It’s about 10pm and I am curled up in a hostel bed in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Today started out with leaving Stockton at about 10:30am. We headed up to Lindisfarne (Holy Island) first, a tidal island off the coast of England. It is a lot less impressive (in terms of size) than the much bigger tidal island of Mont Saint-Michel, which I’ll be seeing in a few weeks in France.
It was fun to wander around, but since they made us park on the outskirts of town and walk in to see the shops, abbey, and Victorian castle, I ended up getting pretty tired. Not only was the castle closed, but it was exceptionally gray weather.
For more pictures of Lindisfarne, click here.
Next we headed to Edinburgh (pronounced Ed-in-bruh, that’s “u” as in “gum”), which was an entirely different story. As we got to Scotland, you could actually see the gray pallor clearing away. There are truly blue skies over Scotland.
As we entered Edinburgh, the sun was shining brightly, the sky was blue, and the city seemed to glow. Edinburgh is interesting around every corner with a castle, churches, museums, and stonework around every bend in the road.
The highlight of the day was driving to the top of this big hill, which overlooked the city. They had started to construct a replica of the parthenon on the top of the hill, which was absolutely stunning.
To appreciate the scale, take a look at this series of pictures, in which the camera zooms out with each progressive picture. Can you find me in each one?
As we reached the summit, the sun was setting over the city, which not only yielded some pictures I was quite proud of (considering my camera), but more importantly, for the first time on my trip, left me speechless.
Standing at the bast of a gigantic pillar, watching the sun set over that beautiful city, I remembered why I bothered coming over in the first place. The brief moment of perfect clarity swept me in. I knew why I existed, why I was there, and stood grinning stupidly, witnessing that vibrant moment of color and life in absolutely giddy awe. Moments such as these – that remind me what it means to be a traveler – these moments are delicious. And they are truly priceless.
Hope Helps 