I had been to Edinburgh back in 2010 (back when I was poor). I stood outside the famous castle and admired it from behind the cold, black gate bars. I felt as though my wallet held me prisoner. Kidding, there was no gate, only a ticket agent named Susan. Flash forward to 2017, when I was still poor. For obvious reasons, I didn’t go into the castle this time either. I wasn’t about to pay those outlandish prices to see some well-placed stones from a different angle.

I arrived at Edinburgh Airport and took an Airlink 100 city bus which dropped me off at the North Bridge (last stop). The website was a bit confusing and I thought I had to get the tickets from inside the airport when it turns out there is a stand right by the bus outside, close to the Arrivals area. If you buy them from inside by the Departures area, you still need to exchange your receipt for an actual ticket outside by the bus stop so it’s a waste of time to buy it inside. What a great anecdote, thrilling.

I was able to sit at the top, in the very front of the double-decker so that slightly made up for the ticket frustration. That’s a lie, I didn’t get the very front I had to sit one row back from the front, which is very reminiscent of my life in general. Almost, but never quite there.

This time around I went up Arthur’s Seat. Bit misleading since there are no chairs at the top for you to sit on, so I had to deal with my heavy breathing standing up. It was hella windy but that’s what I get for going in November. Great views though so that made up for my sort of dying. There was also a beautiful Christmas market that I was one week too early for but the empty stalls looked promising. I recommend going to a rugby game just for kicks. Even if you’re not a huge sports fan, it had face painting and bag-piping. Chances are you probably wouldn’t have heard bag-piping in and around Edinburgh. Sarcasm doesn’t really transfer over to text so I am going to say it bluntly. Many Scottish people play bag-pipes in and around Edinburgh for no apparent reason other than it is super Scottish.

I also drank some drinks. There was more stuff to do, like a Harry Potter self-walking tour I found on some sketchy blog where you have to actually use your own legs to walk.  Unbelievable.

Since I only went for the weekend, I was limited with time but not limited with great memories.

Sometimes life makes you say jazzy things like that.