Back to King’s Cross – to catch a train to Edinburgh!! How cool is Europe – get in a train, 5 hours later, and a whole new country! With over 50 trains daily to Edinburgh, we didn’t need to book ahead of time – which also let us get to the station after a leisurely breakfast! I’m sure the title will raise some questions – the ‘Thistle’ is the floral emblem of Scotland – and I loved the wordplay of ‘Thistle do nicely’ – which was actually the name of a couple of souvenir stores we saw! The Scottish Thistle, along with the Tudor Rose, Welsh Daffodil and Irish Shamrock are a prominent design feature in several British palaces, and also find their way onto iconic wedding dresses – including those worn by Princess Diana and new Princess of Wales, Catherine! Best to get the trivia lesson out of the way at the very beginning, right?!
This time, no jet-lag, so we really enjoyed the train ride – we had a pod of 4 seats with a little table in the middle – the only thing missing was a deck of cards! The English countryside rolled by – passing picturesque villages, most just a cluster of houses and a tall church tower with pastures for sheep and cows. And then some bigger towns – York, Durham, Newcastle – yes, the same Newcastle that you don’t bring coal to!! Durham, in particular, was intriguing – with a spectacular view of Durham Castle as we rolled into the train station! And then as we entered Scotland, tantalizing glimpses of the sea – no beach, just an emerald green meadow, a rocky cliff dropping into the frothy waves! The colors looked straight out of a painting! At Edinburgh station, I just had to take a cheesy photo – ideally, I would have love this at Kings Cross, but it had been so crowded – anyway, our recreation of the iconic train scene from DDLJ!!
Heading out of the station, and right there, our first glimpse of the imposing Edinburgh castle! The cooler temperatures of London had significantly dropped here, it was downright chilly – I honestly considered ‘Edin-brrrr’ as the title of this post! Our first glimpse of our AirBnB did nothing to dispel the chill – it really was quite cold and damp inside – but hey, cold or not – we’re in Scotland – and we have to make the most of our time here!! The Lonely Planet book thoughtfully placed in the room did cheer me up – it has been far too long that I’ve looked at actual travel guides instead of searching online! And the 2 walking tours recommended were just perfect for our brief stay! Bundled up against the cold, we headed to our first stop – a brisk walk away, Calton Hill!
The walk led us through the gorgeous Carlton Terrace with its elegant townhomes, and all the way up the hill to a breathtaking view of Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth – the estuary leading to the North Sea – and ‘Arthur’s Seat’, the craggy hill marking Holyrood Park. At the top of Calton Hill, is a curious monument – a half-finished structure resembling the Parthenon. This is the National Monument, which was to be a memorial to soldiers who died in the wars against Napoleon, but was left unfinished due to lack of funds! And now the Scots have decided they like it the way it is – so no further development! Interesting!! There are several other monuments here – including a memorial to Admiral Nelson and the City Observatory. Several walking trails wind around the top of the hill, and it is a beautiful, wind-swept place. Also, the walk had warmed us up a bit, so we were able to enjoy the views comfortably!
We made our way down to Princes Street, passing the Dugald Stewart Monument. Still following the Lonely Planet itinerary, we were now headed towards Scott Monument. So this was part of ‘New Town’ with wide streets and beautiful Georgian buildings – looking across to ‘Old Town’ with the grand castle on the hill. The Old and New Towns pretty much make up the touristy parts of Edinburgh. Princes Street is a bustling thoroughfare, lined with several shops, including a mall and several cafes and icecream shops. Very European – how do I explain it? – cobblestones, massive statues at every intersection ( I loved that there was a seagull sitting on every single statue we saw! ), flower boxes outside the pubs, even the light is a little different! Scott Monument is of course dedicated to Sir Walter Scott – I remember memorizing his poem ‘Lochinvar’ in 10th grade! The Monument is across the street from Jenners – which is the largest departmental store in Scotland – we didn’t venture inside to verify. Lonely Planet said there was a spiral staircase up the Scott Monument – but didn’t see anyone climbing up – maybe has been discontinued?
Marking the end of New Town is Charlotte Square – stopping for a cool drink in a pub on the way – yes, that chill? – completely gone!! The grand dome of St. George’s Church – now home to the Scottish Records Office – was partially obscured by scaffolding for renovations. But we found a real treasure here – and Ajey especially was happy that we had walked all that long way! Any guesses – Scotland, Scotch – a huge Johnnie Walker store a block away from Charlotte Square! They had tours and whiskey-tasting – very tempting – a candy store for adults, for sure!! Sure, we’re familiar with the usual Black Labels and Red Labels – but this was whiskey on a different level – the sheer variety was astounding! We headed back, walking on the other side of Princes Street – admiring the rose blooms in Princes Gardens – browsing through souvenir shops – and another delightful discovery! Did you know that the UK equivalent of Dollar Tree is Pound Town! That really cracked us up!!
We had worked up quite the appetite – so looking for a dinner place – preferably Indian! And right there on St. Andrew Square, Dishoom!! Now there’s a funny store here – of course there is!! A week before, our friends – J family and S family – had been in London, met for lunch at Dishoom Covent Garden, and raved about the food! So when making dinner plans with K family, they suggested Dishoom too – and offered to make reservations. At this point, we were quite intrigued by this highly recommended place! As luck would have it – all locations of Dishoom are closed ONE day of the year for a staff appreciation event – and of course, that day was the only day we had available. No Dishoom in London! So surely it was fate when we saw the the Dishoom in Edinburgh – how could we pass up on destiny – even though it meant a couple of hours wait in line outside the restaurant! No kidding – we literally stood in line for over an hour outside, and then another hour in the bar area before we got a table. They were very sweet – handing out cups of steaming tea and icy lemonade as we stood in line. And how was the food, you’ll ask? It was good, really good – but was it worth the wait? Million dollar question, isn’t it?!!
Next morning was our appointment at Edinburgh Castle – yes, you have to book in advance, time slots fill up pretty quickly! But before that, we had a bit of logistics problem to solve. The AirBnB didn’t have an option to store luggage – and I really didn’t want to lug our suitcases around all day. We found luggage lockers at the St. Andrews bus station – and for 12 Euros, suitcases safely stowed for the day! The St. Andrews bus station was conveniently located near Princes Street – even better we found the #100 AirPort Express bus had a stop right there for us to get to the airport later in the day!
The morning was cold and drizzly again, a slight fog creating an air of mystery and romance – perfect weather to explore a castle! Started off with a perfect English breakfast at Thistle Cafe, and then up the hill to Edinburgh Castle. We didn’t get an audio-guide, but there were plenty of informational boards. First was a walk on the castle ramparts – and a view of the the entire area we were exploring the day before. The oldest building here is St. Margaret’s Chapel, built in the 12th century – and right outside is the famous canon, Mons Meg. The Great Hall and the Royal Apartments are the flourishes of royalty in this rugged castle – the high point was seeing the room where King James VI was born to Mary, Queen of Scots! The past is very present here, the sense of history very pervasive!
The ‘Royal Mile’ of Old Town stretches from Edinburgh Castle at one end to Holyrood Palace at the other – and was even more crowded than Princes Street the day before! There were all these narrow alleyways twisting away from the main path, opening onto quaint courtyards and tiny shops and cafes. The souvenirs here were a little pricier here, and there were several high-end shops with original cashmere and royal tartans. Street performers added to the festive atmosphere – including, to our delight, a Scottish bagpiper in full Highland costume! A local Scotch whiskey shop – with a map of Scotland showing the origins of the so many different Glens. The owner recognized a fellow whiskey aficionado in Ajey – and was soon offering him samples of his favorite whiskies! Too bad that airline luggage restrictions meant that we couldn’t buy anything! We made our way to Holyrood Palace – only to discover that it was only minutes away from where we had stayed last night – we had even walked right past it on our way home after the Dishoom dinner! On well! Holyrood Palace is the official residence of the British royals when they’re in Edinburgh – I didn’t pre-book tickets for a tour here, so only pictures through the gates!
After a quick lunch, it was time to retrieve our bags and and head to the airport! We did find a place to try the Sticky Toffee pudding – another UK speciality that we had missed in London. Too soon, our very short stay in Scotland was done! The Airport Express took us through a very different Edinburgh – residential areas with neat little houses and well-groomed front yards – a reminder that real people live and work in this beautiful city! Edinburgh, surprisingly , has vey few modern-city trappings – at its heart, it remains ancient – and that is why it is so appealing. I’ve never felt such an instant connection to a city before – and I would definitely love to come back and spend more time here! But for now, a short EasyJet flight away – Paris waits for us!! Watch this space!
A place called home... 
One Comment Add yours