Scotland

Edinburgh --> Glasgow

Scotland was the longest time with the least amount of sleep, I have done in a while. My flight to Edinburgh left at 6am, so after a 30 minute cab ride and getting to the airport a recommended 2 hours before, by the time I arrived I had already been awake a good 6 hours and it was only 9am (I always forget about time change) ANYWAYS, after only a minor hiccup of forgetting the currency exchange to pounds, I got into the center of Edinburgh around 10am and immediately had a connection to this city. The man working the currency desk was so friendly, it made my mistake worth it because I was welcomed into the country with a good joke and a happy smile.

The weather was very crisp, there was a good sized Christmas market, the cobblestone and houses were what you imagine when you read fairytales. There were hills of buildings and hills of green lush grass. There was a castle on some hills and it was busy, but not crowded. The Scottish accent wasn’t too difficult to understand and it is an English speaking country !!!!!!!!!!!! This was such a nice treat because the past 2 months I had been either butchering Spanish or translating broken English.

I had a little time to kill before Julian and Belle showed up, so I naturally wandered over to the Christmas market. I was greeted with the delicious smells of crepes, a variety of ciders, lots of different meats and breads and a lot of art. It was adorable and had me way too excited for my trip to Germany in 2 short weeks. (Now only 4 days)

Looking for Belle and Julian in a crowd, I was attacked by Julian and heard “the red beanie” from Belle. I truly can’t put into words how grateful I am for these two humans. There is nothing like being snuggled next to your people. Julian has been a best friend since 9th grade and is always a solid friend. He always has new music and always there to pick me up with a shot of espresso from Starbucks; the amount of times I have been woken up by him is uncountable and the stomach aches from laughing so hard from him are irreplaceable. + Belle makes the two of them absolutely hysterical. There humor has no comparison and I cherish every second of it.

Edinburgh is truly a perfect fairytale. We ate at a delicious breakfast place and I had some tea (because did you really go to the UK, if you didn’t get tea?) then trekked up to the hill to overlook the entire city. We wandered the famous Victoria street, went into multiple Harry Potter shops, a few vintage shops, had multiple cups of coffee, and some ice cream.

I think eating ice cream when it is freezing out is one of my favorite things ever.

We had coffee in the cutest shop, Love Crumbs, and it had a little nook where we naturally were drawn too.

We found a pub where a dads rock band was playing and I made a fool of myself in front of the bartender. (What’s new?)

Belle’s friend from University made us a delicious pasta dish and some Bulgarian dessert - not exactly sure what it was, but there was a lot of feta cheese and then chocolate brownies. Naturally we attempted to dye the tips of our hair lilac and like normal - it didn’t work. But we drank cheap champagne and watched Gilmore girls so worth it.

Took a bus to Glasgow the next day, we attempted t try a tea room “on the third floor”. not as cool as it sounds, it was more like American horror story than anything. But pretty good tea and paradise cake? (Jules’s decision) !! Wandered to the botanical garden -- WOW

Then made our way over to Ashton Lane, and we ran into a little Christmas party, Jules found a vintage sweater, and we got more coffee. Then headed over to the main center for another Christmas Market with Sheryl Crow’s daughter and these amazing looking hotdogs. Still upset I didn’t get one. But waited for amazing 5 pound burgers. SO GOOD and free water!!!!! Wow wow wow

The old hairdresser was our pick for a place to chill until their bus back to Edinburgh and my bus to the airport. 5 hours of gossiping, good beer, scrabble and lots of awkward pictures later, we were headed back to our homes. 

It was the perfect 36 hours. (And only 150 euros later). Worth every pound.

----> favorite pictures