When and where everything began

It began with a trip to Scotland in 2010, when Tina and I travelled through Europe by car, train, ferry and bus to get to beautiful Scotland with its amazing history and castles.

On the early morning of the 7th of July 2010, my high-school best friend Tina and I started our trip to Scotland. She picked me up from my flat in Ljubljana, Slovenia and drove us to the Trieste Airport via Croatia. Due to the slight detour and heavy traffic we missed our flight, but that didn't stop us and we made the decision to travel to Scotland by any means necessary.

We had great support from our families and friends who helped us search for different/cheap ways to get there. Our first step was to drive to Trieste Train Station where we bought train tickets from Trieste to Venice and from Venice to Paris. We travelled to Paris on an overnight train which was quite an interesting journey for two reasons: first because we met lot of people from different countries and even became friends with some of them. We spent most of the night talking and having fun. The other interesting thing was that this journey took us through Switzerland. 

When we arrived in Paris the next morning we tried to buy train tickets from Paris to London, but it turned out that these were way too expensive. Even a plane ticket would have been cheaper than those train tickets. So, we decided to take a ferry from Dunkirk to Dover.

Next we had to get to Dunkirk somehow. As we were already at the train station, we decided to take a train. We also decided to book ourselves on the 4pm train and to spend the day walking through Paris.

The funniest thing about walking through streets of Paris was that we had already been there: 8 months before that day, when we walked 12 hours a day for 3 straight days, loving every moment of it, promising each other that we will definitely return. The only thing we didn't realise back then was that it was going to happen so soon. We actually thought 5 years will pass before we'd travel to Paris again. What a pleasant surprise. We still laugh about this every time we remember the trip.

Later in the afternoon, after a short train ride, we arrived at the Dunkirk Station, where we tried to find a ferry. Unfortunately we found out only; that ferries in Dunkirk don't accept passengers on foot and that taxi ride from Dunkirk to Calais is €100. As this was pure extortion we decided to wait there till morning and take the first train from Dunkirk to Calais.

We waited outside the station the whole night and surprisingly weren't the only two. I was a bit scared to fall asleep, so we stayed awake the whole time. Next morning, we arrived at Calais, found a ferry and crossed the channel to Dover.

Dover is such a beautiful town. We were so amazed by its beauty that we decided to spend the night there. We walked around the town, went to see the Dover Castle and ended up on the White Cliffs watching the sunset.

If you are ever nearby, you have to stop off in Dover to visit the castle and walk on, and under, the cliffs. The views are amazing, the castle is huge, well preserved and its history is mind blowing. You can find out more about the castle in the first episode of the "Secrets of Great British Castles".

To continue our trip to Scotland we went to pick up a car that we initially booked online to be picked up at Glasgow Airport and was later changed to be picked up at the agency's Dover office, but I guess it was not ment to be, as the agency tried to charge us for insurance that was already included in the price when we booked it. Their explanation was that we booked a car on their American website and that insurance is not needed there. BS if you ask me, as we booked a car to be picked up in UK and they knew where we were coming from, why would they give us a price for hiring a car in USA?

Nevertheless, we were lucky as a receptionist/waitress in our hotel was from Glasgow and she advised us about a bus that goes from Dover to Glasgow and stops in London.

The hotel was in a really bad condition. It was being renovated at the time, but we were happy to get a room where we somehow managed to take a shower, which was quite a challenge, and we got through the night.

We woke up at 5am and continued with our journey.

We arrived in London at around 8am and went sightseeing. We walked around the city, taking photos, and spent some time relaxing in Hyde Park. It was a warm and sunny day and everyone went to a park during their lunch break, sat on the grass and ate their lunch. A few students were also celebrating and drinking champagne. It was a nice sight to see. So very different than in Slovenia and for me personally so much better.

After seeing as much of London as we could in one day, we continued on our journey to Glasgow and early in the morning on our fifth day of travelling through Europe we arrived. Our goal to get to Scotland was achieved. It took us a bit longer than planned, but we had so much fun, saw many new places, met so many people, that we are actually grateful for missing the flight.

But this was not where this journey ended nor where everything began.

Once we arrived at our destination, we had to first find ourselves a hostel and then make plans for the remaining days. We decided to go sightseeing and shopping in Glasgow the same day and to take a bus to Edinburgh the following day.

Glasgow was and still is a nice city, the streets and parks are always busy and there are so many monuments, museums, churches, etc., to see. We were really impressed with people's friendliness, as everyone was actually eager to help us, even when we didn't ask for directions we would end up getting them from locals. We walked around all day, shopping, sightseeing and just having fun. We also took quite a few amazing photos. The only negative thing was the cold. After sun went down it was freezing!!! As it was summer we thought that a jacket would be enough and we didn't pack anything warmer. Wow, we were wrong. We wore T-shirts (multiple), hoodies and jackets and were still cold. Nevertheless, it was a good day.

The next day we travelled to Edinburgh, where my adventure finally began.

We arrived at Edinburgh Bus Station and from the moment we stepped out of the station I was in heaven. I fell in love with the city instantly and while walking down the Royal Mile I turned to Tina and said to her that Edinburgh is the city where I want to live for the rest of my life.

An interesting thing is that something had been drawing me to Edinburgh even before that day, as I had already been seriously looking at the University of Edinburgh postgraduate studies a few months before. I didn't know what was drawing me to Edinburgh, but I guess it was faith, for from the moment I arrived I knew that this is it, that I wanted to move to Edinburgh permanently, buy a house and maybe one day have a family and raise children there.

I cannot explain my feelings, all I can say is that Edinburgh is such an amazing historical city. I love the architecture, the feel of history all around me, the stories connected to the city. Everything (castles, palace, buildings, parks, hills, surrounding,etc.) is just breath-taking.

When we were walking around I just couldn't stop myself of dreaming how it must have been few centuries ago. We walked through every street in the City Centre, went into every "secret" close, took photos of every monument (my favourite is still the Scott Monument), visited Museums and, most importantly, Edinburgh Castle.

Edinburgh Castle stands on the top of Castle Rock, an extinct volcano. The castle is seen from almost every corner of Edinburgh, but the best view is from the Princess Street. It is such a beautiful castle, enormous and well preserved. The only way to reach the castle is from the Royal Mile. The street is called Royal Mile because one (Scottish) mile away from the Edinburgh Castle, at the bottom of the hill, is Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Royal Residence.

Its history goes back to 900 BC when Bronze Age settlers settled on Castle Rock. In late first century AD Romans were probably invading the territory, as the Antonine Wall, built around 154 AD between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde (the Central Belt of Scotland), represened the northernmost frontier barrier of Roman Empire.

Over the centuries there were many battles which resulted this kingdom being conquered repeatedly. Iron Age warriors understood the rock’s military potential and built a hill fort. In about 600 AD an Epic poem celebrates warriors of Gododdin at Din Eidyn – Edinburgh. The poetry tells of a war band which feasted here for a year before riding to death in battle.

In around 638 AD Northumbrians conquer Din Eidyn and kingdom of Gododdin. By 1018 the Scots king Malcolm II had taken control of Edinburgh.

By the end of 1070 King Malcolm III of Scotland married Margaret of Wessex, an English princess, and she became Queen of Scots, later known as Saint Margaret of Scotland. Queen Margaret died in 1093 at the castle and around 1130-1140 St Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh’s oldest building, was built.

During the Wars of Independence the castle changed hands many times. In 1314 it was retaken from the English in a daring night raid by Thomas Randolph, nephew of Robert the Bruce.

The castle was home to kings and queens and Mary Queen of Scots, gave birth to James VI in the royal palace in 1566.

Her great-great-great grandson Charles Edward Stuart - Bonnie Prince Charlie - captured Edinburgh but couldn’t take the castle during the 1745-6 Jacobite rising and from the 1600s onwards the castle was a military base with a large garrison. Later it also held prisoners of war.

In 1996, the Stone of Destiny, on which kings have been enthroned for centuries, was returned to Scotland and is displayed in the Crown Room, where also the Crown Jewels of Scotland (also known as The Honours of Scotland) are displayed and are surrounded by a special exhibition. The jewels are a breath-taking sight. The sceptre was presented to James IV by Pope Alexander VI in 1494 while the crown was first worn for the coronation of James V’s wife Mary of Guise in 1540. They were first used together for the coronation of Mary Queen of Scots in 1543. In 1707 they were locked in a chest and sealed away after the Treaty of Union between England and Scotland and in 1818 they were rediscovered by the novelist Sir Walter Scott, and with them a mysterious silver wand.

The castle is well preserved and has multiple buildings, such as The Great Hall, The Royal Palace, St Margaret's Chapel, prisons,etc. There are also many memorials and museums (National War Museum, Regimental Museum) and parts of the castle are still a military base, but the castle is now mostly a world-famous visitor attraction and a key element of the Edinburgh World Heritage Site. This is most definitely the must-see attraction if you visit Edinburgh.

If you are visiting Edinburgh you must also see the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh Underground (Vaults), St Giles' Cathedral, National Museum of Scotland, Scottish National Gallery, Dean Village, Calton Hill, Princess Street, Scott Monument, St Cuthbert's and many other museums, monuments, graveyards around the city centre. Most attractions are in the city centre or walking distance away from the city centre, but if you have time take a bus and visit Craigmillar Castle, Lauriston Castle, Blackness Castle, Linlithgow Palace,etc.

We had only 1 day for sightseeing, but managed to see so many attractions, so many beautiful places, that I never wanted to leave. And like I said there everything began. I was already fascinated by history and particularly by Scottish history before that day, but after that day I wanted to explore every corner of Edinburgh and visit every town, village in Scotland, but most of all I wanted to visit every castle in Scotland and discover its history and secrets.

We returned to Glasgow that night, went for a long walk and prepared ourselves for the last day of our adventure.

The next morning we booked ourselves a day tour through Highlands. We stopped at Loch Lomond and Loch Ness, but unfortunately the weather was not in our favour and we quickly returned to Glasgow.

We spent the night at the Prestwick Airport, not risking missing our flight once again, and at 6am we flew to London and then from London to Trieste, where we were picked up and drove back home.

We had such an amazing time and even now we are still saying that this was the best trip we ever took.