Things I learned about Edinburgh.

Last week I with my family headed to Edinburgh, Scotland for the first time ever and I thought there are a few little things others should know prior to heading to Edinburgh or Scotland in general that you should know:

(1) Bank notes generally used in Scotland are issued by Scottish banks. Similarly to Hong Kong in the UK each bank can issue its pound sterling notes. Some of the Scottish bank notes are not accepted in London as it they have insufficient security features. (Can be too easily forged) Hence some shops and machines may refuse to accept them. Bigger shops and banks do however, so if you head back to England later make sure you get Scottish bank notes exchanged first to avoid problems.

(2) The old town Edinburgh is so fucking beautiful that it made me sick. Truly medieval town! Probably one of the Europe’s oldest and most well preserved town from back then.

(3) Generally people are friendly, but some aren’t. Especially those young rednecks in a suburb called Leith. Perhaps they don’t usually see Asians walking around their city, I never once was yelled at for being Asian (hence looking like  a Chinese) in my whole life. Yes, one shitty person does make the overall image of the city shit. Also, if you assume any Asian to be Chinese or coming from China be careful, a lot of Asians including me will feel insulted.

(4) It’s not that difficult to hike up to Author’s Seat. My mum even did it with her high heels! So stop listening to the locals telling you how far up it is, you can do it!

(5) Everything is within a walking distance so you don’t really have to get a taxi or even bus tickets unless you stay out of the new town or old town. This time we chose to stay in Leith simply because we ended up choosing to stay in a serviced apartment rather than a hotel. I’d say it wasn’t a wrong decision but not a smart one either.