The Edinburgh Trip & The 20th Vlog

Finally the Edinburgh vlog is out. This had so many un-expected editing challenges. However, we finished it finally...

Into An Another World of History & Castles

It isn't the summer that we have seen in India. Here, If the sun stays for at least 3-4 days, it's a good summer of the year. And to be frank, I don't dislike that.

Trip to Scotland was a quick planned trip. Ani wanted to visit Glasgow & Edinburgh on a weekend and we thought of getting that item checked. 

Typical English breakfast. Ani dont like this much, but I like

Ikey enjoys the train rides. The best part - the large glass windows.
Awesome view of Scotland all through the journey.

Edinburgh Waverley Station. This place was crowded when we reached.
But we felt that we were in a different world. Like in the Harry Potter world. 

The busy Edinburgh station. Right outside this place awaits the wonders of Edinburgh.

AirBnB is the first sought of stay now a days for us. It's easy, cheap, trustable and you can get a very good deal even at the last moment. Hotel prices go up like crazy if it's not planned much in advance. And majority of the time, trips aren't planned in advance :)

When we planned the trip to Glasgow, proximity to the city centre was the first priority. And we got a very good stay with God's grace. 

We loved the stay at this home.

Ikey played his favorite hide and seek behind this long curtains.

At the same time, he enjoyed peaceful times too...

It was an old tenement converted to a house by the host. She is an architecture student and I could really see her skill in the way she designed the house. It's simple, minimalistic and all white :)

Ani always laughs at me when I say that the our new house theme has to be white. She likes white, but the way I describe it, might be the reason which makes her laugh. Can't blame :)

This house was a perfect example of what I always dreamt of. When you get something that you love, you will enjoy it to the best. That's what we did for four days. While I was photographing the every nook and corner of the house for the future reference, Ani was relaxing and Ikey was busy exploring the place. 

Just began walking around the Edinburgh streets. You will never get bored.

Architectural elegance, preserved buildings, castles...

The Saturday wasn't that promising as we thought. It rained all day. It's Scotland and that's the way it is. Accepted the fact and set out to explore Glasgow. 

After spending majority of the time in St. Enoch mall and exploring the City Centre shopping street, we called it a day. Walked around 5-6 kilometres. A good exercise and fun together. 

Walking towards the Royal Mile & the Castle. It is a steep climb. Ani didnt enjoy that much :)

Finally at the Royal Mile. Ikey was asleep and we covered him to protect from the freezing wind.

Infront on the Edinburgh Castle. Wow!

This is where the Harry Potter story was born. J.K Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter story at this place.

In=Front of the Greyfriars Bobby statue.

Walking around the National Library to get back to the Royal Mile.

Queens Gallery and Holyroodhouse Palace

Holyroodhouse Palace from a distance. This is the queens official residence in Scotland.

This is back to the past for me. Last year I had a yummy hog roast from here. But this time, I was hindered by Ani. 

A secret park in the center of the city. I accidentally discovered this hidden gem.

That's Ani :) She got into the pull over when the wind became too freezing.

Colorful red doors exist a lot at Edinburgh.
Instagram shot - is what it comes to mind whenever I see one of these.

There are some good artifacts here to enjoy.
Our visit to this place was a very short one. Ikey didnt like this place m

These steps takes us to the Royal Mile. Ikey was in the stroller and I carried him #
with the stroller up this place :)
Didnt want to miss the view and experience.

What about one more trip to Edinburgh? YESSSSSSSSSS...

The Best Hog Roast In The Town - Oink, Edinburgh

This little shop is on the Royal Mile. The sweet smell of the roast literally filled the nearby atmosphere. When spotted the shop, the very first sight that welcomed me was a full hog roasted and displayed near to the glass window. Just couldn't resist. 

Wanted to taste the roast anyway. Only question was the size. Finally picked up their Classic Hog Roast. He picked up a bun, tore it open and filled the pulled hog roast into it.

So what was in there? Yummly hog roast, served in a white roll with apple sauce and haggis.

Wanted to eat it slowly, enjoying each and every bite. But that wasn't the way it happened. Am a fast eater. When the food get tastier, it accelerates by 50%. The roll got over in no-time. 

Pretty sure that this shop is ultra famous around the place.

The Fringe Festival - The Art Lover's Heaven

August - time for the famous Fringe Festival. First time when I heard this, I didn't have any clue about it as usual. Then went on searching to find about the same.

What is this all about?

• Largest art festival in the world
• Talented artists from the big names to the unknowns
• Which includes theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, circus, cabaret, children's shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken word, exhibitions and events.
• 300+ venues, 50,000+ performances from 3000+ shows - that's huge.

I thing the art lover will stay around this place for the entire month for sure. It is a heaven for them.

Frankly speaking, I don't know anything about art, but I certainly enjoyed the whole place filled with people and performances. For me everything was entertainment. So my formula, art = entertainment! That make sense now. 

Every nook and corner of Edinburgh had something related to the festival. Free entry to various venues, flee markets, art collections, discounted dining at the restaurants and drinks - lot of options to explore and to enjoy during the festival.

I am not sure whether you have experienced the pain in the eyes in a hurry to grasp every view around you on a travel. It happened to me. I didn't want to miss out anything around me during the whole walk and it gave really tough time for my eyes.

Time For An Evening Snack

The museum visit took sometime that the evening demanded a snack and made me stroll to the in-house coffee shop for a quick grab. A biscuit, yummy jam and latte made my moment.

As I mentioned before, you have more restaurants here than people all around. It is the time when you spend the joyful moments with your dear ones being yourself with freedom and acceptance.

For me, meeting friends over a coffee or food is something that I never want to miss. That would be one thing that I always enjoy while being with the close ones. There is immense fun to sip a coffee or tea and to discuss about everything under the sky. 

Those moments made the tea and coffee an inevitable part of my daily life. I really crave for a coffee in the evening :)

Things To Know About The Central Library

Library isn't the place that I like to visit at all. However, I thought of paying a visit as there was a Photography Exhibition going on and it was *free* :) 

This is one marvelous heaven of book and literature. Attain a membership and enjoy the wide collection of world famous books everyday.

Spent sometime around the photography exhibition and returned to the path of discovery.

Quick facts about the library:

• Opened in 1890 and the first library building in the city
• 500,000 book loans annually issued by the library
• Library has the card indices to track and find the books 
• Utilized the day light to the most through its architectural design

More Pictures Along The Royal Mile

This post is a continuation of the Royal Mile walk post, which you can read by clicking this link. I have around 234 pictures taken on the one day trip to Edinburgh. So thought of sharing some more.

Music again. This gives life to the streets and the surroundings. A bagpiper sharing is talent with the rest of the world. This musician has the skill. I enjoyed it for sometime. In-fact Scottish music is something I enjoyed from television. So enjoying it live was a precious moment for me for sure.

People likes the food, drinks, the varieties - there are more restaurants in the city than the people. And all are different and adds their own flavor to what they offer.

The City Sightseeing red bus that you can see in almost all the cities in UK. I took the ride one day. My main aim was to take some videos from the open roof of the bus. And it was wonderful. Pay 13 pounds and hop on and off the bus at the designated stops. A very good way to enjoy the town in an organized manner.

The Scottish attire. The traditional Scottish uniform or formal. You can see this as a primary outfit for any events in Scotland.

More street performers. I always try to stop and watch (pay some money at times) to encourage this people. They are doing it to earn some bucks or at least a recognition. We can give both right? Just give it then.

The Famous Royal Military Tattoo Event

When my colleague first asked me whether I am interested to go for the Military Tattoo, I told him that I am not interesting in getting a Tattoo. After realizing that it was one of the several funny ignorant moments in life, I took it in a stride and studied about it. When the Edinburgh trip came along, I read little bit more about it to get more understanding.

The Military Tattoo is a yearly event that is performed by the royal military. And I wondered how come they call this moment with a word Tattoo and it was interesting to know how it was derived. For me, it was kind of a  royal level of piping championship. Band of the powerful ones.

Close to 3 laksh spectators in and around UK, fire works, the castle premises - the experience is certainly at a different level. 

And the best part is that the event location is the Castle entrance. Temporary stands on the either sides enables the visitors to enjoy the dazzling beauty of the parade with a view.

And the event really got a military strictness in its execution. Heard that not even once the schedule had a shift due to any reasons. The week before my visit, during the parade it rained and still the show went on and everyone sit and watched. That's the craziness the people have towards this event. Amazing.

Things To Know About The Royal Mile

Walking up the road towards the castle, you will end up at the junction which merges with the Royal Mile road. Royal Mile is the vein of Edinburgh old villages. You walk through the path and can witness the historical sweetness of Edinburgh. And trust me, I had a tough time to navigate through bustling crowds on the way. Most crowded location in Edinburgh for sure.

The path is precisely a mile in distance and connects the Edinburgh Castle and HolyRood palace. So as you can think, a mile becomes royal mile when it is constantly used by the royal family. Like anything else :)

When you walk along the path you can see connected tenements along the line. And narrow passages that runs to both the directions which was so interesting to watch. Like secret passages and without a map, you are lost for sure. The paths are paved with smooth stones and everything around radiated a royal touch and feel. 

Adding more colors to the place, apart from the usual structures the place was filled with performers and high volume of shopping events as a part of the Fringe Festival.

Lot of street performers as a part of the festival made people to take a moment to gaze at them. This act specially should be pretty tiring. They were still for hours. Appreciated.

There is no Scotland without music. And it is not just music. It is always the perfect one. I really wonder why these people are not coming on to the main stream yet. Highly skilled in what they do. I listened to them for almost 10 minutes. Their fingers created magical waves of sound which trembled the old rustic walls and added more taste to its existence.

I have mentioned about the architectural elegance about this place couple of times. Doesn't matter whether a house is big or small, all are treated with the same perfection for the look and feel. Beautiful homes near to the royal palace.

The above picture is not an entrance to the Harry Potter style school. It is a restaurant located on the right side of the Royal Mile when you walk towards the HolyRood palace, just out from the castle entrance. 

People walking along the Royal Mile. There are several attractions alongside. Including the authentic Scotland Whiskey tasting and food. Really an experience for a life time.

Ok. Give me a way people. I have to reach the other side in a minute :)

Royal eh? Oh yes. My eyes started paining trying to devour each and every details on the way. A real hungry traveler. How much ever you enjoy the entire place, you will still feel like going there again and connect the dots. That might be an hallucination. Because the beauty is enjoyable for a life time.

A short video on The Royal Mile: