dripping with passion

my second day in edinburgh and my last day over the pond was dreamy in two ways – 1) it was near-unreal fantastic being enchanted by that age-worn, ebullient city; and 2) the travelweariness had finally and firmly settled into my bones. the happy haze that surrounded me was both wonder and exhaustion. i woke up early and strolled through the princes street gardens, so uncrowded and warm with color and vegetation. look, there was a clock made entirely of flowers!: then i spent an hour in the scottish national gallery, and fell in love with a new van gogh. i loved how luxe the museum felt - the deep red walls covered with masterpieces. then it was time to climb the narrow spiral staircase to the top of the sir walter scott memorial. there were four different landings and the views were sensational! the sun popped out for the first time in days as i stood perched on those ledges, in delicious awe. in the foreground is waverly station, edinburgh’s train station that is literally right i...

edinburgh is bewitching, and the minute i said goodbye to beez on the street corner and headed for my hostel in the shadow of the castle on the hill, i was under its spell. i was so excited to see the city that i quickly checked in and changed my clothes and hit the streets. this afternoon and evening in edinburgh was full of impulse turned brilliant decisions. i saw a sign in the hostel for tickets for the open top bus and thought, what the heck, i’ll get a quick overview of the city. i bought one, hopped outside and onto one of these: to see lots of enchanting views under stormy, gloomy skies, like this: and then i quickly chose to meander up streets like this: until i got here: and man oh man, the royal mile was alive. i came to edinburgh right in the thick of the edinburgh international festival, which attracts roughly 1 million visitors every year from around the globe. there are all kinds of theater, art, dance, music and comedy performances going on the entire month of...