If it's not Scottish....

The past few weeks have been quite a whirlwind. We've had events here in London, a couple trips out of town (one of which involved driving on the wrong side of the road!), visits from 3 sets of friends, and we got some clarity on what our future holds (more on that in another post). Unfortunately I haven't been able to keep up with the blog in real time, so I this is going to be a super-mega-ultra-bloggerific-catch-up-on-it-all post. I'll try to keep the text to a minimum and stick with photos. Away we go!

We'll start with Easter, which was 6 weeks ago! Holy crap. See what I did there? It's holy, like Easter. Easter jokes are the best.

Since we had a long weekend, we took a trip up to Scotland to visit Edinburgh and Glasgow.

First stop, Edinburgh. One of the first things we noticed was that bagpipes can be heard seemingly everywhere in the city.

Seriously, we saw guys like this all over. 

It was actually quite nice and it added an extra bit of charm to the city. Not that Edinburgh lacks in that department. It was a fascinating, beautiful place. First of all, it still looks like a medieval city. 

It's remarkable really. The city certainly has amenities like modern train stations, and of course, Starbucks:

This is the view from the apartment where we stayed

But the real star of Edinburgh is the historic look and feel of the city. So much so that the city itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Check another one off the list! I believe that brings us to 12 World Heritage Sites in the past year & a half. Not too shabby.

As I was saying, Edinburgh is a stunning place. In certain parts of the city it looks like you've stepped back in time. 

But, the most famous landmark is surely Edinburgh Castle. We got up early to beat the lines and it was definitely worth the visit.

The castle is an imposing fortress overlooking the city and you really can't miss it. 

Per Wikipedia, humans have lived on the site since about the 2nd century, and there has been a castle here since the 12th century.  Amongst other things it has served as a royal residence, a military barracks, and a prison. Interestingly, during the American Revolution some Americans and/or supporters of the revolution were imprisoned here, and one of them made a carving of an American flag on a wooden door. It still stands today.

USA! USA!

It was really interesting to see all the remnants and well preserved artifacts.

Gloria wearing her traditional medieval headphones

Tons of armor and weapons. A bit Game of Thrones-ish.

No armory is complete without a wheel of pistols

Don't mess with castle guard Gloria. Look at the intensity!

Boom goes the cannon!

Lovely views from up here

Edinburgh is much more than just the castle though. The rest of the city is beautiful, and the hills surrounding the it offer up some spectacular views. 

The Scottish monument and the park in front of it. Perfect on a beautiful day.

Typical stairway in the city

A quaint little street with funky houses

An interesting mix of ancient architecture and modern life.

This is Arthur's Seat. Kind of reminds me of Table Mountain in South Africa.

The view from Calton Hill with the Dugald Stewart monument in the foreground. My favorite view of Edinburgh.

Not only is Edinburgh a beautiful place, it also seems like a fun city. We saw lots of Stag and Hen (bachelor and bachelorette) parties,

and of course we paid a visit to this place:

Strangely, everyone who worked there was Polish. I took it as a good sign and dug into the whisky and haggis.

We also had a ridonkulous meal at a michelin star restaurant called 21212. 

Just one of many outstanding dishes.

The milk comes from a cow! Mind=blown.

The happiness brought on by a great meal.

If you have the opportunity, we highly, highly recommend the place. It was fantastic.

All those wonderful things about Edinburgh being said, the city also has a checkered past. As we heard from various tour guides, the Scots didn't always make the greatest decisions when it came to running their city. For example, as the population of Edinburgh swelled and they ran out of room, they initially built up (buildings up to 12 stories reportedly were built). But when they filled all that space, they built down. They actually dug vaults underground and people lived there. We went on a tour of the vaults, and it was mad creepy (but we really recommend seeing it). 

This is the only pic I could get in the vaults. It sets the tone though.

The vaults are actually built into the bottom of a bridge, but for all intents and purposes they are underground. In the late 1700's there were some businesses operating out of them, but they abandoned them and the poorest citizens of Edinburgh moved in. Conditions were terrible (no sunlight, poorly circulated air, no running water, no sanitation), and the life expectancy in here was reportedly only 6 months. This was largely because straw was used to cover the floors, but everything was lit by candlelight. Inevitably a candle or lantern would be tipped over, and the dry straw would go up in no time. The people had no chance. Terrible. By around 1820 people abandoned the idea of living here. It's a morbid story but it's an important part of the city's history. The other amazing part about this is that it wasn't until about 1985 that it was discovered that people had lived there. No records or anything were kept, and they are still uncovering areas in the vaults. Crazy.

One other illustration of some questionable decisions in Edinburgh (this one is funny): the Scottish Parliament building. 

Seriously. This is the parliament building. In keeping with the medieval look of this city, they built this. The official statement is that the building design aims to "achieve a poetic union between the Scottish landscape, its people, its culture, and the city of Edinburgh." Apparently is has won numerous accolades from architecture critics and such, but I prefer to go with the response of the citizens: the building placing fourth in a 2008 poll on what UK buildings people would most like to see demolished. Tear it down! Tear it down! 

What were they thinking....?

All in all, Edinburgh was incredible. We really enjoyed it and we highly recommend visiting it. On to Glasgow!

Glasgow is much different from Edinburgh. It has a different look, a different feel, and in general is a modern city. We felt like Glasgow is the better place to live, while Edinburgh is a better place to visit. Onward!

The city itself had a little bit of a San Francisco type feel to it. Maybe that was just because it had hills like this:

Or maybe it was because it was a good mix of historic and funky/modern. There are classics such as:

The Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum

 and

The University of Glasgow

U of Glasgow campus

combined with more modern touches such as:

The Rennie Mackintosh house

A modern suspension bridge

This giant armadillo

and

A big ass spaceship

Seriously though, Glasgow was a thoroughly enjoyable city. It was the right mix of history, culture, and modern amenities that we love. The hotel we stayed at was a great example. Based on a recommendation from Gloria's old boss (native Glaswegian Andrew Perry), we shacked up at the Blythswood Square Hotel. This place was perfect. A classic hotel with an old school feel, but it has a modern spa (which was free for all guests to use), and a killer bar with fantastic drinks.

The view from the hotel.

Glasgow and the hotel were great. We got to live like royalty on an expedia budget.

One last note on Scotland before we move on. As I learned more and more about Scotland during our trip, I kept having the same thought: Scotland kind of gets screwed over by history. Here are a few notable Scots and their achievements:

• Alexander Fleming - Discovered Penicillin
• Adam Smith - Economist & essentially the pioneer of free market economics
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Creator of Sherlock Holmes
• Tony Blair - British Prime Minister
• James Chalmers - Inventor of adhesive postage stamp
• Sir James Young Simpson - Doctor who pioneered the use anesthetics in medicine

The list could go on. Now, how many of those people are widely known as Scottish vs how many are generally known as British? Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the credit tends to go to "the British" instead of Scotland. Maybe I'm wrong, but I wanted to point out that Scotland has contributed some pretty incredible stuff to the world.

Ok enough preaching. Scotland was awesome, and we're sad we won't have a chance to explore the country more before we leave. Ultimately, we learned that Mike Myers was right: