When we came back up to Scotland after spending Christmas in England, a fellow Canadian I had met in St Andrews and who now resides in London came up to spend Hogmanay with us in Scotland. You just can’t beat Hogmanay in Edinburgh!
On the 29th we went about, walking on a fabulous sunny day of December in the city. We went to the National Museum and walked around, passed by my old job, the Christmas Market, where P got some lunch and then we decided that the best view of the city we would get would be to get up the Scott Monument!
The Scott Monument is the largest monument ever erected to a writer – Sir Walter Scott. He is the writer behind Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and Ivanhoe. He defined Scottish literature and this monument defines the Edinburgh skyline and adds beauty, character and history to the New town side of the city.
We headed there and started climbing the steps up the monument. We made it up and were so happy, the sun was shining and the view was great. Look at us go!
But then we realised that there was a second flight of stairs and a third and a fourth! It kept going up and that’s when we realised there were 287 steps up to the top of the Scott Monument!
Every flight of stairs was getting narrower and narrower, I remember at the third one I felt so ill because it feels like walking in a circle for about 5 minutes! Also it’s the same way up and down so arriving face to face with someone else was a bit tricky.
However, every flight up gave another amazing view – we could see even further away, past the castle to the mountains and past Arthur’s Seat to the beach. I think this kind of equals the views over the city from the castle to me.
To be honest…well we didn’t actually make it up the last flight! We were both feeling a bit ill after the third flight and decided it wasn’t worth the commotion of going up the last flight. Especially with how many people were trying to make it up and down those tiny little staircases.
I know the title is misleading…I mean we got a certification that we made it up all 287 steps, and to be honest, I might keep on telling that story 😉
How do you feel about going up buildings by foot like this?xx
Scott Monument
Princes Street, Edinburgh
£4
