edinburgh, scotland

the Royal Mile |Holyrood Palace Gardens | Holyrood Abbey
amazing old buildings/architecture | hiking Arthur’s Seat
sneaking kisses | an adorable pub

Both Scotland and Ireland are places that, while I’ve always been intrigued by, have never been high on my must-visit list. When my best friend relocated to Ireland with her boyfriend some time ago, I knew that it was the perfect opportunity to plan a trip out for a visit (and tack on Scotland for the ultimate getaway). With that being our primary reasoning behind this particular voyage, I was shocked at how much I adored both countries and would now easily move them to the top of that list.

The first leg of our trip brought us to Edinburgh where we spent three glorious days doing all of the typical touristy activities (Edinburgh castle, hiking Arthur’s Seat, touring Holyrood Palace and maybe a pub hop or two). Justin and I both fell head over heels in love with this particular city from the get go and, one evening over a pint of Guinness, spoke at length at how we could realistically relocate there for a year. It’s one of those magical cities that manages to combine the past and the present in a seamless manner. We ate like kings (celebrating our anniversary at The Honours, and treating ourselves to an incredible three course lunch at the Grain Store) and cannot wait to make our way back to explore what we didn’t manage to see. Three days was absolutely not enough and I do see it being a part of my future in one way or another.