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Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Europe Trip - Part 3

It's time for Part 3 of my Europe trip. If you missed Part 1 and 2, click here and here.

We left off with my morning walk around London before we headed to the airport. The taxi to the airport was 45 minutes which is what we expected. We checked our luggage, went through security and then headed into the lounge. After some emails and social media, it was time to board our flight. We flew direct to Edinburgh, Scotland and arrived around 4 pm.

We had a short 15 minute drive to our hotel and were in awe along the way. Scotland is full of greenery and stone. So much beauty there. Definitely my favorite place on this trip.

After checking in, unpacking and relaxing a bit, we walked around for a bit to check out the sites. We were staying so close to the castle that my room looked out to it. So beautiful to wake up to each morning.
Edinburgh Castle

On our drive in, we saw a bar that we HAD to go to, Lebowskis. Yes it is themed after the movie. I have always been a big fan of the movie and my co-worker happened to also be a fan. And if you watch the movies, you know that white russians are a big deal in it. Their cocktail menu was variations of white russians. They had other stuff, but we stuck to that.
Lebowskis in Edinburgh
Lebowskis in Edinburgh
 The menu
Lebowskis in Edinburgh
Lebowskis in Edinburgh

My first drink was The Dude and my second was a special. It was a salted caramel Dude. Seriously sooooo good. I could have had another 5 if they weren't so strong.

After drinks, we walked a couple blocks to Bar Italia. This place had amazing reviews and it did not disappoint. The food and wine were amazing. I had a fresh pasta dish with italian sausage, tomato sauce, mozzarella and other goodies in it.

Friday morning, I grabbed a coffee and sticky bun from a place nearby and then we headed off to work for the day. We took some people out for lunch and worked a bit more, before exploring the city.

We wanted to explore the castle and do some souvenir shopping.

We made our way to the castle, but stopped at a church and other sights along the way.
Edinburgh church
Edinburgh church
 Another view
 Visitor center
Edinburgh Scotland bagpipe

We wanted to tour the castle which was about $20 USD. So much history is in the castle. Plus it holds the crown jewels.
Edinburgh Castle

Side note: They were building some sort of stadium seating right behind me. We couldn't get an answer as to why, but it seemed pretty weird to us.
view from the Edinburgh Castle
 The view from the top.
view from the Edinburgh Castle
 Another view because it was so breathtaking
view from the Edinburgh Castle
view from the Edinburgh Castle
view from the Edinburgh Castle
 I took pictures of the views from every angle.
Restored cannon 
War memorial

We walked around each of the buildings and learned so much Scottish history. The crown jewels were beautiful, but there was so many people in the room that I couldn't get a picture if I wanted. There was a beautiful ring in there that I would LOVE to add to my collection. Ha.

After the castle, we did some shopping. I didn't find too much to bring home. I saved that for our distillery tour. I did help my co-worker pick out some jewelry for his wife though.

That evening after a workout and relaxation, we headed to dinner at Cloisters Bar. Reviews said they had a bunch of craft beers and good pub food. I had two different beers and I loved them. They were slightly chilled (it's a British or European thing) and amazing. I also had their burger with special beer mustard. Amazing. I could drink the stuff. Ok, not really. But seriously so good.
Cloisters Bar in Edinburgh Scotland

I will save the rest of Scotland for next time as we went to a distillery and it was one of my favorite parts about the trip. Huge Scotch fan here! Stay tuned.

I am linking up with Jenn and Jessi.

12 comments :

  1. That view out your window!! Those castles looked amazing. I've always wanted to go to Scotland! What a fun time!

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  2. Wow! So many cool things to see and do!!

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  3. Beautiful photos!! I'm so amazed by castles. Sounds like a great time.

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  4. These pictures are amazing! That church, the castle, just wow!!

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  5. Wow! Sounds like it was a great work trip. That is so wonderful that you still were able to get some sightseeing in and some shopping. I would love to go to Scotland one day.

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  6. Those clouds on that town view... so beautiful. Magical.
    The Dude. That drink looks AMAZING. What a fun place to go to!

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  7. Such an amazing trip, insanely jealous that this was for work! The castles in Scotland are gorgeous and I need that salted caramel dude drink <3
    Green Fashionista

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  8. I want to go to Scotland so badly! I'm Scottish from my grandpa on my mom's side. That salted caramel drink looks amazing.

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  9. Oh my goodness, these pictures are just beautiful! What a trip! And who knew that there were that many variations of a White Russian? I had no idea! I thought there was only one!

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  10. I've always wanted to go to Scotland. I've been to Ireland twice, but never Scotland. So glad to hear you had such wonderful things to say about it. That castle out your window was amazing! What a fun place to visit.

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