A Dash through Scotland

"This is a city of shifting light,

of changing skies, of sudden vistas.

A city so beautiful it breaks the heart

again and again."

Alexander McCall Smith

Edinburgh

Anna and me

At the last minute my friend and flatmate, Anna and I decided that I should stop in Scotland to visit her. Brilliant! I had never been to the UK before and I was going to kill two birds with one stone as I was planning to see Ireland too, and before anyone freaks out at me for saying that Ireland is NOT part of the UK, I lump the two together when speaking about that part of the world. My sincere apologies but my stubbornness prevails on this one folks.

I spent less than 48 hours in Scotland; you can't call that as seeing a country but I jammed as much as I could into those precious few hours and was lucky to see quite a bit.

Glasgow

I arrived late into rainy Glasgow but I finally met up with Anna and we walked around some of the town before giving up as the weather was clearly trying to best us in seeing whose will was greater. Ours obviously wasn't; nobody likes being cold, wet and blown away. Fortunately though we found some refuge in the coolest temporary sanctuary; The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It is one of Europe's top art galleries and, amazingly, it is free to enter.

Just chilling with the King at the Kelvingrove

Afterwards we caught the train to Edinburgh and I immediately fell in love with the city. It's the type of place I can imagine myself living in. I've only had a connection like that with a few places and Edinburgh definitely falls into that special category.

Greyfriars Bobby

The city has a smaller population than what I expected, with only about 450 thousand people but still makes it the second most populous city in Scotland. I think I forget that European countries aren't as big as South Africa sometimes.

I will have you know that during this trip I tried my utmost to master the accent of a true Scotsman and their odd (for me at least) way of pronouncing certain words. For example, 'book' is pronounced with an oo like 'soup'. They roll their 'r's and pronounce 'road' with an 'or' sound like 'board'. I became an irritating parrot; mimicking every funny sounding phrase I heard. The South African accent is by no means easy to learn but I was definitely not having much luck with the Scottish one.

The next day we adventured into the cold city and I was captivated by what I saw. We walked the Royal Mile; a succession of streets that form the Old Town that lead up to Castlehill with the Edinburgh Castle. Not that I even knew that the city had one of those; shows how much I know about the world. The walk is quite famous. Where else could you stroll down the tail of a long-extinct volcano?

Funny faces at the Camera Obscura

We stopped at the Camera Obscura and took some quirky photos of ourselves in the illusion mirrors.

We walked through the German Christmas market and ate traditional bratwurst and chatted in a coffee shop whilst drinking mulled wine, something I'd never fancied before. We visited the Writer's Museum which I thought was pretty impressive. The museum celebrates three well-known Scottish writers; Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. 

Quotes by various authors are captioned outside the
Writer's Museum

Two days is hardly any time at all in the grand scheme of anything so before I knew it I was off to Portugal for another whirlwind of an adventure but my Christmas trip would not have been the same if I didn't visit my dear friend in the land of the Scots; leaving more world wise and only bringing a love of a country into my heart.

Edinburgh

Last Stop! Bratislava

Our view of the castle from our hostel window

My eurotrip was coming to an end and I was both happy and sad for it. Travelling is my passion and it makes me feel alive like nothing else can but, at the same time, it can get tiring seeing so many places in a such a short period of time. 

In the Old Town

Our last stop before heading home was one day and night in Bratislava, Slovakia. I was apprehensive to see this city purely for one reason only and that was "Hostel". That stupid horror movie (which was based in Bratislava) made me such a paranoid little white girl that I could've bypassed the whole city.

I'm thankful we did go though. :) Bratislava is a great little city and I enjoyed our short stay there. I thought the city pretty and quaint; more than I expected.

I liked the city from the moment we stepped off the train. There is something captivating about it. 

Fat and swollen, frozen sauasage fingers

We got a little lost trying to find our way to the hostel (how ironic) but we found it eventually and off we went on the guided tour. I lost my gloves while in Budapest, so my poor little fingers took such a beating from the cold. Also by this time, my camera's battery decided to die so I wasn't able to take many photos though I tried to take a few with my phone. 

The Blue Church

There are a few key things that caught my attention in the city that I will never forget and that includes the Blue Church. This adorable little church is found in the Old Town of Bratislava. It's commonly called the Blue Church because of its characteristically blue facade. Blue roof tiles, blue doors, blue walls; blue everything! 

The Bratislava castle sits above the city on a hill on the Danube river. Although we didn't go see it, it was a nice back drop to our explorations.

My favourite part of the city is the medieval old town that resides in the inner city. It's not as big as some other "old towns" in Europe but is quite pretty. Napoleon can be found eavesdropping on conversations. His statue is found in the market square. 

Napoleon statue in the market square

Soon we were on our way back to Warsaw to rest before Amanda, Erin and I got back to work and started teaching. I was so excited to send everyone postcards and to put up my new magnets on my fridge! 

There are many cool statues in the city
but this one was my favourite

Here's a link to my other posts for our mini eurotrip. Check them out! 

Eurotrip:

City 1: Wroclaw

City 2: Prague

City 3: Vienna Part 1 and Part 2

City 4: Budapest

A teenager skateboarding over the tram lines early in the morning
with the Bratislava Castle in the background

I Heart Budapest

In February this year, I went on a mini eurotrip with two of my friends and our fourth stop was in Budapest. I fell in love with this city instantaneously and became my favourite stop of the trip. Sometimes a city can just call out to you; it's history, architecture, the people.

I left my heart in Budapest...

I wanted to go to this city without really knowing much about it and at every turn I was surprised at how amazing it really is. It is the capital of Hungary and is cited as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. It's charm is found in the perfect blend of old and modern.

This is my most favourite photo of the whole trip

Overlooking Pest from Buda Castle

Budapest was once two separate cities that were divided by the river Danube; Buda and Pest. The opposite sides of the city are vastly different because of the architecture and terrain. Buda sits higher on the hill side and overlooks Pest and the buildings are lower and more spacial. Buda was royal city. The Buda Castle was the residence of all the past Hungarian kings. The Hungarian president also lives on the Buda side of the city.
Pest lies flat next to the Danube and its architecture is more 'city-like' if I can explain it that way.

On the steps of Buda Castle

The Hungarian people call themselves Magyars. Asian in origin, similar to the Huns and Turks, they made they way to what is now Hungary. The land itself goes back to 900AD when the people became Christians under their first ruler, King Stephen.


The city has many wonderful attractions including St Stephen's Basilica. The building itself is expectantly beautiful but what I found most interesting was the mummified right hand of St Stephen. It is kept in a shrine within the church. At the time it was said that it was a miracle and so he was canonized.

On his deathbed, King Stephen asked and prayed for the Blessed Virgin Mary to be his successor, ruler of the Hungarians. To this day, Virgin Mary is viewed as the eternal Queen of Hungary.

This old lady stared at us the entire time our guide was talking to us

We went on two walking tours in Budapest: the city tour and the communism tour. Both are jam-packed with insightful information of the city and its history. I recommend doing both if you have the time for it.

Amanda and I

The city is famous for its thermal baths and many tourists flock to them for their healing properties. We didn't have time to go which is why I have to go back! :)

Chain Bridge

The Chain Bridge is a popular landmark that links both sides of the city. It is often depicted in postcards and magnets. Two majestic lions lie on either side of the bridge.

In my Vienna article, I mentioned how the Hungarians adored Empress Sisi of Austria. This is evident all over the city with monuments, streets, squares and even a bridge that is named after her. They speak of her with much respect and love.

There is so much that Budapest has to offer. A good few days should be spent in this city to fully appreciate all the wonders that it possesses. I went in winter but I'd love to go in the summer and truly absorb all its awesomeness.

What a classic :)

Prague: City of Statues

Prague was our second stop on our mini eurotrip in January/February this year. We arrived in the evening and I must admit, first impressions were not that great. The train station was dirty, the language was alien and the lady that helped us scared me with her wonky eye and debilitating body odour.

Taken from the Charles Bridge

We had to navigate our way through the city at night while it poured with rain and I was the only idiot who didn't bring an umbrella. To make matters worse, the rain stopped as we reached the hostel. Just my luck.

The next morning though, we woke up to a beautiful winter's morning and the city blew us away. The city has been preserved throughout history and takes you back into the world of ancient Bohemia.

On the Charles Bridge 

There are a few prize tourist attractions that bring people to Prague, come rain or shine. The famous Charles Bridge, for example, was the most prominent connection across the river from the Prague Castle to the city's Old Town. It was an integral trade route between Eastern and Western Europe.  More importantly, it's about 600m long and I ran that one winter's night at 3 am in my drunken state from a pub crawl I had with the girls. Along the bridge, there are 30 statues that line the bridge wall, mostly of saints.

Saint John of Nepomuk

One famous statue is of  Saint John of Nepomuk. Legend has it that he was the court priest who was tortured and then ordered to be drowned at the behest of the king because he refused to tell of his queen's confession and whether or not she was having an affair. He was thrown from the bridge and 5 angels saved him, hence the 5 stars around his head. It is meant to be good luck to touch the statue.

Prague is, in my humble opinion, most famous for its fully functioning, medieval astronomical clock. It was made in 1410 and still works today! Impressive by any standards. It is made up of 3 parts; the astronomical dial, the calendar dial and the 'Walk of the Apostles' that appear at each hourly strike. Dozens of tourists wait on the hour to watch the mini spectacle.  Legend says that the clock maker was a brilliant man beyond his time in engineering. The councillors of Prague did not want him sharing the mechanics with other cities so they lured him with a 'celebratory' feast where, instead, they blinded him. In his revenge, the clock maker committed suicide by throwing himself into the gears thus breaking the clock, leaving it damaged for the next hundred years. 

Death tolls the bell of time

Above the clock is a tower that you can go to the top of and see the whole city as far as the eye can see. We went at night. The city is as breath taking in the evening as it is by day.

Old Town Sqaure

A beautiful example of Gothic architecture is the Roman Catholic cathedral, St Vitus, within the Prague Castle. A monster of a church, it is the resting place of many Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors. 

The other side of the cathedral.

The main face of the St Vitus

To those that don't know, and neither did I don't worry, Hitler had intended Prague to be the capital of his new empire and so ordered that the city not be destroyed. He also wanted to save one Jewish synagogue as a testament to the 'exterminated race'. 

The view of Prague from the Castle

All in all, Prague is a beautiful city that is definitely worth your while to stop and visit. Transport is easy, the exchange rate is fair, the beer is amazing and the people are friendly. Although it's my second time visiting this city, I would definitely go again.