Edinburgh at Night

There was one reason that Mary and I planned a trip to Europe of Christmas and New Years: Hogmanay. We'd received a lot of grief from our parents about not being with family over the holidays. In the end, it was so worth it. It was probably one of the most fun New Year's celebrations that I've had. To date. I didn't bring out my nice camera to the celebration, but the festivities didn't just last one day. Hogmanay takes place over multiple days during which there is a winter festival. Here are some photos of the Traditional Torchlight Processional and some extras of the city. The procession started in Old Town Edinburgh and then thousands of people walked their way to Prince's Street. It was pretty cool to see all the torches walking through the streets. I couldn't help but think that this would never be allowed in America; they wouldn't let thousands of people walk around with yard long torches of fire. Just saying.

At the end of the Torchlight Procession, we watched a firework show from Calton Hill and the National Monument of Scotland. They set the show to the Star Wars theme! 

-Elise 

On Top of the World

If you've ever looked at the skyline in Edinburgh, the highest point around is the Castle Rock and on top of that, Edinburgh Castle. Mary and I were fortunate enough to spend the day touring the castle before heading to the large New Year's celebration, Hogmanay, later that day. 

A fortress, built over hundreds of years, the castle was used as a royal residence, military barracks and a prison. In its 1,100 year history,  the castle itself played a major role in the Scottish Wars for Independence, the Jacobite uprisings and participated in 26 recorded sieges. To go into detail of its history, would take forever. So I'm just going to share some of our pictures from the day and hope that they inspire you to go and see it for yourself.

When you turn around at the gatehouse, you see quite the view of Old Town

A backend view of The Parish Church of St. Cuthbert. You can just see our hotel in the background; it's the red building to the left. 

The Governor's House, what a lucky guy.

The cutest dog cemetery for the officers animals that passed in service of their country

As the light faded, they turned the castle blue. It was pretty cool to see.

They were kind enough to leave the Christmas decorations up for us. 

That fireplace...

Cutest little cafe to stop and warm up with a cup of tea.

-Elise