Scotland Travel Diary: Exploring Scotland

Woo! Kyra, a girl I met on my Iceland tour, and I made it to Edinburgh, Scotland! I have been dreaming of visiting Scotland for quite some time, so actually being here is a little surreal. Our day started off interesting on the bus to the Reykjavik airport. The bus ended up getting to our hotel 30 minutes early, making us rush down to catch it. Then the people we sat next to were coughing up a storm without trying to cover their mouths. Kyra and I were literally sitting in the aisle because we were trying to get as far away as possible from them.

Luckily the flight to Scotland was great, and we found our way to the bus. Kyra is at an Airbnb and I am staying at the University of Edinburgh apartments. We decided to first drop off her stuff, then drop off mine to know where each of us would be staying. Of course, we missed the bus stop and had to walk a little longer, but the city is beautiful, so it was fine.

The Scotch Whiskey Experience

After we got checked into our rooms, it was time for our The Scotch Whiskey Experience tour. The tour was so fun, and we learned a lot about whiskey while taste testing a few different types. Once the tour was over we got some dinner and I tried haggis for the first time. It was good… The texture was a little weird, but the flavor was good.

Fringe Festival

We wanted to go out and experience the night life of Edinburgh, but neither of us realized Fringe Festival was going on. If you’re like me and have no idea why that is, let me explain. The Fringe Festival is a month long festival in Edinburgh that features shows of all kinds – comedians, drag shows, plays, musicals, etc. Throughout town, people are promoting their shows, and a lot of them you can get into for free.

One venue has over 50 shows/day, and walking around town I saw at least 200 different venues. This festival made it hard to enjoy the nightlife and know exactly what was going on. Most of the shows have a limited number of spots for audience members. If you want to see someone, make sure you arrive before the show to guarantee a spot!

Both Kyra and I were tired and decided to call it a night, but we made our plans for tomorrow! She is going on a tour of the Highlands, and I will be exploring all of the Harry Potter sites throughout the city.