The English's: Edinburgh, Scotland: Day 4

Bright and early and on the train, we make our way up north to Edinburgh, Scotland. This time of year there is an annual festival that happens in Edinburgh so it was hard finding a hotel, but thankfully we found one. This is what we get for booking our stays on the fly and not preparing ahead of time! At least it makes for a great adventure.

The train ride was about 7 hours and the landscape along the way was rolling and green. We saw plenty of fields, sheep, and horses. Beautiful countryside!

Once we walked out of the train station in Edinburgh… Hello Hilly New York! Steep streets and people everywhere. It’s a busy town!

Edinburgh’s most famous for a street called the Royal Mile. At the top of the hill and street is Edinburgh castle and at the bottom is the Palace of Holyrood House. The street is lined with shops, pubs, museums, and churches. What a great place to wander.

After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we found our way back to the Royal Mile and wandered around for a bit. There are tons of tourists around from all over, street vendors trying to sell their trinkets, actors passing out fliers for their free comedy acts, and one man acts in the middle of the street with crowds of people standing around.

Around 8pm we saw tons of people making their way up the Royal Mile to some event. After asking around, we realized that it was for the famous Military Tatoo, being held right in front of the Edinburgh Castle. You had to have tickets to get in and word has it that they’re sold out for days in advance. Good thing we found a scalper who had three tickets next to each other!

After a quick dinner at subway (hey, don’t judge, that’s the quickest bite to eat on the Royal Mile so we could head up to the show in time… plus they had Dr. Pepper) we sat like sardines in our seats waiting for the show to start.

After the trumpets sound, the show began and don’t you know I had a smile on my face for the next hour and a half. We were entertained by hundreds of bagpipes, dancers, motorbike riders, gymnasts, and marching bands from around the world. This was by far the highlight of our trip so far!