Trip Report Part 2: Edinburgh
Aug 2nd, 2007, 06:42 AM
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Trip Report Part 2: Edinburgh
Trip Report Continued - Edinburgh
(Part 1 is here: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35034984)
On Thursday, June 22nd we took the 2.5 hour train ride to Edinburgh from Aberdeen. I had bought the tickets ahead of time (and booked our seats) for only 10GPB each. I think I prefer the train to the car ride (which we did 3 times) because we had a table between the four of us and were able to play cards, eat, drink etc.
We arrived at Waverly Train Station in Edinburgh at about 12:30 and grabbed a taxi to our hotel, which was The Knights Residence Inn on Lauriston Street. (http://www.theknightresidence.co.uk/index.asp) We rented a two bedroom apartment and I cannot say enough things about this hotel/apartment. It is an apartment, but there is a hotel staff so you get the best of both worlds. It was also about the same price as if we had gotten two hotel rooms for the four of us. We had a living room, kitchen, nice bathroom (with speakers installed, so you could have music on in the living room AND bathroom or one or the other, so nice!), and dining area. I appreciated the washer/dryer combo and the breakfast items that the hotel provided (cereal, milk, bread, butter, etc). The location, in Old Town, near the Grassmarket was ideal. I have a review on trip advisor, but it gets great reviews on there from everyone (currently #1 for Edinburgh hotels).
Our apartment was ready early (yay!) complete with our name on the door (we felt like we really lived in Edinburgh). We dropped our luggage off and then walked to the Grassmarket to have a pub lunch. Ended up in the Black Bull, which was good. Our original plan had been The Hub up by the castle, but we were quite hungry and then we were able to take our time up Victoria Street and then up the Royal Mile to the castle. We spent about two hours exploring the castle, and the sun actually came out!
I think it was our first time to see the sun for more than 5 min. It definitely cheered me up, as I was starting to get a little bored at the castle (blasphemy!). This was my second time there though, and the hills were starting to get to me. After the castle we stopped at Camera Obscura, which I really liked. My Dad decided not to come in, and so he waited on the street below. We saw him in the camera so it was kind of funny. We didn't spend too much time on the other floors of this fun house, but it was pretty neat and I'd recommend it.
Headed down to Deacon Brodies for a pint, and then to some shops on Princess Street. Dinner was at Pizza Express (North Bridge) and we were really wiped out so we took a taxi back to the apartment. I think it was about 5GPB total with tip. It was worth it for that night since our feet/legs were aching.
Friday we got up early and caught the 15 Bus to Rosslyn Chapel. We got there at around 10am, which was a good time, as it got more crowded when we were ready to leave. I loved it here, and took a ton of pictures of all the detailed masonry work. Just amazing. My Dad actually paid attention to the speaker and was able to tell some of her stories later (my Dad can have a short attention span). It was definitely a highlight of our trip. We had lunch across the street at the Roslin Glen Hotel, it was really good!
Took the bus back to the apartment and then walked around the shops on Victoria Street. Bought some wine, a French baguette and cheese from the cheese monger there. My husband's friends (who live in Edinburgh) were coming over to our apartment that night. Yes, we were entertaining in Edinburgh in our own apartment (again we felt like we lived there!). It was so nice, had the cheese/bread/wine in our living room then the guys went down to the corner to the Kingfisher chip shop and brought back fish suppers for us to eat in our dinning area. I had never had a takeaway fish supper in all my travels to Scotland and this one was really good. Of course my Dad got made fun of my by husband and his friends, since he asked for a bag to take away his food in. They said "spot the tourist!". My parents then ate it with forks/knives! Anyway, out later that night down to Bread Street (The Chanter Pub), had a good laugh there.
Side note. My husband's Grandma grew up in a flat on Bread Street and lived there for most of her life (until about 10 years ago). His Mum also grew up on that street, and their church was right next door to our hotel. It was kind of odd because *I* was the one to book the hotel, having no idea that that is where his family was from. It came in handy because my husband (Tom) knew the area well, and he was able to roll out of bed Sunday morning for an early mass just next door. The priest happened to be the one that had married his parents! He is 90 and rarely says mass, so that was a nice coincidence since he remembered Tom.
Saturday morning was rough since we were up till 2am the night before with Tom's friends. We took it easy and had a brunch/lunch for our first meal around 12pm at Monster Mash. It was a short walk there, BUT it was in absolutely POURING rain! We had a very nice lunch there, Tom really loved his bangers'n'mash (one of his sausages was kangaroo!), and I had a nice cheeseburger. Dad had breakfast and Mom had apple crumble and custard (not fair). Thanks Caroline, good suggestion! The rain cleared up by the time we left, phew, and so we headed back to the Royal Mile. Checked out St. Giles Cathedral, went in some shops (bought fudge, and noticed that the one hot chocolate shop everyone raves about was closed, Clarinda's Tea Room looked really cute though) and walked all the way down to the Palace. I had never walked down there before, so it was nice for me. We used our Great Britain Heritage Pass one last time to tour the Palace and we found the audio commentary to be the best out of all of the other ones we had experienced. I really enjoyed the rooms that we got to see, got to see a lot more than we did at Balmoral Castle!
We took the bus back UP the Royal Mile to our apartment to relax a bit before dinner. Took a taxi to the Jolly Restaurant (on Leith Walk I think), to meet four of Tom's friends there. Had a really nice dinner there (would highly recommend it), and my Dad had a fun time with the waitress. She decided to banter back and forth with him for some reason. In good fun though. At one point my Dad called her over and said to her "Now I'm sure you've noticed I'm not from around here", and she kind of rolled her eyes and said yes. Then he said "I'm from Aberdeen". The whole table was rolling. Maybe you had to be there, but I thought it was kind of cheeky! After dinner we headed to the Conan Doyal Pub to meet over friends for the rest of the night. I find this pub to be very cozy and age appropriate for us (30s to 50s). Taxi home.
Sunday was my parents last day on their 10 day trip to Scotland. We got up and had breakfast at Two Thin Laddies (Tolcross area, just down the street from our hotel), it was pretty good here. HUGE portion of yogurt, was kind of funny. Everyone always comments on how large portions are in the US, but I find them to be just as large (sometimes larger) in Scotland as well. We took the bus down to the Royal Mile (bought an all day bus pass, what a deal), where we had pre-booked the Real Mary King's Close Tour the day before. I really enjoyed the tour, thought it was different than the other tours I had gone on in other years (Mercat Vaults Tour under the South Bridge, and the Witchery Tour). My parents also liked it, and I think it gave them a different view of what the city used to be like. Definitely added to the whole trip experience. We then took the bus all the way down Princes Street (yes we were lazy, cold, and tired on this rainy day) to Mathers Bar to have a pint in there (since Mathers is our last name!). We mentioned to the barmaid that that was our name and she just said "oh". ha. Oh well, no free beer for us. We realize that it was actually owned by a Mather though and the s is added on for the business.
We then walked up Rose Street, wow that would be such a fun street to go to on a nice warm, sunny day. Have some lunch or drinks etc. I had never walked on it before. I took pics of the funny pub names (Dirty Dicks, etc). Then walked down George Street, in the bitter cold. Popped into the Hard Rock for some appetizers (very bad experience there! oh well). We actually met a girl there from Ohio and her ex-husband went to the high school I went to! Small world.
Went to a few more shops one last time, and then the bus back to the apartment. Got ready for dinner at The Witchery. Walked there, (UP those HUGE steps on the side of the castle, cold, tired, wet
), and had an ok meal. Now Tom and I had gone there a few years ago on my first visit, and it was magical. This time, I don't know, something was rubbing me the wrong way. My Dad and Tom LOVED their steak though. Said it was in the top 5 of all-time steaks. Mom and I had the seabass. It was just ok. Kind of mushy. So I wasn't that happy, I had excellent seabass in Arbroath at the Old Brewhouse. Oh, and I don't understand why the Witchery has rules about reservations. If you don't show up they will charge your credit card (which you must give to reserve the table) 20GBP per person. Well the restaurant was only about half full if that. Many empty tables. So I don't get it. Anyway, at this point in the meal I was excited for dessert but I was feeling ill and really really hot. They all said it was hot in there though, but I thought maybe I was coming down with something after walking in the rain all day. Sadly we said no to dessert and just left quickly. Taxi home. I felt better back in the apartment with some windows open and drank some water. Phew, I did not get sick. Still sad I never got that dessert, but that probably saved the table 40GPB!
Monday morning Tom's parents drove up from Aberdeen and took my parents to the airport. They got home with no problems (even got home early). His parents then came back for us and I got a car tour of Leith (raining) and two cemetery visits (for Tom to pay respects), and a tour of where Tom had grown up. Had a nice visit with friends of Tom's parents for dinner and then drove back to Aberdeen for our last week. My other trip report covers that.
Again, pictures are here...http://www.flickr.com/photos/tammima...602153/detail/ I've made a lot (with people) private now though. I had taken about 800 pictures, and weeded them down to 400 something. I kept getting fun of for how many pics I had! I didn't think it was odd though.
Anyway, final thoughts.
It was nice to have 4 days in Edinburgh. I think on past visits we only had 3, or just 2. Sure you could go to Edinburgh and spend less time (we met someone from Ohio on the Royal Mile, who was there for only one day), but I really found 4 days to be perfect and could have spent more of course.
FAVORITE PLACES:
Crathes Castle Gardens
Glamis Castle
Rosslyn Chapel
Real Mary Kings Close Tour
St. Andrews (would love to go here again on a warmer day!
Would Never Recommend:
Balmoral Palace
FUTURE PLANS: One of Tom's friends just got engaged, so we would love to be able to go to their wedding. I'm dying to see how a Scottish wedding is! They have no date yet, so hopefully it will be at least 2 years off. Next time we go I would also like to spend some time in Glasgow (I've only been to the airport there sadly!), and the Borders area.
We just have other small trips planned (Niagara Falls in September, hopefully somewhere for Easter, and Las Vegas in June). We also hope Tom's parents come visit next year (they came in 04, 05 and 06) and maybe some of his cousin's or friends. It's hard having good family and friends SO far away....
Cheers!
(Part 1 is here: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35034984)
On Thursday, June 22nd we took the 2.5 hour train ride to Edinburgh from Aberdeen. I had bought the tickets ahead of time (and booked our seats) for only 10GPB each. I think I prefer the train to the car ride (which we did 3 times) because we had a table between the four of us and were able to play cards, eat, drink etc.
We arrived at Waverly Train Station in Edinburgh at about 12:30 and grabbed a taxi to our hotel, which was The Knights Residence Inn on Lauriston Street. (http://www.theknightresidence.co.uk/index.asp) We rented a two bedroom apartment and I cannot say enough things about this hotel/apartment. It is an apartment, but there is a hotel staff so you get the best of both worlds. It was also about the same price as if we had gotten two hotel rooms for the four of us. We had a living room, kitchen, nice bathroom (with speakers installed, so you could have music on in the living room AND bathroom or one or the other, so nice!), and dining area. I appreciated the washer/dryer combo and the breakfast items that the hotel provided (cereal, milk, bread, butter, etc). The location, in Old Town, near the Grassmarket was ideal. I have a review on trip advisor, but it gets great reviews on there from everyone (currently #1 for Edinburgh hotels).
Our apartment was ready early (yay!) complete with our name on the door (we felt like we really lived in Edinburgh). We dropped our luggage off and then walked to the Grassmarket to have a pub lunch. Ended up in the Black Bull, which was good. Our original plan had been The Hub up by the castle, but we were quite hungry and then we were able to take our time up Victoria Street and then up the Royal Mile to the castle. We spent about two hours exploring the castle, and the sun actually came out!
I think it was our first time to see the sun for more than 5 min. It definitely cheered me up, as I was starting to get a little bored at the castle (blasphemy!). This was my second time there though, and the hills were starting to get to me. After the castle we stopped at Camera Obscura, which I really liked. My Dad decided not to come in, and so he waited on the street below. We saw him in the camera so it was kind of funny. We didn't spend too much time on the other floors of this fun house, but it was pretty neat and I'd recommend it.Headed down to Deacon Brodies for a pint, and then to some shops on Princess Street. Dinner was at Pizza Express (North Bridge) and we were really wiped out so we took a taxi back to the apartment. I think it was about 5GPB total with tip. It was worth it for that night since our feet/legs were aching.
Friday we got up early and caught the 15 Bus to Rosslyn Chapel. We got there at around 10am, which was a good time, as it got more crowded when we were ready to leave. I loved it here, and took a ton of pictures of all the detailed masonry work. Just amazing. My Dad actually paid attention to the speaker and was able to tell some of her stories later (my Dad can have a short attention span). It was definitely a highlight of our trip. We had lunch across the street at the Roslin Glen Hotel, it was really good!
Took the bus back to the apartment and then walked around the shops on Victoria Street. Bought some wine, a French baguette and cheese from the cheese monger there. My husband's friends (who live in Edinburgh) were coming over to our apartment that night. Yes, we were entertaining in Edinburgh in our own apartment (again we felt like we lived there!). It was so nice, had the cheese/bread/wine in our living room then the guys went down to the corner to the Kingfisher chip shop and brought back fish suppers for us to eat in our dinning area. I had never had a takeaway fish supper in all my travels to Scotland and this one was really good. Of course my Dad got made fun of my by husband and his friends, since he asked for a bag to take away his food in. They said "spot the tourist!". My parents then ate it with forks/knives! Anyway, out later that night down to Bread Street (The Chanter Pub), had a good laugh there.
Side note. My husband's Grandma grew up in a flat on Bread Street and lived there for most of her life (until about 10 years ago). His Mum also grew up on that street, and their church was right next door to our hotel. It was kind of odd because *I* was the one to book the hotel, having no idea that that is where his family was from. It came in handy because my husband (Tom) knew the area well, and he was able to roll out of bed Sunday morning for an early mass just next door. The priest happened to be the one that had married his parents! He is 90 and rarely says mass, so that was a nice coincidence since he remembered Tom.
Saturday morning was rough since we were up till 2am the night before with Tom's friends. We took it easy and had a brunch/lunch for our first meal around 12pm at Monster Mash. It was a short walk there, BUT it was in absolutely POURING rain! We had a very nice lunch there, Tom really loved his bangers'n'mash (one of his sausages was kangaroo!), and I had a nice cheeseburger. Dad had breakfast and Mom had apple crumble and custard (not fair). Thanks Caroline, good suggestion! The rain cleared up by the time we left, phew, and so we headed back to the Royal Mile. Checked out St. Giles Cathedral, went in some shops (bought fudge, and noticed that the one hot chocolate shop everyone raves about was closed, Clarinda's Tea Room looked really cute though) and walked all the way down to the Palace. I had never walked down there before, so it was nice for me. We used our Great Britain Heritage Pass one last time to tour the Palace and we found the audio commentary to be the best out of all of the other ones we had experienced. I really enjoyed the rooms that we got to see, got to see a lot more than we did at Balmoral Castle!
We took the bus back UP the Royal Mile
to our apartment to relax a bit before dinner. Took a taxi to the Jolly Restaurant (on Leith Walk I think), to meet four of Tom's friends there. Had a really nice dinner there (would highly recommend it), and my Dad had a fun time with the waitress. She decided to banter back and forth with him for some reason. In good fun though. At one point my Dad called her over and said to her "Now I'm sure you've noticed I'm not from around here", and she kind of rolled her eyes and said yes. Then he said "I'm from Aberdeen". The whole table was rolling. Maybe you had to be there, but I thought it was kind of cheeky! After dinner we headed to the Conan Doyal Pub to meet over friends for the rest of the night. I find this pub to be very cozy and age appropriate for us (30s to 50s). Taxi home.Sunday was my parents last day on their 10 day trip to Scotland. We got up and had breakfast at Two Thin Laddies (Tolcross area, just down the street from our hotel), it was pretty good here. HUGE portion of yogurt, was kind of funny. Everyone always comments on how large portions are in the US, but I find them to be just as large (sometimes larger) in Scotland as well. We took the bus down to the Royal Mile (bought an all day bus pass, what a deal), where we had pre-booked the Real Mary King's Close Tour the day before. I really enjoyed the tour, thought it was different than the other tours I had gone on in other years (Mercat Vaults Tour under the South Bridge, and the Witchery Tour). My parents also liked it, and I think it gave them a different view of what the city used to be like. Definitely added to the whole trip experience. We then took the bus all the way down Princes Street (yes we were lazy, cold, and tired on this rainy day) to Mathers Bar to have a pint in there (since Mathers is our last name!). We mentioned to the barmaid that that was our name and she just said "oh". ha. Oh well, no free beer for us. We realize that it was actually owned by a Mather though and the s is added on for the business.
We then walked up Rose Street, wow that would be such a fun street to go to on a nice warm, sunny day. Have some lunch or drinks etc. I had never walked on it before. I took pics of the funny pub names (Dirty Dicks, etc). Then walked down George Street, in the bitter cold. Popped into the Hard Rock for some appetizers (very bad experience there! oh well). We actually met a girl there from Ohio and her ex-husband went to the high school I went to! Small world.
Went to a few more shops one last time, and then the bus back to the apartment. Got ready for dinner at The Witchery. Walked there, (UP those HUGE steps on the side of the castle, cold, tired, wet
), and had an ok meal. Now Tom and I had gone there a few years ago on my first visit, and it was magical. This time, I don't know, something was rubbing me the wrong way. My Dad and Tom LOVED their steak though. Said it was in the top 5 of all-time steaks. Mom and I had the seabass. It was just ok. Kind of mushy. So I wasn't that happy, I had excellent seabass in Arbroath at the Old Brewhouse. Oh, and I don't understand why the Witchery has rules about reservations. If you don't show up they will charge your credit card (which you must give to reserve the table) 20GBP per person. Well the restaurant was only about half full if that. Many empty tables. So I don't get it. Anyway, at this point in the meal I was excited for dessert but I was feeling ill and really really hot. They all said it was hot in there though, but I thought maybe I was coming down with something after walking in the rain all day. Sadly we said no to dessert and just left quickly. Taxi home. I felt better back in the apartment with some windows open and drank some water. Phew, I did not get sick. Still sad I never got that dessert, but that probably saved the table 40GPB!Monday morning Tom's parents drove up from Aberdeen and took my parents to the airport. They got home with no problems (even got home early). His parents then came back for us and I got a car tour of Leith (raining) and two cemetery visits (for Tom to pay respects), and a tour of where Tom had grown up. Had a nice visit with friends of Tom's parents for dinner and then drove back to Aberdeen for our last week. My other trip report covers that.
Again, pictures are here...http://www.flickr.com/photos/tammima...602153/detail/ I've made a lot (with people) private now though. I had taken about 800 pictures, and weeded them down to 400 something. I kept getting fun of for how many pics I had! I didn't think it was odd though.
Anyway, final thoughts.
It was nice to have 4 days in Edinburgh. I think on past visits we only had 3, or just 2. Sure you could go to Edinburgh and spend less time (we met someone from Ohio on the Royal Mile, who was there for only one day), but I really found 4 days to be perfect and could have spent more of course.
FAVORITE PLACES:
Crathes Castle Gardens
Glamis Castle
Rosslyn Chapel
Real Mary Kings Close Tour
St. Andrews (would love to go here again on a warmer day!
Would Never Recommend:
Balmoral Palace
FUTURE PLANS: One of Tom's friends just got engaged, so we would love to be able to go to their wedding. I'm dying to see how a Scottish wedding is! They have no date yet, so hopefully it will be at least 2 years off. Next time we go I would also like to spend some time in Glasgow (I've only been to the airport there sadly!), and the Borders area.
We just have other small trips planned (Niagara Falls in September, hopefully somewhere for Easter, and Las Vegas in June). We also hope Tom's parents come visit next year (they came in 04, 05 and 06) and maybe some of his cousin's or friends. It's hard having good family and friends SO far away....
Cheers!
Aug 29th, 2007, 10:03 AM
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I have enjoyed reading about your Scotland trip and family gettogethers.
I had time today to look at your pictures and enjoyed them as well.
About that wee little man with the pointy red hat and beard. Did he follow you everywhere? Could ye nae get rid of him? He was kind of cute, but I bet when he jumped on the car roof or took up a seat in the train, you wondered why you were being so kind.
I had time today to look at your pictures and enjoyed them as well.
About that wee little man with the pointy red hat and beard. Did he follow you everywhere? Could ye nae get rid of him? He was kind of cute, but I bet when he jumped on the car roof or took up a seat in the train, you wondered why you were being so kind.
Aug 29th, 2007, 12:09 PM
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I hadn't looked at the photos before, Amelie. What a perfect exposition of your holiday.
May I mention a couple of typos?
That gothic skyrocket thing in the middle of Edinburgh is named after Sir Walter Scott, not the country; and we have yet to start firing priests of the castle barricades.
Have you worked out what proportion of the photos relate to food and drink? My sort of holiday!
And I was VERY relieved teh first time you had blue sky showing
May I mention a couple of typos?
That gothic skyrocket thing in the middle of Edinburgh is named after Sir Walter Scott, not the country; and we have yet to start firing priests of the castle barricades.
Have you worked out what proportion of the photos relate to food and drink? My sort of holiday!
And I was VERY relieved teh first time you had blue sky showing
Aug 30th, 2007, 05:35 AM
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lol teacher33. We adore the gnome.
shelia - I guess we did eat AND drink a lot. My poor husband had a doctor appointment the day after we got back. The doctor was more interested in his trip than him though!
Barbara_in_FL - Me too! Of course I got homesick while in Scotland, not sure why, but NOW that I am home... I am homesick for Scotland.
shelia - I guess we did eat AND drink a lot. My poor husband had a doctor appointment the day after we got back. The doctor was more interested in his trip than him though!
Barbara_in_FL - Me too! Of course I got homesick while in Scotland, not sure why, but NOW that I am home... I am homesick for Scotland.
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