As you might know, I love Gantt charts. A few months ago, Damjan and I put together a Gantt chart to plan out how I could use my annual leave.

My first scheduled vacation was Mauritius. That cost me five days annual leave.

The long Easter weekend meant that spending only one annual leave day allowed me and Damjan to take the train up to Edinburgh for five days.

It was glorious, such a picturesque city! We were especially fortunate in that it didn’t rain on any of those five days. This is highly unusual for Scotland.

This is Edinburgh Castle. Something funny happened while we were there. I got a text message from my friend, Frances (who is visiting London from San Francisco).

Want to join a few ny [New York] ppl at edinburgh castle tonight?

Confused, I replied:

Hi frances, did you mean the real edinburgh castle? I am here in scotland.’

From Frances:

Oh right, haha! No i meant the one in Camden [London]. Hope you’re having a fun holiday!

Here are some photos from inside Edinburgh Castle.

I thought it was funny, having a Royal Mail post box inside.

Here is an uncomfortably angled bench next to the guard house.

Loud annoying children playing with guns.

It’s good to see the Castle is up the latest environmentally friendly technologies.

Damjan and I stayed at Budget Backpackers in a private room. You know when you’re growing up when you become less and less able to tolerate hostels. I’ve stayed in hostels all around Tasmania, Germany, the UK, in Lisbon… I’m generally happy in a private room but in dorms, I feel quite anxious about waking people up and being woken up by late night party people and snorers.

Budget Backpackers was clean and friendly, though cramped. We joined one of their free Edinburgh walking tours. Our tour guide as an Aussie from Melbourne (Carlton). In our group, there were another two girls from Melbourne (Glen Iris and Gladstone Park). In the kitchen, we also met an Aussie from Geelong…

On the walking tour, we learned about body snatchers, people who would steal bodies (or murder to get fresh ones!) to sell to the anatomy school for £5.

It became necessary to protect graves from the robbers. In the first few weeks after a burial, family members would take turns to guard the body. This is the origin of the phrase ‘graveyard shift’!

The very posh George Heriot’s School, reputedly JK Rowling’s inspiration for Hogwarts. I thought the school kids could easily whip the tourists into a frenzy by coming out in black gowns, like we wear at Oxford and Cambridge.

It’s daffodil season!

We climbed to (the original) Arthur’s Seat. An easy one hour climb gave us a 360 degree view of Edinburgh.

St Anthony’s Chapel on the way up to Arthur’s Seat. Damjan and I sat down in the sunshine to draw the chapel for about an hour. Drawing is a hobby that we are experimenting in. I tend to draw fatter and more cartoony pictures, compared to Damjan’s more detailed and spindly drawings.

The Scottish seagulls are HUGE, so big they’re almost majestic. As Damjan said, ‘If they weren’t so common, I’d almost say they were elegant.’

All my photos are at the gallery.