Edinburgh

After we were finished with Ireland we hopped a plane over to Edinburgh to see what Scotland had in store. Edinburgh is definitely one of the coolest looking cities I have ever been in! Everything is so old, dark, and slightly creepy looking. We decided to check out Edinburgh castle the first day we were in town. It was really cool but took a bit of a hike (uphill) to get to it. We did the full tour and some of our own wandering through the castle. It is still used as a military base and was never really meant to hold royalty but what it lacks in ornateness it definitely makes up for in brute strength, there are weapons or links to the military and wartime throughout the entire castle. The military museum is located here as well as various other small buildings dedicated to certain battalions (like the Dragoon Guards) and the half moon battery with the massive guns was definitely impressive.

half moon battery

Mons Meg made in 1449 as a gift to James II of Scotland, shoots cannon balls that weigh approximately 400 lbs.

The graveyard at the castle, not for soldiers but for their dogs....how sweet!

After we were finished up at the castle we wandered through a tartan manufacturer and went on the Scotch Whiskey experience both on the Royal Mile. The Scotch Whiskey Experience was so fun! I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. The tour involves information in the production of Scotch followed by a break down of the different types of Scotch from different regions and a smell test to determine what kind of Scotch suits your taste. After you are handed your Scotch in a rather fancy little glass you are led through to the world's largest collection of Scotch Whiskey. Literally thousands of bottles are in these cases.

Some things I learned during this experience:

1. Do not shoot back your Scotch like you are in high school, you are meant to hold it on your tongue to get the flavour, not trying to get drunk.

2. Adding water doesn't ruin your Scotch....but you are only supposed to add a few drops to open it up...not half a glass.

3. Swirling the Scotch around in the glass shows you the alcohol content (you can somehow tell by how slowly it drips down the side of the glass).....it also makes you look fancy (especially when you give it a little sniff afterwards).