Scotland, Bitches!

In my last post, I talked about our travels to Finland, why we went, what we saw, and about how it can snow over three feet in under 24 hours without warning... Closing down all major highways, and... Canceling our flight to return home to Germany. 

In the end, it was a happy detour as they decided to reroute us to Edinburgh, Scotland for a whole 8 hours!! You know, I never even thought about Scotland as a travel destination, but now that I got to go there for a small part of the day, it was completely and utterly worth it! And now, we WANT to get our butts back there one day! 

We arrived in Edinburgh sometime in the morning time (I do not remember specifics...), tried to find some plug ins for our phones... with minimal luck. I don't remember where we even found a plug in for my phone! I know we had to have found one, because I took tons of iPhone photos! 

We had lots of bags, so we needed to figure out how we could like, not carry them around the whole town of Edinburgh, we had a lot of ground to cover in the mere 8 hours we had available! We found the baggage babysitters, and they were so nice, speaking English (you know that's what they speak over there in Scotland, right). Well, I thought I would be able to understand them, I was sorely mistaken! lol. Husband had to do some "translating" for me, I felt like an ass, but I just couldn't decipher their accent!

It did cost an exuberant amount of money for them to babysit one bag, so we opted for them to just watch our biggest bag, and we would drag our carry-ons all around Edinburgh.

We quickly found that Scottish people are so darn nice!! Everywhere we went that day people were exuding kindness! It was a welcomed feeling! 

We then figured out that they had a bus that took you to the main downtown area, and would pick you up whenever you were ready to get back to the airport! Score! We quickly bought tickets, and headed out on a lovely and unexpected adventure!

One of the first things I noticed was the fact that cars were driving on the OTHER side of the road! What?! It felt soooo backwards! I couldn't imagine renting a car there, and actually driving... I would die, for sure. 

The bus we were riding looked similar to that on the left there. Husband and I picked a seat in the front on the top portion of the bus, I figured it would be the best place to take photos and see things you wouldn't normally see from the bottom!! I started snapping photos of everything... And I totally mean everything.

I took so many photos of their houses, I am sure the couple next to us thought I was bonkers because I was "oohing and ahhhing" the whole time!! I was just enthralled!

There were a ton of churches and excellently crafted buildings to take photos of. I think I got more photos here than I did in Finland. It was really a gorgeous day to be out and about in Scotland! It wasn't raining! And I am sure that is something that happens frequently in the UK area! lol. 

One of our very first duties was to find the Starbucks so that I could get my Edinburgh Starbucks mug!! I love collecting these things! It also feels like it gives purpose to a random adventure! The photo on the right there is the view out of the Starbucks window! I was speechless!

A lot of Scotland to me is kind of a blur. We were pretty tired from traveling, and well... We just walked around a bunch because we had not planned this at all. Internet was also very hard to come by! So we just walked. 

The money in Scotland (pounds) really feels substantial. As it should, because it's worth A LOT more than US Dollars are... lol. It was beautiful in it's own right, and I was happy to be holding their unique money in my hands. 

I often think about how lucky I am to be able to travel, and about how many people feel like they cannot afford it. I just think that their priorities are kind of mixed up. I think EVERYONE should travel. It will bring new meaning to your life, new experiences, and appreciation. It will definitely make you a better person, inside and out.

There was so much architecture to see here. It was overwhelming. You could feel the oldness of the city deep inside you. And humbled I was. 

I think this was one of my favorite things to see. The grass was so green, it was like the center of the city, much like (I assume, as I have never been there) Central Park of New York. It felt complete. Behind us was an art museum which we went to because it was free, and we were getting low on funds. We were thankful to have packed some sandwiches with us from Finland, so that we didn't have to spend tons and tons of money on food.  

This was one of the last sights we saw on the way out of Scotland. We were on the bus again, exhausted and heading back to the airport. It was a very eventful day. Our feet were tired, our bodies, and minds as well. 

It was an amazing experience that we happened upon and I would do it again in a heart beat! Though, I wish I had some warning, as I would have done a ton of research so that we knew what to see and do in Edinburgh.

I totally recommend going, if you ever get a chance. Husband and I definitely would like to go back if we can. If only for the ghost tours that they had underground! We didn't get to go on those because they were in the evening time, and we had to get back to the airport. But we would totally do them! 

Now that I have traveled to different countries, towns, and continents... I think everyone should. You don't know it, and you don't feel it, but your life just isn't complete without it. 

I guarantee that.