Traveloteacher

Scotland

It was a short drive from the Forth Bridges to the Falkirk Wheel. That's a boat lift, the one that revolves, and it's really awesome. It connects the Union Canal with the Forth & Clyde Canal near the town of Falkirk. The level difference between the two canals is 35 meters, which suggests the hugeness of this rotating boat lift. Built in 2002, as part of the Millennium Link, it created an uninterrupted link between the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. I'm sure this would be a pleasant cruise. Mislav had a déjà vu experience on the spot. He was sure he'd already been there. He knew where the lift was, how it worked, everything. It was amazing. Back home, however, he was able to trace the sensation back to a power point presentation in a physics lesson. Perched high on a rocky crag, Stirling Castle is an excellent example of Renaissance architecture in Scotland. In the esplanade, there is the statue of Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland, who defeated the English army ...

If you google cheap eats in Edinburgh, you'll get a huge list of pubs, greasy spoons and restaurants. So it was there I found the Whetherspoon pubs. Our first Whetherspoon meal was in Edinburgh, fish and chips for 2.99, coffee or tea included. It was good, even my kids, who despise fish, liked it. It was also in one of the Whetherspoons that we had our first English breakfast. I tried black pudding for the first time, and must say it's delicious. Although blood sausage is a Croatian specialty as well, these two have nothing in common, but color, of course. Anyway, it was after this fish and chips lunch that we left Edinburgh. Our first stop on the way to Glasgow was a little town of South Queensferry, famous for two beautiful bridges that cross the River Forth. One is the Forth Road Bridge, opened in 1964, and the other, more beautiful, is the Forth Rail Bridge, built in 1890. The latter is one of the most remarkable engineering wonders of the Victorian era, with its 2.5 km i...

Here I go with some things that you can find in any travel book, but it's the teacher in me, and I can't help it. Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, lies on the east coast of Scotland. With a population of about half a million, it is the second most visited tourist attraction in Great Britain (after London). It's famous for the arts, especially in the summer when it hosts the renowned three-week Edinburgh International Festival, which was first started in 1947. It'd be great to come to Edinburgh at this time of year, since there are performances all around the town, not only in its theatres, but also on its streets. The Fringe is an alternative festival, started in the same year, when eight theatrical groups gate crashed the Edinburgh International Festival. What they wanted was to express their belief in freedom of expression in innovative and experimental performances. Today there are more than 40 Fringes around the world. Princes Street, the main thoroughfare and a ...

Entering Scotland wasn't as glamorous as we expected and hoped it to be. There was no visitor center, no lay-by, no nothing. So we just stopped on the shoulder to take a quick photo of the signpost welcoming you to Scotland. The road to Edinburgh took us by surprise, since it was just an ordinary country road. Somehow we missed the turn to Roslin, where we wanted to see Rosslyn Chapel, which we first heard of in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. However, we weren't too disappointed since: a) it was already dark; b) the chapel was closed; c) the admission was too high. Soon we saw the lights of this city that I would find one of the most arresting I have ever been to. Our hotel, the Express Holiday Inn, was located in a beautiful old building in the very centre. Parking was dear, but it was worth it. Zoran and I couldn't resist and see the city by night despite the freezing cold. It was stunning and we couldn't wait till morning to see Edinburgh in all its glory and beauty.