As we approach the final days of being in Dublin, with full forces and beliefs I can say that I am not ready to go back yet. My experience here has been nothing less than extraordinary and through the friends I have made and the work-experience I have gained, I could not be more grateful.
But let’s start on this past Thursday. While I may have procrastinated packing for my Edinburgh flight on Friday morning, I was super excited for my company’s comedy festival outing! Taken place at the Iveagh Gardens, after work everyone had headed down for a couple pints and a great laugh. The scene was amazing and I was able to see various acts while in the same seat! What shocked me most was when I was walking in and what may had seemed like a statue was actually a real person in disguse waiting to shock some people! The location not only had a live band and an oversized garden char (like REALLY oversized), but also people walking around in stilts, knives juggling, and way more, which all added up to a great company outing!
However, with time ticking before I had to leave for the airport… I ended up grabbing a few more pints with some intern friends after the festival. When coming home, I decided to push through it since my air coach was at 3:27am. Sidebar: If you need to get to the airport and do not want to spend loads of euros on an uber or free-now, I would recommend taking the air coach! Very fast and reliable, and they have student prices for half the regular cost, so I only ended up spending €5.4 there and again back!
The flight was very smooth and practically empty! I slept the entire one hour there and when entering the airport I was so shocked to just exit the nearest door. There were no security checkpoints and now that I think about it my passport was only checked once that entire flight, and that was at the boarding gate! That’s definitely different compared to the U.S. where you might expect to spend at least an extra hour or so in the airport just going through extra security, but I was in and out of the Edinburgh airport after landing within 10 minutes!
While I can go on forever about my time in Edinburgh, I will just list my highlights of the trip and where you should go if you find yourself in the beautiful city anytime soon. Since I am biased to the show One Day on Netflix (MUST WATCH!), I loved visiting Arthur’s Seat the most. An amazing walk up to a more amazing view. While I was huffing and puffing in my New balances and jeans climbing this mountain, it was all the worthwhile to just sit and relax for 30 minutes, truly taking in that I am in Europe at 19 years old, appreciating the opportunity to even come here. In addition, visiting the vessel, which is also shown on One Day where Emma and Dex have a heartfelt chaotic scene, where you are able to see the Castle of Edinburgh from the steps. If you walk down and turn right, you will see Mary’s Milk Bar which is a OUT OF THIS WORLD ice cream shop, locally made by I would assume to be Mary, the ice cream here is insanely good, and a must local try. The gallery also took me by surprise, I did not think I would be so compelled to art before. Usually I just walk through and kind of speed run it, but here, I actually grabbed a seat and just stared. Especially at this one painting that I do not know the name of but set in the time of famine, where emotions were at a high, and community vasted, it truly made me just stare and think. On a brighter note, I got the chance to visit Dean’s Village! Edinburgh is filled with so much great nature and architecture, so I recommend to just walk everywhere, there is always a shop, a restaurant, a building that is calling out to you, or even a fun street act!, so just take a chance on it and walk. While taxi’s are still available and if you want to go to the very outskirts to see the horned cows I would say take a car, but if you want to get from old town to new town and its a 30 minute walk vs a 10 minute drive, I would say get a flat white from the Milkman at the boarder between the two, and just absorb all the Edinburgh has to offer because it is truly a beauty.
Thank you all for coming on this journey with me!
Nice Blog Nathaniel! The way you described the comedy festival was hilarious and super vivid, sounds like a great time, and the view sitting at Arthur’s Seat looks amazing, seems like you really had an amazing time in Scotland!
Nathaniel, it seems like you had a great last week of the trip! I am also not ready to go back home. Your tip about the air coach is spot on. I took it this previous weekend, and it made getting to the airport so easy. I’m glad your trip to Edinburgh was such a fun experience. From your photos, the view from Arthur’s Seat looks amazing, and the city looks beautiful as well.
My boss actually recommended that comedy festival to me and said it was great last year. Your Edinburgh trip seemed like a blast! I’ll def take your recommendation and watch One Day on my flight back to the US!
Edinburgh is a great city! It seems like you made the most of your experience there. Glad you had an awesome time.
I am glad you had a great time in Edinburgh Nathaniel. Thank you for your awesome recommendations.