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The Elegance of Edinburgh


The journey continues...

3.00pm Heading to South Bridge
Oh no, we got delayed while waiting for the bus after we checked-in to our room, I think the traffic was not that good at that time. We should be there 10 minutes before the tour start (to avoid missing the spot), but we got there almost 10 minutes after the tour begin instead XD Lucky enough, we still got the chance to join the tour! Another ‘blessings of the day #3: Late-comers not missing out tour’. The tour that we joined was The Real Mary King’s Close Tour, which revealed the story of the hidden closes of old town Edinburgh (my senior called it ‘the underground village’).

Scottish Lesson 101 Part 2, ‘closes’ means ‘alleyways’. So that means the close that we visited is named after a merchant named Mary King (not to be confused with Mary Queen of Scots, that’s another Mary) who used to live at the close. We were taken for an hour guided tour to discover how people in the past lived at the close, and also other closes as well. There are a lot of things that we discovered about Edinburgh Old Town from our costumed tour guide. From a house that used to fit a queen, to the way people in the past used ‘toilets’, to the contagion disease outbreak, to the steep slope of the real Mary King’s Close, and of course there was more. 'Blessings of the day #4: 13 pounds was worth for a hidden history of a town J [for more information visit https://www.realmarykingsclose.com] p/s: photography is not allowed though

After the tour ended, we went to Edinburgh Central Mosque to pray. We had dinner with our friend who is studying in the University of Edinburgh at Noodle n Rice in South Bridge and bought some souvenirs from a shop right opposite the restaurant. 

Our resting spot for a couple of nights, The Northumberland Hotel in Newington.
(Half an hour bus ride from the city centre)

It was a tiring day but we had fun walking. Tired enough that my friend actually slept at 9, which is exceptionally early for her hehe. 'Blessings of the day #5: Hotel is good!'

Thursday, 21st December 2017



10.00am Edinburgh Castle
It’s a castle of a small town! I warn you, you might need a whole day to visit the whole castle, or you might not even finish it in a day XD It is freaking huge! (no wonder it costs 17 pounds per entrance huhu) I don’t know where to start, so I let the pictures speak for themselves J


Dog Cemeteries
Mons Meg (don't underestimate this old lady; she used to fire solid iron balls)
St Margaret's Chapel, the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh
Military Prison, a small Victorian prison built to house offending soldiers
Forewall Battery (battery: a fortified emplacement for heavy guns)
I went to all 3 places; Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Prison of War, Royal Scots Museum.
But believe me that's not even quarter of the castle :')

After visiting the Scottish Crown Jewel (also known the Honours of Scotland and the Scottish Regalia) and The Great Hall, we left the castle at around 12.30pm because we were so hungry. We went to the mosque to pray and head to South Bridge to eat at a restaurant named ‘Zuhus’, which is kind of have a similar concept to Nando’s. I had a quarter of a chicken (and keep another quarter for dinner XD). After having our lunch we took the bus and head to our next stop.

3.00pm Calton Hill
I have a personal opinion that you need to be fit enough to come to Edinburgh. Every inch and part of the city is hilly and to some extent, ascending. But this one is the real climb. If you can’t afford to climb Arthur’s Seat, Calton Hill would be good enough XD. Well, at least you can enjoy the view of the monuments on top of the hill. (I don’t think there’s any monument on top of Arthur’s Seat, it’s just a form of personal achievement for being at a certain height above sea level for hikers, I guess?)

The Nelson Monument

National Monument, the incomplete copy of Greece's Parthenon due to lack of funding
Dugald Stewart Monument
Observatory House (I like the design of the wall :) )
Portuguese Cannon
(it is stated on the panel that it was transported to the Portuguese colonies in South East Asia some time before 1785...hmmm)


Next, we went to Palace of Holyrood House just for the sake of having the outside view of the palace XD One of the reasons is the admission fee is not free L We then had dinner at our friend’s house at Blackfriars Street. Another 'blessings of the day #6: Free dinner ;)'. We went back to our hotel (which I would give a 4-star rating), watched TV and went to sleep (not too late so that we won’t be missing our 'early morning bus ride' on the next day).

I can't deny I had a whale of time in Edinburgh, Alhamdulillah.

And I can't wait to share my next trip soon too! Insya Allah :) 
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