Everything is beautiful
Scottish Highlands
So I went on a bus tour of the Highlands from Edinburgh. At first I was a bit apprehensive about whether I would enjoy a 12 hour bus tour, I tend to get restless on long journeys, but it was one of the coolest experiences of my trip and the highlands quickly became one of my top 5 favorite places in the world so far.
The tour took off from downtown Edinburgh, just a few blocks from my hotel. The guide/driver clearly loved his job and was endlessly entertaining and full of stories about Scottish history and culture (shout out to David Hartley!). Not only that, but he took the time to personally chat with every person on the bus throughout the tour.
The day started out with rain and fog, but quickly cleared up and by the time we were out of the city it was a perfectly clear, sunny day, which allowed us to fully enjoy the sights along the way that are sometimes shrouded in fog, castles and mountain peaks.
I love cities but sometimes there's nothing better than unplugging for a while and spending a day in nature. I didn't even touch my phone except to take pictures and I could almost feel my mental health rapidly improving in real time. Scotland takes land preservation very seriously and the highlands are absolutely pristine. Rolling green hills, crystal clear lochs, not a trace of pollution or litter.
Fun spots along the way for history and/or movie nerds (I'm both). We saw places where some of the James Bond and Harry Potter movies were filmed, and visited a rail car that was in a Mission Impossible movie (it's been converted into a diner). We passed the castle where Mary Queen of Scots died, and visited a perfectly preserved historic Highlander house. Disappointingly, the movie Braveheart wasn't actually filmed in Scotland (one of many historical inaccuracies) but David the guide talked about the true stories of William Wallace.
We made many stops along the way, both 'official' tour stops and spontaneous photo ops. We stopped in a town where I had the chance to try Scotch flavored ice cream, which was uniquely delicious. I'm not much of a drinker but I do like a good scotch occasionally and it was very interesting in ice cream form. We also stopped at Loch Ness, where you can buy tickets to take a boat tour, of course I did it. Sadly there were no monster sightings but it was still a fun tour within a tour.
Tour ended on a high note as we returned to Edinburgh and David encouraged everyone to sing along with The Proclaimers 500 Miles, or just clap for those who didn't know the words. What a fun experience! If/when I go back I want to take another tour they offer that's a full 3 days of hiking and camping, I can only imagine how beautiful the highlands must be at night.
The highlands deserved their own write up, but stay tuned because I have to talk about the city of Edinburgh too, which I also loved.
Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh. What a beautiful place, with some of the friendliest people I've ever met in my life, and I'm not exaggerating. I'll just say I'd move here in a heartbeat if they'd have me.
I flew into Heathrow London, then took the train into Edinburgh. 4 1/2-ish hours on the train, unfortunately I had a seat with a partially obstructed window view but what I saw I loved. Peaceful landscapes, grazing sheep. Already my 2025 level of stress was waning.
Then we arrived. I got some stares, as you can probably tell from my pictures I'm clearly not Scottish, but not at all in an aggressive or unfriendly way, just curiosity. I quickly learned that this is not the 'everyone's in a big hurry' type of city that I'm used to from living in NYC, people actually want to stop and chat. One person stopped me on the street and literally said, 'Are ye friendly?" Now, lately I've been making an real effort to connect with more people in a positive way, so this is exactly what I've been looking for. What a breath of fresh air!
My hotel was 2 blocks from the train station. So I checked in and then went to walk the streets, as I do. What I found was a place that felt unlike anywhere I'd ever been. Felt like a small town and big city at the same time, with all the best qualities of both. Across the street? A castle! You can feel the history in every corner. No there's not many (any?) skyscrapers here, but honestly I'll take castles over skyscrapers any day.
This was my first time trying both black pudding and haggis (I enjoyed both, tasted like a sort of mild sausage). I was also lucky enough to see a Scottish piper performing on the street. Whatever your opinion of bagpipe music, if you have the chance to see a genuine Scottish piper, it's very cool.
On day 2, I went on a ghost tour. Now from the start I could tell this would be unforgettable. Each guide took on the persona of a Scottish historical figure that met a gruesome or untimely end (mine was Scottish magician The Great Lafayette, interesting story, look it up). We visited underground tunnels, where the guide had to physically block the door so some junkies that looked like Trainspotting characters that followed our group on the street level didn't follow us in (Edinburgh felt extremely safe in general, but this was a good story so I had to include it). We saw an underground vault from Black Plague times, allegedly haunted, as well as one of the world's oldest graveyards. If you have any fascination with the darker side of history, this was so worth it (I loved it).
Of course, I also visited Edinburgh Castle, and it did not disappoint. It's not all accessible to visitors but there's plenty to explore. Cannons, swords, coats of arms, you know, castle stuff. Check out my pictures, they don't even fully capture the atmosphere. And the street leading to the castle, locally known as The Royal Mile, is very cool too. One of Edinburgh's main streets, some tourist traps but also just interesting buildings and local businesses.
Edinburgh is a city of hills, and at the top of most you have an expansive view of most of the city as well as the ocean. I found a park close to my hotel where I could climb to a great vantage point, and I'm sure there's plenty more. Not to mention the highlands, which I wrote up separately because they deserved their own post.
Every step of the way, people went out of their way to make me feel welcome. Interestingly I somehow felt more at home than most of the places I've lived for years. What a fun, warm, unique place this was. This was my first European city and man, I loved it. But I gotta talk about the next place I went on this trip, also amazing, so if you're still here you rock and please don't go anywhere, you won't want to miss it.
Scotland, wow! Hope I get to return, you live in some of my favorite memories for now. Anyone reading this, if you're considering going, do it! You won't regret it, and you might just start looking for a way to live here, I know I did. Now on to jolly old London. Stay tuned, travelers.
London, England
London, a city of multiple personalities, and I loved them all. Whatever you're looking for, there's a good chance you can find it. Vibrant nightlife and pubs? Quiet parks? Peaceful waterfronts? Historic neighborhoods? It's all here! Plus friendly people and the trademark deadpan British humor everywhere. This is definitely a place where you want to explore beyond the tourist center areas, there's so many cool unique neighborhoods.
I didn't have any specific tours or anything planned here so I just tried to see as much as I could in the time I had. First day I did the big tourist destinations, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. All very cool to see in person. You can't get super close to the palace but I did get to see the changing of the guard. I do believe there's tours available where you can go inside, I'll have to do that next time.
The next few days I just wandered. It's a very walkable city, plus the subways are all very clean and reliable. Of course there's also the famous double decker buses and black cabs as well!
Some interesting neighborhoods: Camden, vibrant and diverse, with the gritty remnants of the early UK punk scene. SoHo, full of trendy nightlife, music and bars. Hackney Mills, with streets and buildings covered in amazing murals and artwork. Notting Hill, all cobblestone streets and colorful houses.
It's also a very green city, no matter where I was there seemed to be a park within a few blocks. Always nice to duck out of the city bustle for a bit and see some nature and wildlife.
There's so much more I wanted to see, I'll definitely have to make a return trip. Very cool fun place, busy and exciting but also laid back and surprisingly affordable, at least when it came to food and drinks. Also an interesting mix of historic and modern architecture. And...there's still actual pay phone booths! Hadn't seen one of those since I was a kid.
Definitely worth a visit or two (or three), I can't wait to go back for more. Next up...Amsterdam!
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Amsterdam is intense, in a good way. If you're looking for a party or just a fun busy atmosphere, this is the place to be. The people I met matched the city vibes, friendly, warm, welcoming, and a bit rough around the edges (not a bad thing). Despite Amsterdam's 'sin city' reputation it still feels extremely safe even at night. Contrary to popular belief most things are still technically illegal, just decriminalized/tolerated as long as you're not causing a problem. Just be cool and respectful and don't drink or do any other substances in public (there's plenty of bars and lounges if you want to partake) and you won't have any issues.
Funny story, I wasn't sure I'd even be allowed in, going through passport control was (at first) intimidating. The officer was about twice my size, covered in tattoos and looked like he'd been in a few bar fights the night before. I was asked why I was here, when I said tourism/sightseeing the officer gave me a hard stare and said 'no, what are you here to see SPECIFICALLY?" I just laughed nervously and said, I don't know, windmills and canals? At which point he broke into a friendly smile and said "welcome to Amsterdam!" I guess they like to have a little fun with tourists, already seemed like my kind of place.
There's quite a bit of traffic in the city, not cars but bicycles. I think I saw more bikes than people, it's the preferred mode of transport and most streets are either all bike lanes or pedestrian only. I just walked everywhere but there's plenty of bike rental shops with reasonable prices. Except for work and delivery vans the vast majority of the cars I did see were small Fiats and the like that can navigate a city not built for motorized vehicles.
Outside the airport and a few of the tourist centers most of the signage is in Dutch, but everyone I talked to spoke perfect English as well. ATMs, self checkouts, etc had options to switch to English (not always easy to find though). Most things are fairly intuitive. It's the first place I've been with its own language, my Dutch is very limited (as a typical American I don't speak any language particularly well) but people loved when I tried and were happy to teach me some words and correct grammar/usage.
It's a vibrant, diverse place full of cool architecture and of course the canals. Wherever you are you're no more than a few blocks from a canal and they're beautiful to walk along. There's boat tours available that include food and drinks, I'll have to try one of those next time I'm there.
I extended my trip by a few days because I had credits for a free hotel room, but it still wasn't long enough to see everything. Like most places I go I could easily spend a month just exploring, I can't wait to return someday. Nothing but good experiences and cool people.
