Travel diary Scotland day 16, 2016: "Control your emotions" - Severus Snape, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

 **Disclaimer: I write and upload the same day, often after a long and exhausting day. I often don't have the focus to re read and take out the typos, grammatical and vocabulary errors. Beware!**

Halloooooo!!!

That last day is always bitter sweet. Well, not really sweet in my case. Mostly bitter.

Harry Potter's brith place
After I checked out of my guest house, I was waiting for the bus to take me to the station so I could drop off all my stuff at the left luggage area. By chance, Jen, the guide on the Dark Side tour that I did yesterday evening was waiting on the same bus stop.

Rather than make things awkward, we had a nice little chat about what I could do during my remaining hours in Edinburgh. I had already formed some sort of plan in my head, but surprisingly her suggestions came pretty close.

After she and two other strangers on the bus advised me which stop I could get off, I dropped off my bag so I had more freedom to walk around town.

When I left the train station, I realised how many people I recognised. People from the tours I did yesterday, the guides, people who were staying in the same guest house, etc etc. Even a guy I recognised from the Bella Italia I had dinner at last night. It is definitely a much smaller city than London.

Anyway, as for the morning, I decided to do the exact same thing I did last year: have a coffee and a piece of cake at the Elephant House. The place where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter books. Last year's post: Travel diary Scotland day 9, 2015: Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer

I started listening to the audiobook of Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone on my way from Alloway to Rosslyn Chapel and then Edinburgh. I didn't walk around all the time with my iPod in, but honestly, the moments I did were amazing. It made me experience the story in yet another way. Bu the time I arrived at the Elephant House I was already on book two.

National Museum of Scotland... Nah, rather Pride!
After my little (3hour) coffee break, I decided to head to the National Museum of Scotland. I wanted to visit it last year but couldn't unfortunately make it, so yeah, this year ;)

However, like most free musea, the place was massive and I was carrying my backpack with laptop, my beautiful Canon camera and some presents in a bag. The weather outside was agreable to my outfit, but inside it was too hot. With carrying all that stuff and the fact that I had to leave Scotland in less than 3 hours, made it impossible for me to actually enjoy the museum. So I left after about 45mins. The entrance hall is breathtaking though.

Because I left the museum a lot earlier than I had intended to, I had a lot of time on my hands all of the sudden. What better way to spend than sit on a stone on the Royal Mile? I had done it so often these past few days.

I knew the Pride was going to happen in the afternoon, I just wasn't sure at what time it would start. I arrived around 2pm on the High Street and it was clear that the party was in full swing. I made it but further down the Royal Mile so there were less people I could bump into with my backpack and I had the sun on my face. By the time I had found a nice spot to spectate, the Pride was moving down towards Holyrood Palace.

It was such a wonderful thing the behold. I had never seen a Pride, but the joy, love and message of 'it doesn't matter who you are, what you are, you're still a human being and you deserve to be loved' is a beautiful one. So much bad things are happening in the world, so it was really cool to actually see so much positivity gathered in one place.

After the Pride had passed I found myself a little seat on the Royal Mile and enjoyed the sun on my face (when the clouds weren't blocking it). The remaning 20minutes flew by and before I knew it, I had to drag myself towards the train station.

Bought some dinner at the M&S, picked up my bag and boarded the train immediately. The journey went very smooth, besides the fact that I had dificulties controlling my emotions. So that is why I saw two films, The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Cinderella. I fell asleep during Narnia so the girl next to me had to wake me up when our tickets were checked x)

By 8pm I was back where it all began 2 weeks ealier: London King's Cross. Two busses later and I was back home.

I can't believe those two weeks are gone now. Time flew by when I needed it to slow down the most. It was another great experience and I have learned so much again. I'm already thinking about my next trip. Ireland? Iceland? Sweden? Who knows ;)

I hope you've enjoyed my travel diary through Scotland and that it may give you the urge to travel too! To Scotland or anywhere else in the world!

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Travel diary Scotland day 15, 2016: Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, teach us something please... Oh, wait...

 **Disclaimer: I write and upload the same day, often after a long and exhausting day. I often don't have the focus to re read and take out the typos, grammatical and vocabulary errors. Beware!**

Halloooooo!!

Ooh to end my trip in the city where Harry Potter was born. It's a good way to end a trip. So yesterday I've visited the Queen's Galary and walked up Arthur's seat, but I couldn't leave Edinburgh without fitting in a tour or two.

Privat New Town Tour
So Friday afternoon I bought a ticket for the New Town Tour. The tour guide, David, kindly explained to me that it was a very very new tour. And with very new, it is only 2 weeks old. I was confused. I was planning my trip weeks in advance and the New Town Tour was already mentioned on the Sandeman's Tour website. The tour had run a test periode, but apparently they never took the tour off the website in the meantime. But yeah, it is clear that they are still working on the New Town Tour. It was our guide's first time walking the tour as well, so it's literally in its baby shoes. Because it isn't well known, the group was very small. Only 3 other tourist, so including the guide, we were 5. You could call it a privat tour. Unfortunately the tour started in the pouring rain. I even had wet feet and you might not know it, but I hate have wet shoes. Well, after yesterday I have to correct myself on that. I don't hate having wet shoes after all. I hate having wet shoes whilst sitting at a desk inside, but having wet shoes whilst walking around didn't seem to bother me at all. Might sound very odd, but it is great news for me x)

The New Town Tour covers the North part of the city. It was certainly interesting and I did learn a thing or two, but it was also very confusing at times. By now, I do know quite a bit about Scotland in 18th Century and about the Great Fire of London in 1666, so I got really confused about dates and events that the tour guide mentioned at times. I tried to shut up as much as possible, as I can imagine nothing is more annoying than a tourist who thinks she knows better. But it was also quite obvious that I'm quite bias. Our guide was Australian and had a more broad view on what happened in 1745, whilst I'm currently leaning very heavily towards the standpoint of the Jacobites. Still have a lot to learn about the other sides of the story ;)

Luckily the weather cleared up towards the end of the tour and we had this lovely view on Edinburgh Castle at the end.

After the tour, we all went to get a drink at the nearby Starbucks with an amazing view on the castle. Honestly, I'd never know that Starbucks was there if the guide hadn't shown it. Breathtaking.

The Dark Side Tour 2.0
As for the evening, I wasn't quite sure what to do. I had considered to do the Sandeman's Pub Crawl, but after reading a bit more about it, they advertised it as: "meet other people who like to party as well with a visit to 5 pubs, get 5 shots and have free access to a club at the end of the night." Yeah, not really for me so it seems. Am not really the party animal. Don't get me wrong, I do like to go to the pub every once in a while, have a nice chat, even do a bit of dancing twice or thrice a year, but not more than that.

But I didn't want to do nothing either. So I decided to join the Dark Side tour again. I had done it last year as well. Travel diary Scotland day 8, 2015: Harry Potter's birthplace and Game of Thrones Red Wedding That turned out with a night to the pub and then another bar. Was really cool to hang out with 2 women from New York, a Scotman and a Frenchmen. Who knew what this tour would bring?

More rain, is what the tour brought. But also a very animated tour guide called Jen. It was interesting to compare the two tours. It was obvious that they had to cover certain areas and stories, but they also had some freedom to cover the stories they were interested in. Jen is a fan of Mary, Queen of Scots, like I am, and she had some very interesting stories to tell about her which I didn't know!

Unlike last year, the tour didn't end with a trip to the pub, but I had a delicious pizza at the closest Bella Italia. I might have gone to a pub after dinner to have a gin and tonic anyway. I might have. Just because. To be honest, gin and tonic is growing on me x) Around 11pm it was time for me to return to the guest house and get some sleep.

That was my final complete day in Edinburgh. Tomorrow afternoon I'll be heading back to London. Can't belief it has gone by so fast. *sigh*

Anyway, thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Travel diary Scotland day 14, 2016: A day not going to plan. Edinburgh though.

**Disclaimer: I write and upload the same day, often after a long and exhausting day. I often don't have the focus to re read and take out the typos, grammatical and vocabulary errors. Beware!** 

Halloooooo!!

The end is near. The day after tomorrow I'll be heading back to London. But before that, I do get to spent some quality time in a beautiful city called Edinburgh.

Planning not going to plan
Just like the other days of my trip I had a planning. Things that I certainly wanted to do and see in a way that would be most effective to lose as little time as possible. But it all came to nothing and it all started with the fact that the dining room of the guest house I'm staying at is way too little. Only 5 tables when there are 8 rooms and breakfast is served between 8 and 9. At 8.15 I stood downstairs, but no seats were available so I had to head back up to wait for a
**Disclaimer: I write and upload the same day, often after a long and exhausting day. I often don't have the focus to re read and take out the typos, grammatical and vocabulary errors. Beware!**
table to free up. I lost already half an hour of my planning. Eventually by 9.30am I headed out towards city centre. Unfortunately it was drizzling/raining on my way, so my idea of walking up Arthur's Seat in the morning didn't seem to happen. I've had my fair share of walking/hiking in rain this holiday ;) So I needed another plan, which turned my day upside down. It turned out to be quite productive in the end, but regrettably I can't go in to deep on here too much. What I can tell is that I roamed countless shops in search for a bookmarker that I had seen on my trip last year. Of course, without success. I also sat on the Royal Mile for quite a while, just enjoying the sun that had come out by then and thriving in the fact that I was back in Edinburgh.

Arthur's Seat
After a tea and piece of chocolate cake in a little cafe on the Grassmarket with view on Edinburgh Castle, I headed towards Holyrood road and Holyrood Palace as they are featured in the second book in the Outlander series Dragonfly in Amber. But when I arrived at the palace I found out that it is closed between 27th June and 10 July. Reason? Her Majesty the Queen, Lizzy, is currently staying or is about to stay, in the palace. So I had to settle for a visit to the Queen's Galary only, which turned out the be the exact same exibition as the one in the Queen's Galary back in January. Ah well, it was about the Dutch artists in the time of Vermeer (1600-1700 ish) which is one of my favorite periods in art. By the time I walked out it was 5pm and as I was so near the Arthur's Seat, I figured I might as well go up. And oh my, happy I did that! Windy as hell up there, but the view was worth it.

Legend has it that once a dragon roamed these skies and terrorised the area, eating life stock. One day he ate so much, he went to sleep and never woke up. This is just one of the many stories. No one really knows how the hill got its name. What is known, is that it once was a volcano. Pretty cool hein?

By the time I arrived back at the foot of the hill, it was time for dinner and then head back to the guest house.

That is it for the day before last! Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Travel diary Scotland day 13, 2016: "The Holy Grail 'neath ancient Rosslyn waits" - Robert Langdon, Da Vinci Code

 **Disclaimer: I write and upload the same day, often after a long and exhausting day. I often don't have the focus to re read and take out the typos, grammatical and vocabulary errors. Beware!**

Halloooo!!!!!!!!!

Please note I'm super tired, so it'll be a short 'un.

After visiting the Robert Burns museum and my 'quick' visit to the Brig o' Doon, I realised that I needed more time in Alloway. So as soon as I had checked out I drove back. I've visited the Robert Burns momenument and the gardens. I also spent a little more time at the bridge.

One cinnamon hot chocolate coming up
Around 11am it was inevitable to continue with my day. You might not know, but the book series "Doon" by Lorie Langdon and Carey Corp is the only reason why I went to Alloway to see the bridge. Hence my picture with the book and bridge.

When I walked of the Robert Burn's cottage yesterday, my eye fell on this little cafe. Unfortunately it was closing by the time I walked in, so I had to return today. No cinnamon hot chocolate on the menu nor were the strawberry scones, but the staff was so kind to just add some cinnamon onto my hot chocolate. I was something I had never tried before, but I know what I'll be drinking in December ;)

The Holy Grail 'neath ancient Rosslyn waits
And the film locations just keep coming! Unfortunately it is prohibited to film inside the chapel, but it looked all so familier x)
And that is! thanks for reading !
xo - Sara

Travel diary Scotland day 12, 2016: Found and walked the Brig o' Doon

 **Disclaimer: I write and upload the same day, often after a long and exhausting day. I often don't have the focus to re read and take out the typos, grammatical and vocabulary errors. Beware!**

Halloooo!!!

Just quickly, in case you've missed the previous 3 posts:

Travel diary Scotland day 11, 2016: "How tiny the Glens make one feel..." - Lady Edith Crawley, Downton Abbey: A journey to the Highlands
Travel diary Scotland day 10, 2016: I had my freaking burger in Aberfeldy!!!
Travel diary Scotland day 9, 2016: Nope, I didn't travel through time...

It seems to be a re occuring theme: every time I'd like to check out, I end up having a 30minute or longer conversation. This time it was about Brexit and about the fact that Germany would have the same outcome if they were to held a leaving referendum. It's frightening. Anyway, lets not talk politics but history ;)

Today I drove to Dumbarton Castle near Glasgow. It is quite isolated and isn't nearly as touristy as say Stirling Castle or Doune Castle. The reason why I wanted to visit this castle is because, yes, 3 guesses, it has something to do with Mary, Queen of Scots. At the age of 6 in 1568 she was taken to France to live at French court as her life was in danger as long as she'd stayed in Scotland. She wouldn't return until 1560 (ish), but she does revisit this castle in 1563. So yeah, Mary has walked these grounds. Pretty cool hein?

Tree planted by HM the Queen. Lizzy ;)

Again, the castle wasn't big, so in less than an hour I had seen everything and I was standing outside again.

Rather than have a proper sit down lunch I bought something at a local M&S store and ate in my car. Whilst I was finished my salade, it suddenly hit me. My trip is coming to an end and I don't want it to. I don't want to go back to the office on Monday. But do I ever? (no) Nearly wanted to cry.

But, no time to have a proper breakdown as my next stop was awaiting in Alloway. The Doon-series by Lorie Langdon and Carey Corp are the soul reason why I wanted to go to Alloway and see the actual Brig o' Doon. So yeah, I had to take some pictures ;)

As Alloway was also the birth place of Robert Burns, I've visited the museum (part of the National Trust) and the cottage where he was actually born. I knew that he wrote Auld Lang Syne, which features in numerous movies, but he also wrote A red red Rose, which is featured in Made of Honor! And I thought I wasn't going to cover that film during my trip this year x)

Who would have thought; hein? A piece of Robert Burns in Sex and the City? x)

Anyway, tomorrow I'll be discovering Alloway for a bit. Should be interesting!

Thanks for reading (as per usual ;))

xo - Sara