A long, long time ago we made our first trip to Edinburgh. It was a flying visit, less than a day. We went to visit our friends from New Zealand (see previous post) once more as they toured the UK. It was our first overnight trip since Covid began!
We set off that Tuesday evening after finishing work & dinner. We got to see a lovely sunset on our way north!
We also got to see this sign (Welcome to Scotland) we haven’t seen in far too long about 9pm that night. Woohoo!
We also saw this random flock of geese when we stopped later at a motorway services. Thankfully, they let us leave (it was rather in question there for a bit).
The road we would have preferred was closed for roadworks, so we ended up on some very tiny roads indeed, and we got to the hotel quite late; bed about 1am, utterly knackered.
The next morning dawned bright and sunny, hooray! Also very cold. This is the view from our hotel window. And this is me wearing my merino wool sweater under my dress. It is extremely warm; probably the warmest thing I own. It only usually gets a few outings a year; I was extremely grateful for it later on this day, especially with the wind.
Chris really loves morning rolls from Baynes, a regional chain of bakeries through central Scotland. His whole family does, really, from their visits there in his childhood. So we had to get some while we were there! We got some to give to our Kiwi friends, some for us, and some to give to the in-laws when we got home. They last a few days, so we got 3 for each person. The eyes of the young woman working the register went as big as saucers when I ordered 18 morning rolls. Pft. I also got us all some donuts, which were a lot like Greggs’, to be honest. Not as good as Southern Maid donuts, but tasty enough.
Traffic in central Edinburgh was absolutely terrible. We did something like one mile in an hour. There were roadworks all over the place, in addition to the usual city centre traffic you might expect. If I’d known that, I would have booked a hotel in the city centre so we’d have more time with our friends. As it was, we finally met up with them about 11am.
They’d wanted to see a cathedral while they were here, and decided on St Giles’ Cathedral, so we headed straight there to meet them. We had our Elevenses of donuts outside first, and then wandered around the cathedral. It is 900 years old.
After over a decade here, I just take cathedrals for granted, so it was really amusing, interesting, and enlightening to hear our friends marvel at some of the architectural feats that I’d either stopped noticing long ago, or never known what a feat it was for its time.
Then we walked up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. The Royal Mile has 3 kinds of shops: whiskey shops, wool/warm clothing shops, and tat shops. They conveniently seem to be in a rotation.
It took all my self control, as a whiskey lover still in search of 🥃 good whiskey, to walk past the 15,720,824 whiskey shops in that short stretch.
🏰 The castle! There is this very wide approach to it, mostly pedestrianized. There are some Celtic crosses, etc, along the right-hand side, and a view of Edinburgh on the left-hand side.
We spent way too long faffing online to buy tickets. They really, really don’t want to sell you tickets there and then. If you ever go, do yourself a favor and buy your tickets online ahead of time.
But then we were in! We made it just in time for the firing of the One o’clock Gun. We didn’t get to see it, since crowds had already gathered, but we heard it quite up close and personal. It’s quite loud. 📣
Once they cleared, we had a look at the view. I expect it’s rather different now than it was when the castle was built and in use as a castle!
Unlike any other castle I’ve been to (I think), Edinburgh Castle was (a) intact, rather than in ruins, and (b) much larger. It was like its own little village, bringing to life those fantasy novels I’ve read set in medieval castles that were so extensive. Unlike, say, Peveril Castle (mostly just ruins now), which only has a little space, the enclosed grounds of Edinburgh Castle included lodging for all manner of administrators, diplomats, visitors, their animals, guards, and more.
I resisted the urge to buy whiskey yet again from the multiple dedicated whiskey shops inside the castle. Granted, the inflated prices helped with that.
I was also struck by the amount of green space inside the castle walls.
They even made a dog cemetery. The sign says “The small garden below has been used since Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901) as a burial place for regimental mascots and officers’ dogs.”
Mons Meg is the name of this cannon. The sign said, “The world’s most famous medieval gun was the ultimate weapon of mass destruction in her day. Mons Meg weighed six tonnes and could fire a 330 pound (150 kg) stone ball up to two miles (3.2km). This mighty siege cannon was designed to smash holes through castle walls. No weapon in the country could match her destructive power. Rebellious enemies of the crown surrendered rather than face her fury.” Her barrel is 20″ (50cm) wide.
The French Duke of Burgundy hired gunsmith Jehan Cambier to make the gun. She arrived in Scotland in 1457 as a gift to James II. She was last fired in 1680 as a salute for the visit of the future King James VII. The gunpowder charge was so strong that the barrel burst (damage still visible).
Keith and I went inside St Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest building in the castle. It was built in about 1130 by King David I and dedicated to Queen Margaret, his mother. She was sainted by Pope Innocent IV in 1250 after her body was smuggled past a besieging army.
It was converted into a gunpowder store after the Protestant Reformation in the 1560s. It was rediscovered in 1845, and restored in 1851-2. The sign says it used to be brightly painted inside; I guess the Victorians didn’t see fit to restore that bit.
The sign doesn’t say it’s absolutely tiny, crowded, and has a real steady flow of people in and out through the one-person (short person) doorway. Unlike any other old place of worship I’ve been to on this island, there was no chance for quiet contemplation.
We were absolutely ravenous by now and had a very late lunch. I was far too amused at the name of the Redcoat Cafe – and that they sat it next to the Jacobite Room, which I think was a pub.
We lunched at a picnic table in the courtyard. I suddenly appreciated why accessible picnic tables are designed differently than regular picnic tables. Unfortunately, they only had the regular variety. 😕
One more photo together with this dear friend of mine, and then it’s time for us to part ways. We’re headed home and they’re going to continue exploring the castle. (But I believe they were going to explore the inside bits, which were warmer and less windy.)
Out was much easier than in – partially because it was downhill!
We paused for another selfie on the way through the approach. With the wind and cold that day, Chris was so grateful for that heated jacket, which he’d gotten not too long before. Highly recommended!
We did nip into one whiskey shop on our way out of town, where we found this brilliant flavor map of Scottish whiskeys. It has become my bible for my probably never-ending quest for domestic whiskeys I like. I bought about a half-dozen of those tiny bottles of different kinds to sample them, and am slowly narrowing in on what to look for in contenders for my new fave whiskeys.
Then we were off! We had gorgeous weather on the way home, thankfully. Always reassuring and hilarious to see THE SOUTH on the road sign when headed home from Scotland. (The road signs also say THE NORTH, THE WEST, etc.)
Chris was tickled by this lorry and immediately thought of Discordianism, naturally. It turns out to be a major transport company in Bulgaria … sadly, the about page tells us nothing about why they chose that name. I’m thinking the founder was definitely a Discordian. There’s clearly no other explanation.
We had our picnic dinner in this really lovely picnic area of a motorway services stop (left). Well, we started to. It was still really cold, so I think we gave up and went back to the car before too long. But gosh, isn’t this just a pretty space?
Very much unlike the picnic area at a later services that the geese had taken over (right). I’m not sure if this was the same services from the night before that the geese were at, or a different one. I know I was really glad we’d found the other, goose-free picnic area earlier!
And then we got home after 6.5 hours of driving and collapsed in a puddle. Instead of this being one day off work for me, it ended up being two, really, because I was completely useless the next day (Thursday) – apparently I’m not 25 anymore. 😝 Most unfair. Thankfully I have that flexibility with self-employment!
This was our first big trip (more than a day trip) since 2019, so we were well out of practice. I was thrilled we managed it, to be fair. I was also grateful that Chris had insisted on making this an overnight trip instead of a (very long) day trip, as I’d first proposed.
It was so good to visit with Keith and Diana in the flesh. 💛 Now, when will we make it to New Zealand to do that again? 🤔
