Sometime back in May, C received an email about a sale on
Norwegian flights. He gets these types
of email often, but usually we can't take advantage of any super amazing deals
because the flights are mid-week or at weird times of the day that just don't mesh
with our work schedules. We long for the
day when we can travel at a moment's notice with no concern for limited
vacation days or bad timing!
However, this time, there was a sale on flights to Scotland
from Newburgh, NY. That's about a
five-hour drive from our house. The
fare? $109! That is not a typo! $109 to fly to Scotland! Scotland was definitely on our list of places
we wanted to visit, so we looked at the available dates, and discovered that it
would actually work if we flew there on Wednesday night and returned on Sunday
because the class I'm teaching this summer is on M/W/F mornings, but was
scheduled to be online for the Friday of that week! The timing could not have been better!
Since we had to fly home on a Sunday night, the return trip
was a little more expensive (no $109 fares to be found for Sunday night
travel!), but all told, we flew round trip to Scotland for under $300
each. An incredible bargain and we love
Norwegian Air!
FUN FACT: THE NATIONAL ANIMAL OF SCOTLAND IS THE UNICORN!!!
FUN FACT: THE NATIONAL ANIMAL OF SCOTLAND IS THE UNICORN!!!
Wednesday, July 12
C picked me up from class and we drove north to Newburgh,
arriving at the airport around dinner time.
I can't even describe how small the airport is! Our flight was out of Gate 1. GATE 1! That has never happened for us! The flight was slightly delayed, but
otherwise great. Even though we were in
economy, no one sat in between us, so we were able to doze relatively
comfortably on the overnight flight!
Thursday, July 13
I took some photos during our descent into Edinburgh and
then after we landed, we had to walk down an outside staircase and take a shuttle
to the terminal. Since it was going to
be a short trip, we had no checked bags to worry about, so we got through
customs fairly quickly and grabbed a taxi to our hotel, the Radisson Blu on The
Royal Mile. We had a very nice view from
our room!
We were both pretty tired, so we decided to take a nap,
which turned into more of a sleep, and we woke up in time for dinner. We decided to find a place close to the hotel
and came across an Italian restaurant less than five minutes away. The food was so good! Although it might seem that my review might
be slightly influenced by the fact that we were both famished by that point, but we went
back two days later and it was just as delicious!
Edinburgh has many ties to the Harry Potter series, so one
of the things we wanted to do was see some of the places that are somehow
associated with J. K. Rowling and the book series. We walked over to graveyard where Rowling
apparently found inspiration for character names, and what name did we find on
the sign when you enter the graveyard?
McGonagall! My favorite! Near the graveyard is
a school, which was supposedly one of the inspirations for Hogwarts, and The
Elephant House, where she did much of her writing when working on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I had that same feeling I get when I visit
Disneyland and think about being where Walt Disney once was – J. K. Rowling was
here, in this spot, creating a world fans everywhere would come to love. It is so difficult to articulate this
experience, but it's nothing short of completely magical. No pun intended!
In that same graveyard is the final resting place of
Greyfriars Bobby, who was a terrier belonging to an Edinburgh police officer. When his human passed away, Bobby sat on his
master's grave for fourteen years.
FOURTEEN YEARS. The devotion and
loyalty of dogs is simply astounding.
After a little further exploring, we wandered back to our
hotel, and I enjoyed a rare FaceTime conversation with Maddy, who usually shows
little to no interest when my mom holds the phone in front of her!
Friday, July 14
We ate breakfast at our hotel, and frankly, it was not very
good at all! We did not make that
mistake again!
We walked down to Holyrood Palace, which is residence of Queen
Elizabeth when she visits Scotland. I
love all things royal, so it was awesome, but unfortunately, no photos we
permitted inside. It
was beautiful, though!
We stopped at pub for late lunch and then walked up to the
acropolis. Unfortunately, the view was
not that great because of construction, but it was still nice to explore the
area. We went back to the hotel for a
rest before our tour of The Real Mary King's Close, which was fascinating. Thinking about the abysmal conditions people
endured is very humbling. It makes you very aware of how good we have it in modern times. Our tour guide
was both animated and knowledgeable and we really enjoyed the tour!
After the tour, we had a very late dinner at a restaurant
not too far from our hotel and then called it a night!
Saturday, July 15
We had breakfast at a café called Patisserie Valerie, and
the food was delicious! We had tea, chocolate
croissants, and eggs Florentine. A one
million percent improvement over Friday's breakfast!
We walked to the Balmoral Hotel where J. K. Rowling finished
writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
We didn't try to go into the hotel; I just wanted a photo of the
building! Afterwards we went to the Rose
Street Theatre for a concert. There was
a Jazz Festival happening in Edinburgh the weekend we were visiting, and C –
because he is amazing – found a swing band that was performing Disney
music! The band was comprised of 7
members – trumpet, trombone, clarinet, banjo, piano, bass, and drums – and they
were fabulous! It was such a fun concert
and the crowd was energetic and singing and clapping along! A super great show!
SO CLOSE! AND NOT STAGED - WE FOUND THEM LIKE THIS! |
After the concert, we actually got to meet up with two
friends from Florida who were on a cruise of the British Isles and happened to
be in Edinburgh that day! And they had
just gotten engaged a few days earlier in Paris! So it was doubly exciting to see them! We had lunch together and then walked with
them to visit some of the aforementioned Harry Potter spots. Rose and I went into The Elephant Room to
take some photos, and in addition to the formal displays about Rowling, the
alcove to the bathroom is covered in Harry-Potter-related graffiti from
fans. SO moving. We loved it!
Unfortunately they had to head back to board their ship, but
how awesome to have seen them! Once we
said our goodbyes, we went to the National Museum of Scotland on a whim, and we
are so glad we did! It is an incredible
museum and we ended up staying until it closed.
We went up to the roof and had great views of the city and it reminded
us that even when we've got plans, spontaneity is also a good thing!
We stopped to pick up a snack from The Baked Potato Shop,
which we took it back to our room to eat before having a nap, since we planned
to be out pretty late that night. Later
in the evening we went to a place called Camera Obscura and World of Illusions,
which was a very cool place and offered rooftop views. The sun was just setting, so the light was
perfect for photos and the weather was ideal and I could have stayed up there
forever!
Our last stop of the night was a very late dinner back at
the Italian restaurant we went to the first night and it was a great final dinner
for our trip.
Sunday, July 16
We got up early to pack, check out, and return to Patisserie
Valerie again for breakfast, which was just as good as the previous day! We then walked to Edinburgh Castle so we could be there
when it opened because it gets insanely busy.
While I was not as impressed with it as I had been with Holyrood Palace,
it has fantastic views! After the
castle, we got nutella/banana crepes from a food truck, and wandered to the
road that is rumored to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley, where we stopped
at a café for cappuccino and macarons to round out our visit.
We picked up our luggage from the hotel and took a taxi to
the airport for out flight to Newburgh.
We sat in the exit row, which was great because we had extra leg room, the
seats in front of us could not recline, and there was no one sitting between us. Absolutely ideal!
After landing back in NY, we drove home and arrived at about
2 am. What a crazy, fun trip! So thankful for that airfare sale! We will definitely return to Scotland for a
more thorough visit, but this trip was a great introduction to Edinburgh!
Happy Tails to you!
Looks like a good time. Looks like a nice day at Edinburgh Castle (it was pouring rain when we went). The street sign about drink is pretty great.
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