Michelle's Adventures in London: Edinburgh's Hogmanay

I came back to London just after Christmas with two friends, Jess and Jessica, in tow. We had decided a bit earlier to go to Edinburgh, Scotland for New Year. They have the largest street party in all of Europe and a 4-day celebration called hogmanay. In short, it was AMAZING!!! We got a really nice hotel room (actually cheaper than a hostel) and stayed there for 3 days and nights. It rained practically all day every day, but the sights were amazing. It's an walled city with such cozy feeling but placed in a spectacular landscape I think created by volcanoes. Edinburgh castle is on a big hill overlooking the city and the "Royal Mile" is the road that connects the castle to Holyrood Palace, the royal residence of Scotland.
New Years eve here was great fun--it is a Times Square-ish street party with concerts. Plus we got tickets to a special section that played really cool traditional Scottish music and had dancing. Plus fireworks over the castle at midnight. Definitely, definitely go here for hogmanay sometime! And take me with you.

Edinburgh castle all lit up at night.

cannon at the castle

We went to this cafe called the Elephant House, which is where JK Rowling wrote the first couple of Harry Potter books. The cafe overlooks this castle-looking place which is actually a school. And legend has it that the kids in this school are wizards and witches who fly around on broomsticks. I took this picture while on a really really scary ghost tour. WAY more than 5 pumpkins!