Nemo Me Impune Lacessit

I just got back from an excellent 2-week trek across the UK, and I thought I'd share my thoughts about the cities I visited in a fairly organized manner. For each city I visited, I will list the best and worst things about it. Coincidentally, I've also started watching some British trash television, including a show called "Snog, Marry, Avoid," and I will be assigning one of these three judgments to each city I present. (Snog = kiss/make-out, for you non-Brits.)

First off, Scotland, and more specifically, Edinburgh!

Let there be no mistake: I love Edinburgh. I think it's my new favorite city. I had consistently seen this seat of Scottish Parliament as the Top City to Visit by many people's standards, but I just had no idea. Originally, I wasn't even planning on staying a full day there, so I'm quite happy I ended up making it a slightly longer stay! As it was, I could have stayed for a week and not been tired of looking around.

Best about Edinburgh: Where to begin... it's clean, the architecture is absolutely beautiful, the skyline when you walk to the city centre from the bus station is just stunning, the weather was a nice sunny/cloudy/sprinkling mix, stores are open on Sundays (!), the museums and Parliament are mostly all free to visit, the Leith River walkway is a lovely 12-mile stretch of walking path, the Caledonian Backpackers Hostel was fantastic, and THE CASTLE (enough said).

Worst about Edinburgh: That I can't just up and move there (thanks for nothing, EU).. also, you won't find too many unintelligble Scottish accents here.

Snog, marry, avoid? Marry, baby; this city is awesome!


Next up, Aberdeen.

Bleh, the City of Granite is not high on my list of places to re-visit, despite its having a nice Robert the Bruce statue.

Best about Aberdeen: seeing a pod of dolphins swim by at the beach on the North Sea, the cool Kordova Klub pub near the train station, proximity to Edinburgh (only 3 hours by coach)

Worst about Aberdeen: that everything's made of this gray, institutional-looking granite; every museum in the city is closed on Mondays (when I was there)

Snog, marry, avoid? I'd avoid Aberdeen. Sorry, this place was just gray and not much fun.


Final stop in Scotland: Inverness.

Inverness is a pretty nice little place. It was chilly and super-windy, but fortunately, I was prepared for a little northern weather in the Capital of the Highlands.

Best about Inverness: ceilidh bars with traditional music, cool travelers in the Student Hotel, nice bridges over the River Ness, Loch Ness, Culloden Battlefield, walking from the Battlefield to Clava Cairns and Milton of Clava, the castle near the city centre, lots of good restaurants, tons of whiskey distilleries (including the small Bendromach distillery; the Malt Whiskey Trail goes through the area), thick Scottish accents, rainbows everywhere (I saw on average one a day)!

Worst about Inverness: needing to take a bus/train to get to a lot of the good cultural stuff, though it wasn't too complicated or expensive, and the view was nice; the damp chill and high winds that kept me somewhat chilled the whole time, especially when I didn't dry my hair after showering one morning

Snog, marry, avoid? Snog and maybe marry. Inverness seems pretty nice, though I don't know what it would be like to live there. I'd probably spend more time in the Highlands than in Inverness, quite frankly.


As for the title of this post, "No one attacks me with impunity" is the motto of Scotland, and it's written in many places: over the doorway of the Edinburgh castle, on coats of arms, and even in one of the holy chapels in Edinburgh! Fun fact.