Edinburgh!

And the winner is . . . . Johnny5! You may think that he was the only player, but I did receive several guesses via email. Johnny – your prize is a shout-out on our blog! Yay for you!!! [by the way, this is your shout-out].

Our trip to Edinburgh was quick – we arrived Friday night and left Sunday late morning, so really we just had Saturday to explore. Friday night we headed out for dinner to a restaurant suggested by our hotel. The guidebook described it as “Mediterranean food with a Marrakesh feel inside”. It was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel, past some of the most famous pubs in town and on an adorable street with filled with little shops and restaurants. They didn’t have any tables, so while in the lounge area waiting for a table we decided to just stay there. It was a really great dinner and we even tried a local specialty – haggis. The manager recommended it, so we figured we should at least try it. I have to admit, it was not bad. I also have to admit that the version we were served was fried in beer batter, which can make anything taste good, right? Anyway, if you ever head to Edinburgh, we definitely recommend this restaurant! It is the blue building in this picture (taken the next day):



Saturday as we walked around the city in daylight we realized that what we had heard was true – Edinburgh is very similar to London. Same stores, same buses (but theirs are white, not red), same crosswalks, traffic lights, etc. The accent though, that is totally different! And the weather is usually much much cooler, so we were ready for our first real taste of winter. But we were pleasantly surprised with a gorgeous, crisp fall day that was not nearly as cold as we expected. It was even sunny! We could not stop taking pictures! Here is a shot looking down the Royal Mile:



Our first stop was a visit to the newly unveiled Adam Smith statue, outside St Giles’ Cathedral. Pat (as a GSB grad and a free market soldier) has a special place in his heart for Adam Smith, so we had a moment of silence and took several pics to ensure a good one.



Then we had a nice leisurely stroll down the Royal Mile (which runs between the Palace and the Castle). It is filled with shops and on beautiful fall day – loads of people watching! It did not take us long to figure out that there was home rugby match – rowdy (drunk) people in kilts & rugby shirts were everywhere. I wish I had snapped a picture, but I did not want to risk offending them.

We walked all the way down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. From there we hopped on a tour bus for a loop around the city. It was so nice (aka, not raining and not freezing cold) that we actually sat up top, outside! We had a live guide giving the history of the city, which was great. We loved her accent, even though we probably only caught every third word. Here are a couple pictures we took from the bus:

The Castle:



Others:





We got off the bus at the Castle and did our own tour. It was dusk, so we got some great pics. Here they are:











Then we headed to a pub in the Grassmarket to watch rugby. It was fun, but not that exciting of a match as the Scots had not beat the visiting team (from NZ!) in about 23 years, so there was not much hope for a win. Although they did put up a good fight, the Scots lost. But the real story is about Maggie, the namesake of the pub. Click here to read about her.

Overall Edinburgh gets 2 thumbs up! We really enjoyed it and wish we would have had another day or 2 to explore.