From Hollywood to Holyrood

Yesterday was a long day so this is going to be a long entry be warned!!! Little thing but my data plan hasn’t been working properly (they are fixing it) so I mainly just used a map and wifi where I could get it to go around Edinburgh. Coincidentally that probably made me get to know the city quicker and better because I couldn’t rely on my phone! I also walked a ton more than I probably needed to because I couldn’t ask google maps the best routes, I just kinda followed the street signs.

After taking a local bus into the city Centre, I stopped at Black Medicine Coffee near the University for a lovely flat white. My friends Alex, Lucy, and Katie studied abroad there a few years back! Alex recommended I check the cafe out - a cute student study spot indeed.

Then I walked to the Greyfriar’s Kirkyard (Cemetery) to find Tom Riddle’s grave (had to) but I couldn’t exactly find it. I feel like I got the overall vibe though, and it was a pretty cemetery. I‘ve had a liking to/ comfort around them ever since college when my freshman dorm was situated right next to the Middlebury graveyard and we’d have to walk thru it to get to the gym. In LA I’m a frequent Hollywood Forever visitor too, just makes me feel alive I guess.

After the wonders of the graveyard I walked up the steps to the Castle for my tour! It was very cool actually and a good 2.5 hours spent. I saw everything I could and got the audio guide so I learned as much as possible. Lots about the wars and the army… I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised but it was way less history about the royal families and WAY more about the soldiers. I think my favorite part was the 1 o-clock gun (more of a cannon) and the cave-like old prisons. Not to mention the view of the city from the top!

And here’s a pic of another little graveyard I saw from above. The sun was hitting it just right. You can also see the crags of Hollyrood park from a centuries-old lava thrust from the volcano that used to be active there (idk I read an educational sign don’t quote me on that I’m not a geologist). I think the famed “Arthur’s Seat” is there too. Fun fact, there were two active volcanos where Edinburgh sits now; the one below and also the mount that the Castle was built on! Calton Hill is also some sort of geologic marvel - more on that later.

I walked to the Holyrood House Palace but it was closed! So I got these pics anyway below. Beautiful gardens.

Since the palace was closed the only next logical step is to go to a bar! So I found this cute place called the Regent - drawn in by the first rainbow flag I’d seen all day - and everyone was so nice. It got really busy at the end of my time there. I had a Scottish Mead (honey wine) and a Scottish Cider. They actually carded me!! Policy is to card anyone who might look under 25 and they said I do lol I never thought I’d be carded in Europe…

Next I walked to the Beltane Festival that was coincidental happening right nearby at Calton Hill. The line was a mile long but I made some friends and we got up to the top just in time for sunset. This pagan festival happens once every year to celebrate the start of the Summer! It was pretty wild - half nude people painted with their whole bodies in red and green and white, looking like devils or fairies. The whole thing is about fire so they had multiple ceremonies and fire shows, as well as wacky stuff like devils yelling and grabbing each other, playing and doing handstands, drum circles and the May Queen herself presiding over them all.

That went until 1am but I had to catch the bus, so I finally got home at 11:30pm. What a day! Feels like I really got a sense of many sides of Scottish culture.