Can't remember this was before after checking in to our hotel, but basically we went around Edinburgh looking for a bank where I could change my old notes to new ones. Fun fact, no bank would change them for me, but a nice man eventually told me that I could change them at the post office :) But that was before I went around the new town asking around! Still, I managed to take in a lot of sights while wandering around! And the beautiful architecture of Edinburgh was really stunning!
One of the closest landmark point to our hotel and Waverley Station was this grand old dame of a hotel called Balmoral Hotel. I never did went inside. For some reason, I felt intimidated to go into any grand private establishment in the UK for fear of some bias opinion about Asians.... Luckily, we didn't encounter any through out our visit :) That is more than I could have said for Australia! Hoot! :X
We went past St Andrew's Square garden on our very first day but didn't went in. I didn't know that Paddington Bear was seated inside! Well, thanks to social media, I finally realised my folly and managed to go in and take a photo with Paddington near the end of our trip. I also recently found out that there is more than ONE Paddington Bear around! There is one at John O'Groats Iconic Signpost which I would probably be around when I visit Orkney this year! Got to remember to look out for it!
There were also many statues of people all over the place, most whom I don't recognised or know of. I did see Adam Smith the economist. I felt kinda uncultured in that sense. But slowly, I am learning! And I will post some that I do know when I come across them. I think there were some philosopher's statue that I encountered too. If I see them in my photo pile, I'll be sure to post them here!
The Scotts Monument was closer and easier to spot than I imagined. It was just right there at Princes Street, near the garden, near the train station, near Marks & Spensers Food Hall! I used it a lot as a reference point, along with the castle. It was easy to spot, and easy to recognise. And inside of it sat Sir Walter Scott the author. I find it so amazing that Scotland honour their writers so much! I plan to visit the Writer's Museum in my upcoming trip to learn more. I may have read some of the books written by them, but sometimes I don't really remember the author's name.....hee hee.
Some zoom in photos of the Scott's Monument. Beautiful Gothic carving on teh concrete structure. I love Gothic architecture a lot. So it's great to be in Edinburgh where most of the old buildings are build in that fashion. I would think the next country that I would love to visit is Spain, to see the beautiful buildings there.
Gargoyles can also be found here, same as the library we visited in Manchester. I also understand that you could climb all the way up the monument, but that wasn't something that interest me.
Here is a view of the whole monument from the garden. I love how green the grass was, blue the sky was, and colourful the flowers were. We were there in late spring going on summer. Lovely weather. Hope to have equal good luck in my next trip there too!
A lovely curved staircase that kinda looked like it's part of the Scott's Monument, but it's actually taken at a different angle from the gardens.
Walking around, we also saw some lovely buildings with Greek-like art on them.
We also walked passed the National Gallery many times through out our trip, but not once set foot inside of it! It's free admission actually, and I plan to eventually visit it this year, along with the Portrait Gallery across the road.
What a lovely view of the gardens, the gallery, and the skyline of Edinburg Old Town at the back. Edinburgh Old Town is actually on an elevated ground, so it looked like it's at the hill side. Interesting fact, Edinburgh is built on town of a few layers of buildings below it. And you could visit that bottom layer if you visit the Mary King's Close attraction. It kinda remind me about the futuristic world, where the rich rises to the top, and the scums live underground..... or builded on top of an old dying city....
Lovely view almost everywhere you look in this beautiful spring afternoon :)
This is what I imagine the ideal city to look like in UK :) (but minus all the stairs!)
Our selfie! I don't get stress so much when I'm travelling in a city which I can understand the language :)
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