Edinburgh, Scotland.

Edinburgh (pronounced ed-en-bruh; so loved saying the name, obviously) was my first time in Scotland, and the first new country I visited in Europe, which has long taken the place of Mexico as most-visited outside of the U.S. and my new love affair, in 2018. Mexico is a country, and Europe is a continent, but you know what I’m saying – I go there a lot.

Edinburgh is a very historical city. The architecture looks exactly like you would picture when you think of Scotland: castles and motes, grass fields, dungeons and dragons, the Loch Ness monster, kilts, bagpipes, cobblestone roads. I felt like I’d walked onto the set of a movie set in the medieval times, and it was amazing. I never thought myself to be into that kind of thing, but it’s a different experience while it’s right there in front of you. We walked the Royal Mile, also called Old Town, that features significant landmarks and leads up to the Edinburgh Castle with a royal view. Along the way are the obligatory street performers, souvenir shops, and protesters dressed in fox costumes (we came at an interesting time). We brunched with a beautiful view of A castle, but not THE castle. We rode about 45 minutes outside of Edinburgh to do the Glenkinchie scotch whiskey distillery tour, because you cannot be in Scotland and not have scotch whiskey! (Though, I actually didn’t taste due to my fast, but I still got to see how it’s made. Whiskey is nasty anyway; I don’t regret it. *hater voice*) We hiked Arthur’s Seat, which is a long-dormant volcano, and took in some amazing views of the city. If I were to return, the only thing I’d have to do is see the Loch Ness monster. Apparently, there’s been a long wait for this.

All photos taken with Nikon D5100.