Edinburgh

Day 1: The First Day

Edinburgh is pretty, Glasgow is fun – so are characterized Scotland’s two largest towns, which the locals refer to as “cities.” (Well, OK, we’ll count Glasgow.) It made sense to me to start my trip with some touristy castle tours and such, and end it with a few days of relaxing party – so my start and end points were Edinburgh and Glasgow, respectively, with about 10 different possibilities for in between in my head.

But Edinburgh is fun too! (Yay!)

After an overnight 7+ hour direct flight from DC I rolled into my AirBnB apartment. The (unfortunately smoky) apartment was nothing special, but it was inside a very ghetto castle.

Then after a nap I was ready to find some whisky and haggis – and I did! In the most Scottish-named restaurant I could find, Arcade Bar Haggis and Whisky House.

Here is is – served with neeps and tatties, whatever the hell they are, garnished with bacon and whisky sauce.

So one thing which delighted me about Scotland – people talk just like you think they would. Like some of the people in Braveheart (not Mel Gibson). And they say “wee” a lot.

After a few miscellaneous whiskys at a few pubs, I trolled along the Royal Mile, about a mile of (mostly) bars in Edinburgh. I found the perfect experience at a bar called The Black Cat. The bartender asked me how much I want to spend, and what kinds of whiskys I like. She spent probably about 15 minutes customizing a flight for me, taking little sips of various whiskys and rejecting them until she came up with an absolutely excellent flight. Every single whisky was rich, flavorful, and strong – and all cask strength, how I like ’em! This is why I came to Scotland!

The bartenders also talked with me about my “bike through Scotland” plans and assured me that I would meet numerous kindly “wee grannies” who would help me out if I needed it. And they weren’t really wrong!

  • Here I am charming the bartenders :).
  • And the patrons :).
  • Here is my amazing whiskey flight and a HILARIOUS tip jar!
  • And here we are wandering around after that bar closed.

After this I and a few companions ambled around until we inserted ourselves into a group of Englishmen having a bachelor party. And after that, the night gets hazy.

Day 2: The revenge

Day 2 opened with a mild hangover which morphed gradually into a tour of Edinburgh. The city is full of old stone buildings and, here and there, color. Our tour guide said the city was designed to look scary to visitors.

Many shops in Edinburgh remind you that you are in Scotland.

The tour included the grave of the dog, Bobby, quite well-known in the area for visiting the grave of his former master daily. Fry’s dog is based on him.

Edinburgh has several monuments celebrating a few of their favorite things.

Adam Smith, the first economist! (Yikes, I didn’t know he was Scottish…)
The Sir Walter Scott monument. They REALLY like that writer.
I don’t remember what this is a monument to … Scotland maybe? Note the unicorn at the top – a symbol of Scotland.

And we saw St. Giles’ Cathedral, with beautiful stained glass windows. They take stained glass seriously in Alba.

Day 3: It’s Walking Time

Edinburgh is home to a house of wonders for the eyes called the Camera Obscura. On the lower levels are all manner of optical illusions and fun effects, most of which don’t lend themselves well to pictures. On the top is the Osbcura itself – an image of various parts of the city based purely on lensing technology. By moving the lenses one can spy on different parts of the city. Apparently, when this device first premiered in 1835 people would shriek in terror at the witchcraft of the thing.

The view from the top.

And next, I was on to my very first Distillery Experience … da da da DAM! Johnnie Walker. Yes, my first distillery experience was for a Scotch that is actually better when mixed with Coke. But it was -there – might as well see what they have to say!

The showroom and salesroom are quite large and impressive, like myself.

  • This is where you buy clothes if you want to look like a bottle of Johnnie Walker.
  • Interesting place to try the different smells of whiskey.
  • JW was one stylish man.
  • They really like him, his image is all over the police.

The distillery experience was honestly very cool. It was like a a Disney ride. They had theater actors telling us the story of Johnnie Walker’s life.

  • Look, they have a special light for photographing your cocktail.
  • It says something when the whiskey they give you is in cocktail form.

For dinner, the Scran and Scallie – a Michelin Bib Gourmand pic. It was good. Just good.

Scotland does have a lot of good lobster.
Seafood shepherd’s pie – fish lurk beneath the surface.
Sticky toffee pudding is amazing. America needs more of this.

Day 4: Having fun storming the castle

Probably the number one tourist destination is Edinburgh Castle, a large gothic-looking castle that looms over the city.

  • Walking up to the castle gate and no one suspects a thing
  • A road inside the castle
  • Castle buidlings
  • Weapons of individual destruction
  • Yep, there’s a distillery shop in the castle.
  • Some special rooms you had to see with this mirror. I think this was where Mary gave birth to James VI.
  • Prisons.
  • Crafts made by prisoners. Damn talented folks.
  • View from the walls the first
  • View from the walls the second

Besides whisky, Edinburgh makes plenty of gin – who doesn’t these days? I also took a visit to Edinburgh Gin Distillery. They turned me away because of my shoddy clothes and because I hadn’t booked a tour. But they did let me in the companion shop to sample their gins. They were tasty.