Edinburgh – The Gothic City

November 3, 2019

Scotland has been on our minds ever since we met. My times living in London had me travelling only to Brighton and one weekend spent in Wales. But nothing prepared us for the amazing sights of Scotland. Today I shall begin with Edinburgh – the Gothic city.

We booked a flight in June from Timisoara to Doncaster and initially we were settled on just seeing the North coastal shore. But Edinburgh seemed so close, so plans changed. And oh, how wonderfully they did.

Edinburgh is better enjoyed in bleak weather. Bleak, rainy and murky. It’s full of magic, a magic best enjoyed if you have a bit of a dark soul in you: feel all the witches around, Harry Potter universe everywhere, get transported back to the Victorian Ages. Old cemeteries can be enjoyed and stumbled upon all through the old town.

Scots have a saying: “If you don’t like the weather here, wait 20 minutes.” You will go through, in just one day, and experience extreme sunshine, drizzle, extreme winds, foul rain and back to clear skies again. You might even see a rainbow or two. I had the worst hair days ever, completely useless getting up and deciding to maybe have a good hair day. Expect extreme winds and temperatures in the Summer that never surpass 23°C. I was giddy, but we were so tired after every day facing extreme weather. I lived in my parka jacket, all my three over sized sweaters, my boots and jeans. After 8 days I was tired. Wonderfully tired.

Here’s what you should know and see in Edinburgh:

The Elephant House is always full and booked. All you Harry Potter fans be prepared. I’m not a fan but every time we came close to it, because it was on our route, it was full of people.
Edinburgh Castle is built on a volcano rock, an extinct volcano, which is estimated to have risen about 350 million years ago.
The city encourages people to not use their cars so much, so the traffic is light (except for a few rush hours), sometimes so scarce we were amazed.
The night life is somehow non existent. Compared to London, the pub life is completely different.
The extreme weather has a restrict fashionable effect on all people (and it will have on you too): warm sporty winter jackets and winter boots are the norm. Only the courageous can see a sunny day and decide to wear shorts.
Dean Village is a delightful place. No wonder it’s so Instagramable. It’s a residential area, so don’t expect any cute cafés or local shops to shop in.
Victoria Street is not so crowded. Tourists prefer Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle more. Camera Obscura even more.
Portobello Beach is so clean and wonderful. Quite far away from the city center and old town.
Arthur’s Seat is an unlivable hill, can be quite a walk going up (there are taxis as well) but the view from the old Observatory on Calton Hill is a must.
All roads lead to Princess Street and Jenners, the oldest independet department store, founded in 1838.

More in my photos below. I hope this quick guide might be useful to everyone deciding to see this magical, wonderful city.

As always,

I was wearing: Parka Jacket // thrifted, Oversized Sweater // H&M, Jeans // Reserved, Boots // Zaful, Bag // Nine West, Beanie // Superdry, Pom-Pom // H&M.