Edinburgh is the main city in Scotland where I was lucky enough to stay for three weeks thanks to the amazing DEP grant from the Ministry of Spanish Education. I was there a year and a half ago.
The aim of my stay was to take a language course, which I did, but I also made the most of the time to visit the whole city.
One afternoon when the weather was average, we decided to climb up to Arthur's Seat, the tallest hill in Holyrood Park which is located right next to the Queen's Palace in Edinburgh.
When you come here you might have some doubts about the current situation of Scotland in regards to the United Kingdom... I'm talking about the Independence vote. Some Scottish residents wish to be independent and for there to be a referendum, but despite this, they still seem to get on very well with the Queen of England. The truth is we didn't hear anything about the whole situation while we were there.
We started to climb it... and it went on forever! Then we realised that we had come up the long way but never mind, we were already on our way up.
The whole place is honestly beautiful. There were moments when I completely forgot that I was in Edinburgh, it was like we were in the middle of a mountain range. The wind helped me to forget where I was too, and amazingly, the sun came out in Edinburgh.
Climbing up to the seat is completely free since it is part of the Holyrood park. There is also a pond at the bottom with some cute ducks (quack quack! ).
The views from the top are incredible. You can see the main streets in Edinburgh and see the castle, Calton Hill opposite, the port and of course the sea.
My advice is that if you go and climb the hill (which you should), wear comfy shoes and clothes, and wrap up. You can always take layers off but you can't put them on if you don't have any. Be patient and go go go!
On the way down, we went with some crazy people who were entertaining themselves singing 'hacer camino' (a famous verse by Machado that says 'no walking route is made by walking'. We tackled through the bushes that were covering huge muddy pools underneath. I fell onto my bum and literally slid through the mud (yes I know what a mare... ). When we got to the bottom, it was most embarrassing to see the others waiting for us because we had took longer falling in the mud and slipping down the hill. There is a photo of my bum covered in mud somewhere but I'd rather forget about it. You can see the other photos of us on this page where I look knackered.
If you go, think about visiting Erasmusitos. It is worth it.
