The Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh

Although I have already been to Edinburgh before, I was much younger then so I couldn't remember much apart from odd bits here and there of Edinburgh castle and stuff. I suppose going to a place twice will kinda be different each time, because obviously you're older and so you sort of see and experience things a little bit different (yes, I know I've used the same word twice in the same sentence). I would say it is like going to Disneyland. I LOVE DISNEY (that was a little bit off topic, but just to show my fondness of Disney stuff). It will always be an awesome time going there, but as you get older you take in things differently.

We wanted a mini vacation that was a short stay away from our normal place and surroundings. Not too far, hence we didn't go abroad by plane or anything, but a good distance to feel like we were separating from our norm for a while. Scotland is a good choice, I suppose - simply a car or train journey away. Unless you wanted to take a plane...

When we arrived at Scotland, we were greeted with gorgeous lovely sunny weather. Clear skies and bright sunshine! The thing that bothered me though was that I forgot to put on sun cream. Hey, the sun is great and all but the ageing effects of it, is not very good at all. It was so sunny and such a perfect day for eating gelato and taking snaps. The internet on my phone was being quite a nuisance since I could only send a few snaps on snapchat whilst we were on the go and I left the DSLR back at home, which really bothered me. I could've used someone else's phone to take pictures but they all wouldn't let me. Annoying it was indeed, especially how Edinburgh Central is actually quite cute as there are quite a lot of historic buildings and things on display. When we were walking through the central area near the entrance of one of the castles, there were buskers (is that what they're called?) and street performers, of course we saw one that I suppose everyone that visits Scotland should see, which is a dude in a kilt playing the bagpipes. Now, as I said before, it was an extremely hot day, therefore you can imagine how sweaty this Scottish dude with his little hat, and snazzy outfit was. We just basically roamed around the central area for our first day.

Then the next day we had a mini agenda that we kind of planned. One of the visits included the Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh. 

The weather was not all that sunny, but at least it there wasn't torrential rain or anything like that. The clouds were starting to build up and it was starting to get a bit windy. Hey-Ho, it was still an Ok day in terms of weather and so the things we planned went on. Most things don't really phase us, HaHa. We weren't sure whether we should pay for the greenhouses or just go around the outside gardens, but we ended up all going to the greenhouses and then went around outside for a bit as well, HaHa. =') 

The Glasshouses have sections that include: Temperate Palms; Tropical Palms; Orchids & Cycads; Ferns & Fossils; Plants & People; Temperate Plants; Rainforest riches; Arid Lands; Montane Tropics; Wet Tropics and then the Aquarium (although I didn't see this bit).

The plants were beautiful and I find it quite fascinating how through research, technology and constant care, people are able to see the beauty of nature around the world. Of course, the real deal is a whole lot more different and much more 'legit', but it does give you a feel, like some sort of taster of the place where these plants have come from. The temperatures of each glasshouse were different as well and set according to the local temperatures you would find of the plants' origins. I suppose some of the plants would be difficult to find, even if you did go visit them countries because it can be tricky going to far out places that the urban society hasn't touched *imagines an expedition like the one in Jurassic Park* . They're just pretty cool! Moving from each place to another was like stepping into another place in the world (my days that sounds rather cheesy, HaHa, Oh well). I found it quite cool how practically every plant, both in the glasshouses and the gardens were labelled with their species name. There were these rock walls with lots of different plant types dotted all over it. 

Another thing I noticed was that there were a good number of people of different ages who sat at certain spots drawings, sketching and painting the plants. I thought this was nice, since the beauty of the plants are well appreciated.

I would say my favourite room in the glasshouses would have to be the "Plants and People" section with pond that had giant water lilies on it. The sun shining through illuminated the room and there was this type of flower that I found pretty and cute. The giant water lilies were rather snazzy, as they looked like huge green petri dishes.

I enjoyed this kind of visit. Not the normal type and more on the nature appreciation side. In the future, I want to hopefully travel abroad, not just to experience the city but also to see their natural wonders.
A pleasant visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens. I recommend for nature enthusiasts and also artists.

(All photos were taken on an iPhone 5s)