Part of My Heart is in Scotland

Today has been an off day. Everything I touch turns to a puddle of tears and my poor husband is having to try his hardest not to laugh over the things that have triggered me. No, I am not pregnant. Like I said, it's just an off day. (He brought me home some popsicles with Pop Rocks in them so I think I'll be better soon!)

I have been thinking a lot about Edinburgh lately. I have really been missing my friends there and some of the wonderful places Branden and I used to explore. America is our first and most significant home, but Edinburgh is where we spent a year and half of our two years of married life. Being that far away from family when you just get married is actually a blessing. If there is an issue or argument, you can't just call your friends or family, you just have to deal with it together. It showed us how good of friends we really are and how grateful all those grueling months we spent apart from each other when we were engaged really honed our communication skills. 

The day before we left Edinburgh, Branden and I took a walk through the fields behind Holyrood Palace. There were still bits of snow on the ground and the cold wind blew in our faces like it always did, year round! We stopped and looked ahead at the city we had grown to know and love, gazed at Arthur's Seat and the hills around it that we used to spend hours walking through and we just lost it. This had been our 'married home' and where we learned how to be 'us'. We were excited to get to go back to the States to see family and then move to Ireland, which we knew was always our final destination, but this was our little married world and we were having to leave it.

Since I have now set myself off again, here are some photos of our time there and a brief glimpse at the things I miss.

The Scott Monument right in the middle of town. When the Christmas Market comes, there is a ferris wheel right next to it.

Edinburgh Castle on it's rocky peak so you get wonderful views of it all over the city.

Princes Street Gardens where you could get away from the loud busses and cars on the street.

 The Royal Botanical Gardens which are free and have a huge range of things to see.

 Portobello Beach which was cold but had a fabulous pub that had a 'bring your own instrument' night on Sundays. We had some great times there with our fun and amazing neighbors.

 Craigmillar Castle which was much less touristy and a great place to wander around.

 The view out of our bedroom window where you could always see the neighborhood's laundry...even in the snow.

 Amazing cemeteries.

Our pond that we would walk up to whenever it was nice enough.

The walk down to The Sheep's Heid, the oldest pub in Edinburgh but wasn't full of loud tourists. It had amazing fidget pie! This trail was just past our pond.

 Holyrood Palace and the ruins of the Abbey with the Craigs being lit up by the sun. 

Arthur's Seat. This was practically our backyard and we spent lots of time taking long walks and forgetting that we were in a city at all.