On our grand north-european tour, our last stop in the UK was to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. Neither of us had been to Scotland before, so this really kicked off the new locations for us!
We flew from Bristol airport to Edinburgh, and took the Airport Transfer bus (line 100) for only £16 for the return trip in to the city. The bus stopped at Waverly Street train station, so we could have taken the tram instead. We then had to climb what seemed like a hundred steps to get up to The Royal Mile for our hotel.
The Royal Mile to Arthur’s seat
Old Edinburgh is perched high up on the hill, topped off with the Castle, and at the bottom is Holyrood Palace. All along The Royal Mile between the two, there are old and historical buildings.
When we arrived, our rooms were not ready, so we decided to go for a walk up to Arthur’s Seat. It turns out that this is a 5 mile hike, with steep climbs to the 250m summit.
We calmbered to the top, with no real footpath, and were blown around by the strong winds. Eventually, we realised that it was getting dark, and so we recognised that we needed to get off the mountain before we got stranded! Even though we tried, we had to use our phone torches to get back to civilisation!
Exploring Edinburgh
Whilst we explored the grey stone streets of Edinburgh, we headed towards the famous Victoria Street. This is a curved neo-classical street winds down from the Royal Mile and has UNESCO world heritage status and is rumored to be the inspiration for J K Rowling’s Diagon Alley. There are multiple Harry Potter themed shops, and an official Harry Potter museum (complete with big queues) in this beautiful street.
Of course, as we like to be adventurous with our food, we had to have Scottish Haggis. The easiest way to try a bit is to have a Scottish Breakfast. This includes a slice of black pudding (blood sausage) and a slice of haggis. It was a strong taste, but still pleasant. Having some bacon and eggs with it meant that if we did not like the haggis, we wouldn’t go hungry! But, we both enjoyed the stomach stuffed with entrails and heart of a sheep.
One of the charms of Edinburgh Old Town is the Closes, these narrow side streets between houses are picturesque and enticing. The streets are often steeply sloping down from the Royal Mile, and because of Edinburgh’s dark grey stones, are often dark and mysterious canyons between buildings.
A particularly famous close is Mary King’s Close, which is a series of narrow streets and side streets that were covered over by the construction of government buildings, leaving a mysterious underground maze. The tickets were £22.50, but the way we purchased them was quite an experience in itself. We entered the ticket office, approached the only person in the room who was behind an iPad and in costume. We asked for tickets, and he said we need to purchase them at the counter. We then went to the empty counter, whilst the man stayed at the iPad, alone and looking into the distance. Another person arrived to take our payment, asked what time we wanted to go in – to which we were told that we had to wait for 15 minutes. We then stepped out of the queue, waited for two or three minutes, then returned to the counter to buy the tickets. We then left the counter to return to the first man (no-one else had entered the ticket office), who then asked “do you have tickets?” – even though he had witnessed us purchasing the said tickets. He then said “ooo, the time you have chosen does not start for another ten minutes, can you come back later?”. We then stepped out of the ticket office, waited 5 minutes, walked back in to the same man, who asked “do you have tickets?”.
When we got in, a very flamboyant man in period costume burst into the waiting area, to tell us stories (in character) and guide us through the tunnels and caverns that people lived in. It was an interesting experience.
Edinburgh is full of little hidden treasures. Just off Grassmarket (below Victoria Street), there was a pub marked as the Wee Pub. Signs stated that it was the smallest pub in Scotland. It was indeed a small room, but there was a large opening to a very large pub next door. So, not so much of a Wee Pub as a side room / snug with its own bar (which was not operating when we visited). This was where Bianca and I met up with Bianca’s eldest daughter, who had been backpacking around Europe and met us there.
The Christmas market in Edinburgh was centrally located near Waverly Station, in the East Princes Street Gardens, between the National Galleries of Scotland and the Scott Monument (named after a writer with the surname of Scott, not because it is Scottish!). The market stalls were solidly constructed timber cabins, and we were able to get food, drinks and look at the crafts. We were impressed with the stalls and their overflowing products for sale. There were also several exciting fairground rides here, including a very high long-drop and spinning chairs ride.
One of the interesting streets in Edinburgh reaches from Waverly Station to The Royal Mile, again in a curved cobblestone street – Cockburn Street. This is a grand street built in the late 1850’s, and has many beautiful buildings. One of the attractions in Cockburn Street is a coffee house called The Milkman. There are actually two locations for The Milkman in Cockburn Street (pronounced Coh-Burn, unless you are an American), both heritage buildings serving great coffee and fresh cakes.
