Last weekend, my friend and I decided to take a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. It was probably one of the most enjoyable trips I have ever been on, even though it only lasted two and a half days.

We flew out of London on Friday afternoon and landed in Edinburgh around 5 p.m. Even though we were heading north, neither of us realized it was going to be colder than London. Regardless of that, we still walked around the town for a little while.

We stayed in the “Medieval Manhattan” part of Edinburgh, and it was beautiful. The first place we went to after checking into our hostel was the Elephant House. My friend is a huge fan of “Harry Potter,” so that was obviously the very first thing we had to do since J.K. Rowling wrote parts of the first book there.

The next day we went on a day tour through the Highlands and a tour on Loch Ness. Everything was so beautiful in the Highlands. It reminded a lot of the mountains around Estes Park, Colorado. There were so many amazing stories about different areas, way to many to remember.

Loch Ness was definitely my favorite part of the day. I have always wanted to see Loch Ness, so the experience was all that much better. Not because I believe in Nessie, but because the stories behind it always fascinated me. I was so mesmerized during the boat tour, I didn’t realize I was standing in a splash zone and got soaked.

On Sunday we didn’t really have anything planned, so we walked through Edinburgh. Eventually, we came across Arthur’s Seat, a mountainous hill in the center of town. We hiked up it to get an amazing view of the town. Even though we had all of our luggage and were not wearing the proper gear, we made the trek. It was extremely exhausting, but totally worth it.

Not only could we see the entire town, but we also got an amazing view of the ocean. This was my first time ever seeing the ocean, and it was one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen. It was definitely my favorite part of the trip, maybe even my favorite part of my study abroad experience so far.