I first went to Edinburgh in January 2014, right after my last exam. I fell in love instantly, despite the gloomy sky and intermittent rain. I had such an amazing time going to the castle and walking around the old town. My favorite was Arthur’s Seat, where I spent one blissful hour taking pictures and watching people come and go.
When my sister came in September, I told her she had to go there. She went from Birmingham, so we decided to just meet there. The rain gave a rather unpromising welcome in such a cold night, but it got better the next day.
Since I’d been there, I let my sister wander around by herself to the touristic places, while I made the most of that extra hours for sleeping (in my defense, I’d been sleep-deprived for weeks thanks to the dissertation). I gave all the must-see list to my sister, but I didn’t have anything planned for myself.
For some reason, this second time in Edinburgh was one of the most memorable holidays I’ve had. It’s hard to pinpoint what made it standout. I believe one of the contributing factors was the time the bathroom doorknob stuck while I was inside, and got the host panicked. As he was trying to fix it, he said to me, “Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic.” To be honest, I was fine (I knew I would get out just all right), and that poor guy should’ve been saying that to himself. My sister tried to assure him that I was fine and not at all panicked, but that couldn’t calm him down. When he finally fixed that doorknob and I got out, he looked like someone who’s just been told that his child survived after falling off a cliff, while I tried my best not to burst into laughter.
Other things were far less adventurous than that. Sitting and reading in the park, having tea and scones at Clarinda’s Tearoom (AMAZING scones!), bumping into a bagpiper who could play one Indonesian traditional song, stopping to take pictures at whatever looked beautiful, and going to any place we saw that we thought interesting.
I didn’t take that many pictures this time. I got lazy and left my camera most of the time, and used my phone to capture things. The drawback, of course, was the short battery life. There were many times when it went dead before I was done taking pictures.
No itinerary, not that many pictures, and yet it was one of the best holidays ever. Maybe that’s what made it unforgettable.
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