Edinburgh, Scotland

"Fair and full is your honest, jolly face,

Great chieftain of the sausage race!

Above them all you take your place,

Stomach, tripe, or intestines:

Well are you worthy of a grace

As long as my arm"

- Address to a Haggis, by Robert Burns.

That, my friends, is just a small section of "Address to a Haggis" written by Scottish writer Robert Burns in 1786.  This man loved haggis so much that he decided to show his appreciation through poetry.  Scotland is full of old stories and proud culture just like this one here.  Oh- and if you're not sure what "haggis" is, well, just google it.  We ate it twice while in Scotland, and both times we were pleasantly surprised.  Though I can't say I'll be professing my love through poetry like Robert Burns.  I did take a few photos:

The Haggis is what you see on the top layer.  Very tasty.

Haggis aside, Edinburgh is a magical city to explore.  Old and beautiful and full of gorey history.  We spent almost four days in the city and spent another three travelling the Highlands (which I am saving for another post.  Too many photos to share in just one!).  Though I found it cold, dark and dreary (typical fall/winter weather.  All the old grey stone doesn't add much colour either), I think it sort of adds to the character of the city.  I feel that if Scotland were a person, they'd have some pretty thick skin.  But at the same time they'd obviously know how to kick back, relax, and have a "wee dram" of Scottish whiskey.  The people of Scotland have endured a long, hard fight for independence, always staying strong and proud for their country.  Though the Scots know when to be serious, they also have a sense of humour- there are stories about almost everything!  During our stay here we were told many tales of people who lived or passed through Edinburgh.  Not only does the history make this city very interesting, but the old beauty of the city was a highlight for us.  With an impressive castle built up on a cliff in the centre of the city, and streets of varying levels because of the escarpment throughout the city, Edinburgh made for so many great photo opportunities.

Typical alleyway down between the tall buildings.

The Royal Mile.  If you keep walking uphill you will reach the castle.

Above is the writer's museum.  Robert Burns is featured here!  My favourite part of this museum was the building itself.  This is an old house of a wealthy family.  They have the original plans and photos of what the house looked like throughout the years and they've done an amazing job at preserving it.

The Edinburgh Castle.

This builing was used as an inspiration for Hogwart's in Harry Potter.  

View from standing in front of the castle.  You can see Arthur's seat in the distance.

Notice the kilt!  We saw a decent amount of men dressed in kilt's during our stay here.

Walking through Greyfriars Kirkyard.

You are looking at the back side of the cafe where J.K. Rowling spent many days sitting with a cup of tea, writing Harry Potter.

The cafe looked over Greyfriars.  J.K. Rowling used many names found in the graveyard for her Harry Potter characters.

Including Thomas Riddle!

This small pup is named Bobby.  Bobby's owner was the nightwatcher at the graveyard.  When his owner died, Bobby would return day after day to his owner's graveyard.  The people of Edinburgh loved Bobby so much that he was granted citizenship in Edinburgh (only citizens were allowed in the graveyard).  This means that Bobby had the right to vote even before women!  There is a pub dedicated to Bobby in the background of this photo.

We took a walk along the river to the port town of Leith.

This is Leith. Don't be deceived by the pretty picture... there's really not a whole lot to see here.  

Beautiful Edinburgh.

Climbing Arthur's Seat.

The Grass Market.  This was once a bustling market place and place of execution.  Here's where you'll find loads of gorey story's of local criminals.  

The Last Drop is where you'd go for your final drink before being hung just outside in the Grass 

Market.

We ended our time in Edinburgh with a coffee at the Elephant House cafe, where J.K. Rowling sat and wrote Harry Potter!  Here we are with some Australian friends we met while travelling the Highlands.