Christmas Market (German Market)
From rides to crafts to food the whole market was very big and colourful. Most food in the main market was German food of which there were German sausages, big pretzels, stollen (butter cake very tasty), marzipan bar (choco coated bar of almond puree/cream like filling, I did not like it that much).
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| Mini snowglobes |
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| Nutcrackers - I find them very creepy.. |
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| Russion dolls.. always wanted one |
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| Winter wonderland below with roller coaster rides and ice skating rink but costs money to enter. |
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| Hot choco with a tad of brandy! yummy |
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| Yes, I was shocked as you are! .. and no, i did not try any |
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| Looks fab, but too full to try |
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| Had a turkey wrap, very yummy tho rather average I thought.. |
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| Tried a scottish venison burger which I found out halfway through it was deer patty! Excellent however with homemade cranberry sauce~ |
Other sights of Edinburgh:
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National Museum of Scotland - Absolutely fantastic! Takes up one side of a whole street. So big I didn't have time to see everything and so only took a glimpse of it. Next time I'm def going back!
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| Working clock! Though when you look closely, many parts are rather gothic and gruesome. The clock was made to reflect the dark side of the 20th century which was the most gruesome history period of all time, when most people died innocently. The circle of little people at the top represents birth to death cycle. |
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| Reminds me of the night at the museum! |
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George Heriot's House - Founded in 1628 as a hospital school, which later became a boys school in 1886 and since 1979 it is a school for both boys and girls. Very beautiful castle structure on a large grass land with fields on either side.
* Famous
Elephant House - Where J.K.Rowling wrote Harry Potter (didn't go in but a friend said it was quite expensive!)
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National Library of Scotland. Spans on both side of the road with underground connection
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Museum of Childhood on the royal mile. Very big inside with lots of galleries, much of which I am too young to relate too.
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Queen's Gallery. Situated in front of Palace of Holyroodhouse, opposite the Scottish Parliament.
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Scottish Parliament - Very large and modern building
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Palace of Holyroodhouse at the end of royal mile behind Queen's Gallery. Tis the official residence in Scottish of Her Majesty the Queen. It was also where Mary, Queen of Scot, married and lived with her second husband in history.
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St. Andrew's House. St. Andrew (brother of St. Peter) was Christ's first disciple and the patron saint of Scotland, Greece and Russia. The diagonally transversed cross called saltire on which St. Andrews was crucified is the cross on Scotland's flag (oldest national flag of any country dating back to 12th century)
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Royal Highschool of Edinburgh. Greek neoclassical style.
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Burns Monument - Robert Burns is Scotland's National Poet who lived in the 17th Century. This monument was built in the 1830s to commemorate him. The key feature is the tripod at the top, awarded as a prize for dramatic performance. The garden around the monument consists of flowers that were used in his poems. It is also common to have his poem read before cutting of the Haggis, a short ceremony held on Burns night.
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Calton Hill. On the end of Princess Street, is where the following two monuments are found. Calton Hill was formed by volcanic activity very long time ago. It was also said that Edinburgh used to be covered in ice and the shape of the land were shaped by the movement of glaciers.
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| Nelson Monument |
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National Monument - Built in 1820s to commemorate the soldiers who fought in the Napoleonic War. With Edinburgh's rise in education, power and reputation in the 18th century, many buildings were constructed at great expense in the Greek neo-classical style which was the main reason why Edinburgh was also known as "Athens of the North". However, due to financial problems the national monument construction was stopped shortly after it began, thus other names such as 'Scotland's Disgrace', 'Pride and Poverty of Scotland' and 'Edinburgh's Shame' arose for the monument.
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| Waverly Train Station |
Architecture of Edinburgh
Listed as world heritage site, Edinburgh holds its hold European style buildings with features highlighting exquisite decorations and shapes on the roof, lots of large windows, each level being clearly defined, bricks of similar colour (brownish grey), Column pillars at the main entrance and no balconies. Like all houses in Europe, the majority of buildings are in a box form, which I think portrays a sense of authority, strict rules and lack of creativity and colour.
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| Old courtyard building now refurbished into luxury apartments |
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| Chambers Street. Opposite this building is the British Museum. |
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| One aspect I like about Edinburgh is the layer of buildings going up the hill to the castle. Produces a brilliant effect of depth and layers. |
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| My favourite building in Edinburgh, I love the clock tower, roof, big windows. It is now Balmoral Hotel. |
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| Beautiful street |
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| Love how the lower part of the street is colourful modern style shops but is in contrast to the old brick brown style of the higher levels. |
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| Bank |
I have found that many buildings have many people on the top, probably representing different virtues. The same was seen on this bank, St. Andrews House and National Library of Scotland.
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| Central Hotel where I stayed night. Large courtyard outside with open widescreen TV for some sports broadcast and good old banter with the folks. |
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