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Espresso and Ambition

A not-so-serious gal with some serious dreams.

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36 Hours in Edinburgh

February 7, 2017 by Taylor 2 Comments

36 Hours in Edinburgh

Today I’m going to talk about one of my favorite trips thus far: Edinburgh. Edinburgh is an amazing city in Scotland that’s full of history and hiking and Harry Potter – really, what more could you ask for? I was only there for approximately 36 hours, but the city is small enough that I pretty much saw everything I wanted to while I was there. It’s also a pretty budget-friendly city, and most of the most interesting attractions are completely free. However, I will note a couple of excursions that you have to pay for; given that I was on this trip with a couple other college girls, we opted out of these, but they still sound incredibly interesting.

 

Transportation: 

To get to Edinburgh from Oxford, we took an overnight coach bus. This was definitely the “budget” option, and you get exactly what you pay for. It’s not the most comfortable, and you don’t sleep well. But once again, it was half of what you’d normally pay for a flight, particularly since we bought our tickets the day before we left. If I did this trip again, I’d probably shell out the extra money for the flight, but that’s just a personal preference.

As far as transportation within the city, Edinburgh is small so you can essentially walk everywhere. It’s a great workout too, because Edinburgh actually has hills (unlike London or Oxford).

 

Where to Stay: 

As students, we definitely took advantage of the cheap hostels in the city. The place we ended up staying was called Budget Backpackers, and for under 10 pounds per person, we had a private room for the four of us. The hostel also had a café downstairs, which was great for grabbing a snack. However, if I went back, I’d probably stay at the sister hostel, called Kick Ass. This hostel was just a little bit nicer and had a full bar and café, so it made it a really fun place to hang out. Luckily, our key cards for Budget Backpackers worked there too, it was just a bit less convenient to have to walk back to our hostel instead of just down the stairs to our rooms.

 

Day 1:

We started Day 1 with coffee and pastries at The Elephant House. If you don’t know what the significance of that place is, it’s credited as the “Birthplace of Harry Potter.” J.K. apparently spent a great deal of time working on her first novel here, which is understandable because the place is pretty adorable.

We found a table full of letters written to J.K. Rowling – naturally, I made my own contribution.

After that, we went on a short walking tour of the city. Luckily, our hostel offered these for free, but if you’re staying somewhere that doesn’t offer them, there are a bunch of places throughout the city advertising walking tours. In a city that’s so small but so rich in history, I’d definitely recommend this as a way to familiarize yourself with the area.

Some of the highlights we visited on the tour were Greyfriars Kirkyard (a graveyard where J.K. got inspiration for some of her character’s names – see Tom Riddell below) and the statue of Greyfriars Bobby, a dog who was essentially the epitome of loyalty.

After the tour, we walked up to Calton Hill, where you can get a pretty awesome view of the city. There’s also the National Monument up there as well as some other historic architecture, so it was definitely worth the walk. For dinner, we went to a place called Mum’s. If you’re in Edinburgh on a budget, I’d highly recommend this place. It has a lot of traditional English/Scottish comfort food, and pretty much everything was under 10 pounds.

At the end of the night, we visited a pop-up Game of Thrones bar. If you happen to go to Edinburgh on a Wednesday or Thursday between now and the end of February, this is such a cool concept. They have drinks and food that fit the theme of the movie, have the whole place decorated, and are playing iconic episodes.

 

 

Day 2:

Looking at the pictures I took on day 1 compared to today, you can tell there was a huge weather shift. While our first day was pretty cloudy and grey, our second day was blue skies for miles. As a result, we took advantage of this and climbed Arthur’s Seat, which was formed by an extinct volcano and now serves as the highest point in Edinburgh. While the hike itself is a bit grueling (and I was not appropriately dressed for it), the view at the top is completely worth it. You get 360 degree views of the city and surrounding towns, and can even see all the way out to the ocean. I took about a million pictures, but none of them can remotely do it justice.

We spent the rest of the day scouting out random bookstores and coffee shops to get work done. Despite taking a trip, we still had a lot of assignments back home. If I had had the time, I probably would have spent this time climbing up to Edinburgh Castle and visiting the Camera Obscura, which is an optical illusion museum. I’m not the biggest museum person (I much prefer walking around the city), but this looked like it would have been a lot of fun.

One overnight bus ride later, and I was back in Oxford. However, this trip got me even more excited for future adventures – I’m currently in the process of planning my next one and cannot wait to share it with all of you.

xo, Taylor

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Filed Under: Etc., Travel

Comments

  1. Ioanna says

    February 8, 2017 at 8:23 am

    I’m in love!! I was lucky enough to live at Edinburgh for 3 amazing years and your photos bring back so many memories. I miss it very much.

    P.S. You saw many things for 3 days that you were there. But trust me, there are so much more to see and experience!! You never run out of things to do when you are there!

    Ioanna | beautyloverstories.com

    Reply
    • Taylor says

      February 8, 2017 at 8:36 am

      Wow, that must have been amazing to live there! And yes, I definitely didn’t get to see everything – I’d love to go back sometime in the future and see more of the city. It really is lovely. Thanks for reading!

      Reply

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A real-life combination of Elle Woods and Hermione Granger. Recent graduate of the University of Georgia, currently living and working in DC. New blog posts every Monday, new YouTube videos every Thursday. Subscribe by clicking the link below for post updates and exclusive content!

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🔥 nasm certified personal trainer
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🎥 2 new workouts per week!

tayy_kay
without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little c without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little challenging to really feel like i’m working at my full potential on leg days 😶 enter: single-leg movements. since all the weight is in one leg, you’re putting way more emphasis on it than you do during two-leg movements - and you’ll definitely feel that 🔥 you also get some added bonuses in the form of ensuring you’re working each side of your body equally AND a balance challenge!!
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you can add in weights or bands to up the challenge level, or do it all bodyweight like i am here!
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1️⃣ 15 single-leg box squats per leg (use other leg as a kickstand for an easier modification!)
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2️⃣ 15 bulgarian split squats per leg
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3️⃣ 15 single-leg hip thrusts per leg
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4️⃣ 15 single-leg deadlifts per leg
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throw on at the end of a longer leg day workout or do it 3-4 times as a workout all on its own!!
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👚 @girlfriend 🎧 numb - neffex
🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time 🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time to be alive, and it’s more important now than ever to listen to your body and stop being so hard on yourself. motivation is a fickle thing and working out when you don’t have all the equipment you love is weird. give yourself permission to take a break when you need it. don’t beat yourself up for missing workouts - exercise should be something you do because it makes you happy, not because you feel like you have to punish yourself. if it doesn’t make you happy that day, that’s okay. give yourself a break, come back and try again tomorrow. 💪🏼
circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not kidding about how much i love this long resistance band, it’s so versatile! definitely worth getting your hands on one for home workouts 😊 (although almost all of these can be completely with dumbbells or heavy objects if that’s what you’ve got in hand)
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also please watch to the very end of the fourth video for quality footage of greg 😂
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1️⃣ 12 long band shoulder presses to standing chest presses
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2️⃣ 12 upright rows to bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 overhead triceps extensions per arm (the one leg stance is some bonus balance work!)
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4️⃣ 12 rear flies, featuring greg trying to fight my shadow
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5️⃣ 12 commandos
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6️⃣ 12 side-to-side pushups
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repeat 4x total!!
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👚 @underarmourwomen
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giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, cra giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, crazy time in the world a little differently, and for me, it’s looked like a lot of establishing to and sticking to routines (seriously, sometimes it feels like my skincare routine and workout split are the only thing still giving meaning to days of the week, lol). my morning smoothies have been another important one - there’s a recipe in my story highlights and surprise surprise it uses this protein powder 😛
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anyways, onto the real reason you’re here! i’m giving away 25 $20 giftcards for @310nutrition with NO STRINGS ATTACHED 🤯 you hear that? you ain’t gotta do a thing to win - the first 25 people to use the code KAYGC20 on their order automatically win. get your hands on some fire plant-based protein powder, courtesy of me and 310 😋 (p.s. if you’re still seeing this caption, there are still giftcards available!!)
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sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and hold a fake photo shoot just to prove to yourself that you’re still a real human
posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangen posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangentially topical. link in bio.
upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating towards circuit-style workouts lately, because they really work up a sweat and home workouts just don’t feel as legit to me unless i’m hardcore sweating 🤷🏼‍♀️ i don’t mind not breaking much of a sweat at the gym, but it feels weird not to when i’m working out at home - anyone else feel this or am i just weird?? 😅
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do all exercises back to back with no rest in between!
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1️⃣ 10 push-ups to renegade rows
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2️⃣ 12 alternating bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 diamond front raises
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4️⃣ 8 sets of 3 tricep pulses to this lil cross-body weight move that doesn’t have a name {keep your core tight to feel it on your obliques!}
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5️⃣ 15 bent-over rear delt rows
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6️⃣ finisher!! 🥵 10 burpees with 2 shoulder taps and 2 toe taps in the middle of each rep
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repeat 🔁 for a total of 3 rounds!!
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👚 top from @gymsharkwomen, shorts from @nike 🎧 dangerous - neffex
would be nice if both sides of my head could agree would be nice if both sides of my head could agree on whether my hair is wavy or straight, but apparently that’s a little too much to ask of it 😂
got a circuit-style leg workout for you today! 🥳 there are 3 sets of 3 exercises that you’ll complete back-to-back - once you’ve done those three moves, rest for 30 seconds before repeating them all over again 2 more times! rest for 1-2 minutes in between each circuit - keeping your heart rate up is the goal here, i was driiiiiiipping sweat by the end of this one 🥵
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circuit 1️⃣: 10 step-ups to reverse lunges per leg
10 reverse lunges to curtsy lunges per leg
20 lateral lunges
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circuit 2️⃣:
10 squats to surrenders (stop in a squat position before standing up at the end to really feel this one)
10 stagger-stance rdls
20 criss-cross squat jumps
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circuit 3️⃣:
15 leg lifts per side
10 single-leg glute bridges per side
15 frog pumps
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👚 top from @fabletics, joggers from @gymsharkwomen
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