Meeting the many sides to Edinburgh

Our time in Edinburgh was coming to a close. Over the past 3 days, Edinburgh showed us many sides of itself.

We wandered in sleepy Dean Village amongst a river lined with lush grasses, black iron fences, and quiet brick houses with steep roofs and tall, narrow windows. In the early hours, we watched children in red sweaters and navy shorts saunter to school, as locals walked their dogs briskly before work.

We toured cobbled streets of old town, through dark and narrow alleys, up and down hills, and even underground through old and forgotten streets.

We sampled the traditional cuisine of fried haggis balls and got familiar the different whiskey regions of Scotland and their subtle differences in flavor profile.

We took in stunning views from capitol hill and other high points, discovering the uniformity of the city’s color palette — a muted brown and grey stone.

On our last day, we set our eyes upon the giant hill with a flat top off in the distance. It was called Arthur’s Seat and it was a 2.4 mile loop with over 800 feet of elevation gain. That morning started overcast, the ceiling of clouds kept the air cool as we started our trek.