the crown jewels, and the old lavish dining room. It was all beautiful and just too old to even wrap my head around, especially the view of Arthur’s Seat, which is a small mountain/large hill on the outskirts of town.
Our second day was a tour of the Highlands, which I had been looking forward to the most. However, it was one of my biggest travel disappointments of this semester. It had nothing to do with the Highlands themselves but rather with the tour. We were in the car almost the entire time, and it felt like the places they did stop were arbitrary. They dropped us at Loch Lomond for 30 minutes with no explanation of the lake or its significance. Then it was another several hours of driving before we stopped for 10 minutes at a random church. I’m all for wandering, but the tour felt aimless and just too much time in the car for what we paid. One plus was the small fishing town of Oban that populated entirely with what seemed like octogenarian tourists.
The highlands in all their rugged glory
It didn’t help that the tour was filled with some 40-year old man-children on a break from a business trip in their Polos and khakis who seemed to think everything they said was hilarious.
Luckily the next day was better when we ventured to Glasgow. Before coming to Scotland, I hadn’t realized that Glasgow is known for its art and architecture especially Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Apparently, he is the Frank Lloyd Wright of Scotland.
While there was ate the Willow teahouse where I had scones with jam and clotted cream, which I now realize is the holy grail of spreads. We also stopped by the famous art school and St. Mungo’s Cathedral, which did the impossible in standing out from all of the other nearly 30 cathedrals I’ve seen this semester. There was something about the cathedral that just felt darker, more Harry Potter/Game of Thrones than the rest.
Rosehip tea and scones with jam and clotted cream
For our last night in Edinburgh after we returned from Glasgow, we ate another heavy meat and potatoes meal and finished it off with a pint of cider at a pub near our hostel. And just like that, I was done with my last side trip of my semester abroad.