How to Love Scotland in 48 Hours

This weekend, Nikki's friend from college, Harry, came to visit. He's currently doing an internship in London, but Nikki took it upon herself to make him fall in love with Scotland in 48 hours.


While Nikki and Harry walked around, Emma and I took everyone's dietary needs into account and made a vegetarian, gluten-free lasagna from scratch (even the sauce). I was very excited to learn how to make it and to eat it afterwards. We all talked over dinner - mostly telling Harry about all the major events in Scottish history - and then Nikki, Harry, and I headed to Calton Hill. We got there just in time to watch a beautiful, orange sunset. We just kept doing laps around the hill watching the sunset from every angle.

After the sun set, I suggested we walk down Princes Street and then to St. Cuthbert's and around the castle so Harry could see a little more of town.

By the time we got back from that, it was late and we headed to bed. The next morning we woke up early and I made french toast and stewed apples for everyone before we headed out for the day.

This is a picture of the same breakfast I made for me and Nikki last semester 

I went with Nikki and Harry and the first thing on the agenda was to climb the Crags and Arthur's Seat. It was surprisingly sunny and warm and it was one of the most beautiful days I've had while walking around Holyrood Park.

After that beautiful hike, we headed to Duddingston to eat lunch. We wanted to go to the Sheep's Heid, where I went last week, but they were completely booked! That totally caught us off guard, so I suggested we go to the Radical Road, which I had also just been to and knew was just a 15-minute walk away. We all had amazing food. I had apple and courgette risotto with grilled goat cheese and a pesto arugula salad on top! I am definitely going to have to try to recreate that at some point.

While we were eating, the guys working the bar actually helped us figure out which bus we should take to get where we were going. We didn't really have a plan from here to get to Craigmillar, but we saw a sign that it was a mile away, so we knew it made more sense to get a bus or walk from Duddingston than to go back to Edinburgh. We found a bus and only had to wait for 15 minutes and eventually we made it to Cragimillar.

Once we got there, we explored the castle and walked around. Craigmillar has actually been on my list of places to go in Edinburgh for a while, so I'm glad I finally got to go. It's a beautiful castle in the middle of a beautiful park. It's also really cool to stand on the top floor of the castle and look at Holyrood Park, the Castle, Blackford Hill, and all the other places in Edinburgh I've been. You also get a great view of the sea.

Then we headed back to the flat and stayed in and cooked dinner. That was yesterday. This morning I woke up early and said goodbye to Harry as they headed off to Linlithgow and to explore the art museums in Edinburgh. Today I'm preparing for yet another trip. I'm leaving tonight to go to London for a couple of days, and my next blog post will be about that.

Also, Nikki and I are planning a trip to the West coast and the Highlands tonight, so I've got the next trip planned before I've even gone on this one!