Like most tourist-centric European cities, Edinburgh is full of open-topped double-decker hop-on-hop-off bus tours.
Scotland
Angry birds (and an abbey) on Inchcholm Island
In our quest to make the most our of our year-long membership to Historic Scotland, we recently journeyed to Inchcholm Abbey, a medieval abbey on a small island in the Firth of Forth.
The Glasgow School of Art
I’m a bit embarrassed to say that we’ve only been to Glasgow once, and that was years ago when we were visiting Edinburgh from Munich. The highlight of the short afternoon we spent in the city was a guided tour through the Mackintosh Building at Glasgow School of Art. This architectural masterpiece incorporated a beautiful combination of Art Deco and Japanese-inspired details, and housed many examples of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s iconic furniture (as well as a library and working studios for current art school students).
Scotch Whisky: a Dalwhinnie Distillery Tour
On a recent trip to the Western Highlands, we made a spontaneous stop for a tour at Dalwhinnie Distillery, around a two-hour drive from Edinburgh.
Springtime in Great Britain
Last weekend we drove down to visit some friends in Birmingham. Along the way, spring was in full bloom.
Question Time at the Scottish Parliament
Down at the lower end of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, across the street from the queen’s summer house, you’ll find the architectural anomaly that is the Scottish Parliament. You’ll have no trouble picking it out from the surrounding medieval buildings that make up Old Town.
Edinburgh: experiencing the Scotch Whisky Experience
On our recent bout of being tourists in our home town, we headed up the Royal Mile to the Scotch Whisky Experience. Edinburgh itself doesn’t contain any whisky distilleries, so tourists in the city seeking knowledge of Scotland’s great liquid usually end up here.
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Notes from a winter in Edinburgh
Despite being low on snow (one of my favorite wintery things), Edinburgh is extremely alluring in the winter months. (Stop laughing – I’m serious.) Winter just suits Edinburgh, with its medieval architecture and cozy pubs and whisky and fireplaces and all. I almost don’t want spring to come.
Edinburgh: learning the secrets of the Royal Mile
There are a plethora of walking tours on offer in Edinburgh, with good reason: it’s a highly walkable city, bursting with history, architecture, and monuments all within a relatively compact city center. In the months since we’ve moved here, we’ve walked all over the place, but always in the disorganized manner of those who are not on a walking tour. It was time to change that.
Notes from Christmastime in Edinburgh: the markets
This is our very first December in Edinburgh, and we’ve been looking forward to it all year. It’s always fun to experience the holidays in a new culture. Locals have been talking up the Christmas markets (usually followed by an expectation-managing “But I’m sure it’s nothing like what you had in Germany.”). Christmas goodies started appearing on shop shelves as early as October, making us wonder what new and exciting things we’d get to eat this season. Figgy pudding, perhaps?