5 days in Edinburgh, Scotland

Finally made it to Edinburgh! We were here during the last week of July / first week of August 2017 for the first week of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Best. Week. Ever. 

 (I'm planning my next trip back already) 

 Disclaimer: this post is slightly longer than most because I wrote most of it on our train back when everything was still pretty fresh in my mind. 

Edinburgh in 5 days: 
  1. Explore Princes street gardens
  2. Eat dinner and have drinks in the city
  3. Explore on a free walking tour of the city
  4. Eat Deep fried mars bar and hot toddies at The Fiddlers Arms
  5. Drink Whisky tasting at The Black & Bear
  6. Visit Camera obscura
  7. Drink at Beehive Inn
  8. Explore Edinburgh castle
  9. Drink Whisky tasting at Albernach
  10. Explore Parliament / The Queens Palace
  11. Hike up Arthur's Seat
  12. Visit Tom Riddle's grave (HP Fans!) 
  13. Visit 'The Elephant House' aka the Harry Potter café (visit the toilet!) 
  14. Eat at The Baked Potato 
  15. Visit Tron Kirk - Royal mile market
  16. Visit The Royal Museum of Scotland
  17. Enjoy EDINBURGH FRINGE FEST 🙌🏼
    • Fringe fest: Borders by Henry Naylor (gilded balloon teviot)
    • Fringe fest: comedy show by John Robins (pleasance courtyard)


Peaks and pictures: 

Edinburgh was amazingly festifull 😃

Yes, you read that right, yes, I made that word up

Our five day trip marked the start of our travel plans and was my first taste of Scotland. 

We had talked about visiting Edinburgh every year since starting university in 2008 but kept delaying for some reason or other. Nine years of anticipation is enough to create really unrealistic expectations of anywhere, but this capital still managed to exceed all of mine (and then some).

We travelled from London to Edinburgh on the first train of the morning from Kings Cross St. Pancreas, the morning after my best friend's wedding reception. Clearly some very clever planning(!)

I was exhausted but thankful for the beautiful views and fresh air which quickly killed off my alco-breath. Nothing better than a long and peaceful train journey to welcome much needed nap time - thanks Nehal and Ro for the snacks you packed us for the journey!

We enjoyed a few days of tranquillity in the city during the end of July followed by the exciting hustle and bustle as tourists flooded in to mark the start of Edinburgh's peak tourist season Edinburgh Fringe Festival, cocktail festival, arts festival and much more throughout August. Smart planning? I wish. Just Lucky. Very very lucky. 

I really enjoyed how quickly we were immersed into every day life. A short walk from the prominent Edinburgh Waverley historical station through to the town centre had us stopping every few steps; whether to talk to a helpful local, watch a practice performance on the street, admire busy market stalls, ponder over multiple pages of scotch and whisky, or to learn something new about certain western influencers at the many tribute statues dotted around along the way. Pride and culture is really very present everywhere.

 Badly packed backpacks checked-in, we explored Princes street gardens followed by a carb-loaded diner and some drinks in the city. 

Takeaway pizza and movie nights are my favourite thing ever – although we actually got talking to an Indian guy who had moved into the neighbouring flat for work. He filled us (me) with kaju katli (my favvvv) (k, one of my faves) to celebrate Raksha Bandan. And just when things couldn't get much better, Harry Potter came on ITV...

The next few days flew by. I randomly decided to chop off my long hair thinking it would grow back lusciously under the Asian sun 💇🏽 (I was wrong 🤦🏽‍). Min’s words said he backed my decision to go short but his face looked sad ha.

We just about made a free walking tour that afternoon which was interesting and entertaining, just as I'd hoped it would be (free walking tours never disappoint, everyone who knows me knows that I love them).


 Seeing 'inspirations' of JK Rowling's writing, learning about the city's mascot, listening to old wives tales now used to explain past behaviour, and participating in re-enactments of historic customs were hard work and left us hungry.

On advice from our tour guide we went to The Fiddlers' Arms to try (and love!) a deep fried mars bar, and then I decided to wash it down with lots of cups of hot toddy and a side of Mary's Malted Milk. YUM. Please can I deliveroo all of this to London right now?


After hopping from The Black & Bear to The Beehive Inn, we walked to Camera Obscura where my mind was messed up by tricks. I probably shouldn't have drunk as much just before because I felt a bit sick at one point, but that added to the experience ha!

Day three introduced me to patriarchy in a brief visit to the magnificent Edinburgh castle, before walking east to The Queen's palace and Parliament buildings. We didn't go inside, but they were grand buildings to admire. We walked this way to get to the starting point for our short hike up to Adam's seat...

Min loves a bloody hike. I kept up, luckily, but I quickly realised that 1) walking up with a Cafe Nero cup made me look like a wannabe-z-lister amongst everyone else in their activewear (even though it only had hot water in it to keep my hands warm) and 2) I actually needed my hands free to help me balance / clamber / find my centre of gravity / wipe my tears slash sweat slash both. OK I'm obviously over-exaggerating... but there were mums holding babies climbing up faster than me. I'm just saying.

Surviving this ordeal and making it to the top is a memory that will stay with me forever because of the importance of this place in 'One Day', one of my favourite books of all time (and also because of the beautiful view!). 

I will also look back at it fondly now because I was so innocent here. I was so unaware of the really serious hikes and climbs that Minesh would get me to do over the next few months. Looking back at this now, this was a stroll. I was an amateur. 


After finding Tom Riddle’s graveyard, we stopped for lunch at The Elephant House, now commonly referred to a Harry Potter Café where JK Rowling famously lunched while writing parts of her first books. This might have been a tactical ploy to lift my spirits after that hike 

 Some well-deserved whisky tasting at Albernach. This was an eye opening experience, especially for a JD & coke drinker like me 😏. True to myself, I finished off the evening with.. you guessed it, another hot toddy. A tingle for my senses.

The obvious thing to do after drinking is eating at a family run Italian restaurant and paying a late night visit to the cinema (!) and that's exactly what we did.

There were so many memorable things about this trip that it is hard to highlight them all. Accidentally having the jacket potatoes ever at The Baked Potato Shop is just one of them, but the best by far was watching two brilliant Fringe performances; one hilarious comedy about new singledom and one emotionally gripping theatre production about freedom fighting females in war ridden countries.

Pits: 

I can't think of any pits. I could be biased because I had wanted to visit for years, but I loved the quirky, artsy atmosphere, the fresh air, the ability to walk everywhere and the whisky... So there is nothing I would change. 

If I could go again I would also: 

I left Edinburgh on a high; wanting more and looking forward to visiting again. If and when I can go back I would go see more Fringe shows, explore Loch Ness, venture to surrounding Scottish cities, and drink more whisky!

Have fun in Edinburgh; please let me know of any other recommendations that I don't know about,  

Priya 
x

Comments

Post a Comment