Calton Hill, Edinburgh

Today is the first of our 3-day vacation in Scotland.  It's just about eight days more to go before I go back to the Philippines so we're trying to make the remaining days enjoyable and memorable.  We took our train to Edinburgh from King's Cross Station in London so we had to wake up early and leave Strood at around 5:00am. It was almost a five-hour trip, and we definitely had a opportune time to see the best of England's countryside through it.

A&R on board.

Berwick-upon-Tweed, the northernmost town of England 

and nearest to the English-Scottish border.  

This breathtaking photo was taken from the train catching the view of River Tweed.

Finally, we're here.
:-)

Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station

It was way much colder here in Scotland than in England.
You just still can't afford to take off your jacket at this time of the year
even though it's dry and sunny.
Besides, the country is further north to England which makes the temperature colder.

Our hotel is just a walking distance from the train station.

After watching the opening of FIFA World Cup and Shakira's Waka-Waka dance, 

we then took our lunch at Burger King and proceeded to walk around the city, 

with Calton Hill as our first stop.

"Calton Hill was formed by a volcanic activity about 340 million years ago.
Around two and a half million years ago, the first of many Ice Ages began in Scotland
and Edinburgh was buried under a massive ice sheet.
Throughout each ice age when the glaciers are its heaviest,
the weight of ice carved and gouged out many of the hils you see today."

The view of Edinburgh's New Town from Calton Hill.

The city is divided between Old Town and New Town districts which are both declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  The Old Town has preserved its medieval buildings, while the New Town has a neo-classical architecture.

The buildings in Calton Hill were instrumental in gaining the city the title of
"Athens of the North".  The National Monument, in particular, was based on the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, built in 1822 at a time when the city
was making buildings with Greek neo-classical style.
This is in commemoration of the Scottish soldiers who died during the Napoleonic Wars.
However, funding had ran out and the monument was never completed.

Is A&R in Athens!?!

You will not realize how huge the National Monument is,
until you get to climb it...

This photo of ours was taken by a young Filipino couple 
who happened to be there as well. :-)

Rowsie with the Nelson Monument and National Monument at the background.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the UK's monarch in Scotland.
It is best known as well as the home of Mary, Queen of Scots and is now used by
Queen Elizabeth II for garden parties and receptions.

A&R in Scotland!
Behind is the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the foot of Arthur's Seat.
Arthur's Seat is the main peak among the hills of the Holyrood Park and is claimed to be the possible place where King Arthur's legendary castle, the Camelot, were once located.

The view from Nelson's Monument with the City Observatory in the left.

The Nelson's Monument, situated at the highest peak of Calton Hill.

The Observatory House

Alvin stopped me from walking farther, worried of the steep cliff on my left.

We actually went back to Calton Hill after touring the Princes Street and Royal Mile because we wanted to capture the skyline of Edinburgh with the sun already set down.

So here it is: 
the "City of Spires"

The Medieval Old Town.
Being here gives you the feeling that you're "trapped in time".

We had a hard laugh making this jump shot.  After a thousand shots, we finally made it!
Just beautiful.

We wrapped-up our first day in Edinburgh by sitting at the National Monument, 

talking about our lives and the dreams that breeds it. 

This our favorite pastime since the time when we're still just friends.  

Though this is the first time that we did it on top of a hill, under a freezing cold.       

When we can no longer take the freeze, we then decided to come down the hill.

That's the only time we did realized that it's already ten o'clock in the evening,

and the city is now starting to light-up their buildings.

We took an early rest today, getting ready for our next trip tomorrow morning.

Goodnight Scotland...

:-)