Edinburgh

Edinburgh is built on a large slope that gradually increases over a wide area, and Leith Walk illustrates this topography well. Being Edinburgh's longest street, the long walk one takes to Edinburgh's center from the port of Leith has become one of the city's most iconic landmarks. Lined with pubs and other properties that are centuries old, the walk up from Leith gives visitors a taste of what Edinburgh has in store for them.

Prince's Street is a long and wide tram-laden road that crosses through Edinburgh's commercial center. On one side of Prince's Street lie the Gardens, a sprawling meadow that surrounds the base of Edinburgh's towering castle. On the other side of the street are some of Edinburgh's largest shopping centers and luxury stores. Landmarks adorn both sides of the street like jewels in a crown, and all who pilgrim to Prince's Street always leave with something special.

The West End and Dean Village are two distinct areas that border each other West of Prince's Street. The West End is a highly affluent neighborhood of tall buildings and clean, wide streets that look nearly identical to the districts that host London's most luxurious flats. Dean Village is a sharp contrast to this, as it is a hidden and well-concealed piece of Edinburgh's Medieval past, fit with the bridges, rivers, and buildings of the time that conveys its age.

While not as long as Leith Walk, the Royal Mile (also knwon as High Street), connects Holyrood Palace - the winter retreat of the British Royal Family - to the jagged, rocky mount where Edinburgh's Castle sits. Medieval, Georgian, & Victorian-era buildings built from blackened stone grow in height and detail as one nears the Mile's peak, as does one's sense of awe and wonder produced by this trip through time.

Nestled in a wide, stony plaza between High Street and Bruntsfield Park lies the Grass Market. Once used as an open area for livestock trading, the Grass Market is now a massive social area surrounded by pubs and resteraunts. Drinking together is a normal part of daily life for the Scots, and people gather in this cobblestone enclave to partake in this social rite at all times of day.

The Bruntisfield Links (Old Scot for "park") is a sprawling 35 acres of verdant, mostly flat, verdant parkland. At all times of the year, one can find golfers teeing up on the public course that streches the length of the green meadows. And in the spring and summer especially, flocks of students congregate to socialize, finish schoolwork, and play football in groups across the park and under the shade of its many cherry blossum trees.

Originally a small village before gradually becomming a residential suberb in the mid 1800s, Morningside has always been one of Edinburgh's most scenic, idyllic, and peaceful neighborhoods. From its early days as a young suberb on the edge of town, Morningside has always attracted affluent Scots who built their mansions and founded their estates on the neighborhood's lush hillsides. Though this once-spacious territory is now covered by homes, remnant's of the neighborhood's past still can be seen in its many vine-covered villas and luxurious homes.

Standing guard over the midst of Edinburgh's center is Calton Hill - a steep and wide mound flush with green grass, several notable monuments, and an impressive view over much of Edinburgh's cityscape. Likely used as a fort in ancient days, it is only when one summits Calton that can one gain a true apprecation for the densely packed and layered architecture of Edinburgh's Old Town, as well as the city's highly symetrical and thuroughly British asthetic.

Towering over Edinburgh lies Arthur's Seat and the Crags. These two geographical features are undoubtedly Edinburgh's most unique, with the former being an extinct volcano, and the ladder being the largest basalt cliff in the city's limits. Both situated within Holyrood Park's extensive 650 acres, these two landmarks bear witness to Edinburgh's beauty alongside the many other lochs, glens, basalt cliffs, and ancient ruins that can be found within the park.