Edinburgh 2000 - 2012

Edinburgh Castle

Right from the start I fell in love with Edinburgh; when I visited it for the first time in 2000.

With about 500.000 inhabitants living here, the capital of Scotland is much smaller than London. Nevertheless it has lots of attractions to discover such as two castles ("Edinburgh Castle" and "Holyrood Palace"), four galleries, several museums and theatres.

Furthermore, there are two beautiful parks: Princes Street Gardens in the very centre and Inverleith Park in the North of the city.

Scott's Monument

The Royal Mile is a special main street in the Old Town because it is divided into four different parts with different names: Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High Street and Canongate.

The chessboard-like layout of the New Town was designed by Robert Adam, the architect of the 18th century in the UK; Adam's design makes it easy to find your way through the city.

Ramsay Gardens

I especially like Victorian and Georgian architecture and I'm never tired of looking at it. You can find typical Georgian houses, for instance, at Ramsay Gardens, which is close to Edinburgh Castle (Castlehill) and is well-maintained.

Incidentally, I met the sweetest acquaintance of my holiday there. Whilst I was walking there, I discovered a squirrel running around. It came quite close to me when I talked to it. I felt I was being watched by it. After a while both of us went in different directions but when I turned back, the squirrel had stopped and was looking back too. Very sweet :)

Ramsay Gardens

If you can't get enough of architecture, you could take part in one of the guided "Mercat Tours" leading through the Old Town with all the little streets and narrow alleys.

If it's your first time in Edinburgh and you're interested in history, I'd recommend paying a visit to both castles so you can better understand Edinburgh's and Scotland's history.

"Holyrood Palace" is the Queens' residence in Edinburgh. If Her Majesty The Queen is there, the flag will be hoisted. Moreover, Mary, Queen of Scots used to live there.

St. Giles Cathedral

Besides St. Giles Cathedral in the Royal Mile with its big bronze plaque of Robert Louis Stevenson on the right side, I would visit "Greyfriar's Kirk". It's much smaller than St. Giles and more simply furnished but has a lot of charm. It is also nice to walk around the nearby graveyard with its ancient trees.

If you want to learn about the soul of Scotland, a visit to the "Writer's Museum" is a must. Here you can read about the three most important Scottish writers: Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Greyfriar's Kirk

Sir Walter Scott published his novel "Waverley" in 1814 and happened to be one of the first writers to write historic novels. "Scott's Monument" was built in his honour and set in the centre of Edinburgh. Robert Burns was highly regarded because of his poems and songs written in a colloquial language, which reached a wide range of people. In memory of him, "Burns Night" is celebrated in late January every year.
"Treasure Island" and "Jekyll & Hyde" made Robert Louis Stevenson famous, even though his family was well-known as engineers who built all the lighthouses along Scotland's coast. I really loved reading "Jekyll & Hyde" and have seen it on stage several times.

Writer's Museum

As for museums, I really like visiting "Gladstone's Land" in upper Royal Mile  and the "Georgian House" at Charlotte Square. Here you can see the furnishings of the 18th century.

Another interesting museum is the "National Museum of Scotland". There are lots of different objects to see and a very special clock that comes to life every hour. It's over 3 floors high and a real show-stopper with dramatic music: Bach's "Toccata".

My favourite pub is definitely the "Jekyll & Hyde" in Hanover Street, New Town. I've never seen a droller pub than this. It's furnished in the novel's style and you feel a bit like being in Dr. Jekyll's laboratory.

Places to have tea or coffee and a piece of cake could be "Chocolat du plaisir" or "Clarinda's Tearoom", both in lower Royal Mile (Canongate), close to "Holyrood Palace".

Deacon Brodie's Tavern

One of my favourite restaurants in the city is "Deacon Brodie's Tavern". You can either sit in the pub downstairs or in the restaurant upstairs in the middle of the Royal Mile (Lawnmarket). Deacon Brodie inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write "Jekyll & Hyde". By day, Brodie was a cabinet-maker, deacon of a trade's guild and city councillor. By night, he was a burglar. In a bitter twist of irony, he was hanged at the gallows that he had designed one year before in 1787.

Stratford-upon-Avon, September 2013

Shakespeare's birthplace

I was very curious to visit Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of  Shakespeare, in the Heart of England. I read "Julius Caesar" and "Much Ado About Nothing" when I was in school. Ever since then I have wanted to visit the birthplace of Britain's greatest writer, and see a theatre play of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Anne Hathaway's Cottage

I flew to Birmingham and took the train to Stratford. My guest house was lovely. The kind  proprietor gave me some very good tips for the town and the whole region.

After arriving, I walked around the town to get a first impression of it. Stratford is a pretty place that is full of atmosphere, especially because of all the medieval buildings. The pub "The Old Thatch Tavern" was recommended to me, so I had dinner there - I didn't regret it.

In the evening, I watched the comedy "A Mad World My Masters" in the Swan Theatre. It wasn't written by Shakespeare but it was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company and was hilarious ;). Additionally, I really liked the way the theatre was furnished.

Anne Hathaway's Cottage

The next day, before leaving Stratford, I went to see Shakespeare's birthplace in Henley Street and tried to take a photo of it without any tourists - nearly impossible. I met a woman there who came from Munich, and who was trying to do the same thing. We discovered we were both from Germany and had the same Christian name. A nice surprise :)




We decided to visit Shakespeare's house together, which was great. It was interesting to see how it was furnished and the way people had lived in the 16th century. In the past few years I had seen a lot more 18th and 19th century style housing, but very little from this earlier period.

Holy Trinity Church

We went on to Anne Hathaway's cottage, which was located a little way out of the town centre. It took about 15 minutes by foot and we passed by lots of nice cottages with thatched roofs.
Anne Hathaway's cottage looked just wonderful with its own thatched roof and pretty garden. When we entered the first room, we were given some information about Anne Hathaway and her family, and of course about Shakespeare. There were many small rooms with narrow doors and low ceilings, which made everything look very cosy.

River Avon

We then headed to the Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare was buried, besides other family members of his. It was very touching for both of us to visit his tomb. We stood still for a while. The church was located close to the river Avon - a beautiful area. We walked along the river until we arrived at the  Royal Shakespeare Theatre.



I left in the afternoon and went to Birmingham, where I met my English friend Lynne and stayed with her. I'd have really liked to visit "Hall's Croft" and "Mary Arden's House" but that's on my to-do list for next time. (John Hall was Shakespeare's son-in-law and Mary Arden was his mother).

Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Some days later, we returned to Stratford together to see Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus". I had read before that it's the bloodiest play out of all of Shakespeare's plays and it really unnerved me. I found it difficult to fall asleep afterwards.

No matter what I had read about theatre before, the Royal Shakespeare Company was highly recommended and now I know why. I found both plays very intense, one made me laugh and the other made me shiver.