Scotland has been in the news lately due to the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence. Will they succeed? Perhaps. The Scots are a passionate group of people, well enough to be fired up by throat burning whisky and the ice cold wind hanging over the Highlands.
We would miss Scotland - imagine border controls at Hadrian's Wall? Import tax on haggis, bagpipes and kilts. Imagine that.
All things aside, we enjoyed our trip to Edinburgh by train as the journey was scenic and relaxed.
Arriving in Edinburgh
We headed to Edinburgh with our friends Meei-Lin and Rob. Whilst flying is the quick way of reaching this northern city, we decided to take the scenic route by train from Kings Cross station. The route passed through York, Newcastle and a pretty historic looking town near the England-Scotland border - Berwick upon Tweed. As the train approached Edinburgh, it hugged the coastline and we had some spectacular views of the cliffs, ancient abbeys and rolling hills.
Our route to Edinburgh by train
Parliament House Hotel
Four and a half hours later, our train arrived at Edinburgh train station and we dropped off our bags at the nearby Parliament House hotel near the top of Caxton Hill with its many classical Greek style monuments.
William Wallace and friends
Edinburgh Castle
Our first tourist destination was to visit Edinburgh Castle, pre-purchasing tickets online to avoid the queues and heading in on time for the 1pm gun salute. The firing of the gun - a more modern piece of artillery now instead of a canon, dates back 140 years to inform the town and the ships in the nearby harbour that it was 1pm. This was probably more effectively than the dropping of a red ball from a roof, as they do in Greenwich so everyone can synchronize their pocket watches.
Entrance to Edinburgh Castle
The gun salute was over-rated. It went off with a bang, and that was about it.
The 1pm gun salute about the fired
Afterwards we headed to an exhibition about prisoners held at Edinburgh Castle. Conditions were cramped for the soldiers that found themselves fighting on the wrong side during the American War of Independence and Napoleonic Wars. The thick fortress walls made it impossible to escape, however there were a number of attempts, even a flourishing industry of printing fake money.
The castle on some ancient volcanic rock
Exhibition on prisoners of Edinburgh Castle
Outside the War Memorial within the castle walls
Very long sword
Mussel and Steak Restaurant We finished up at the castle around mid-afternoon and headed for lunch at Mussel and Steak - a restaurant that specialized in those two foods. We opted for a set menu and realised that food in anywhere other than London is quite affordable. The goats cheese salad was tasty, the steak was well cooked and the sticky toffee pudding was a highlight.
Upmarket Haggis wrapped in puff pastry
Goat cheese salad
Tasty piece of steak
Mussels in a Thai dressing
Sticky toffee pudding
Cheesecake
Golden (Royal) Mile To burn off the calories, we took a stroll down the Golden Mile and looked at the different shops selling souvenirs - kilts, tinned haggis and mini bagpipes. As we were walking downhill, we were not burning off too many calories and soon decided that a more intense form of exercise was required. Arthur's Seat At the bottom of the Golden Mile was the entrance to Holyrood Park - a former royal hunting ground. The centre of the park is marked by Arthur's seat - a 251m hill that provides amazing views over the city. Meei-Lin and Rob opted out of climbing to the top, so Olie and Mei decided that this was a great way to build up an appetite - embarking on a 2.5 hour trek up the more vertical approach to the summit.
Enjoying the view at Holyrood Park
The sundial at the top of Arthur's Seat
Taking a seat at Arthur's Seat
Overlooking Edinburgh Harbour
The view to the north and the Scottish Highlands
Ready to base-jump off Arthur's Seat
Video of the view from the top of Arthur's Seat
Durn Praise We returned back to the city centre just in time for dinner and met up with Meei-Lin and Rob for dinner at Durn Praise – small family Scottish restaurant that served hearty meals of salmon, cured meats, lamb and venison.
Cured meat salad
Salmon and extra large capers
Lamb cutlets
Venison and potatoes
Chocolate mousse cake
Whisky Bar We then migrated next door for dinner drinks at the Whisky Bar. We listened to a live bank playing 80’s and 90’s rock songs. However the meat heavy meal and red wine soon got the better of Mei and she started dozing off before the night had ended. Scottish Breakfast Sunday morning started off with a traditional Scottish breakfast complete with haggis that we judged as tasting like the inside of a Four 'n Twenty pie without the gravy. Other comparisons included really chewy mince meat.
After breakfast we headed to the southern end of the city to the Palace of Holyroodhouse where we had purchased tickets to the Queen's Gallery and the exhibition of 100 pieces from the Royal Collection in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. As we had already visited a number of royal residences in the UK such as Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, however the atmosphere at the Queen's Gallery was more relaxed and photos were permitted of the stunning jewellery, furniture and artwork by Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Da Vinci and Michelangelo.
Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse
Faberge Mosaic Easter Egg
The inside of the Mosaic Egg - shows the Russian Imperial family
Golden jewellery box
Faberge notebook signed by members of European Royalty
for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
Acquisitions from India -
including a stunning emerald belt and shield with over 800 diamonds
Crown from an Indian prince
Royal Yacht Britannia We finished up at the Gallery around mid-morning and met up again with Meei-Lin and Rob for coffee and scones before heading to the docks area for a tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia that was decommissioned in 1997.
Insignia of HMY Britannia
At the Royal Yacht Britannia
Picture of the Queen and Prince Philip just after Britannia was finished
Rob and Meei-Lin listening to the audio guides
At the Officer's bar
Queen's bedroom
Duke of Edinburgh's bedroom
With the Yacht's bell
The audio guide of the tour was quite informative and we were able to see the Royal apartments, getting a feel of the 'daily life' of the Royal family when they were visiting countries abroad before air-transport was used. We had a traditional afternoon tea and cake on board the yacht before taking a taxi back to town in time for our afternoon train ride back to London.
Afternoon tea onboard Britannia
The lemon cake
Dinner was a quick stop at KFC at the food-court before our long train ride home where we arrived back at Kings Cross Station just shy of 10pm and thoroughly exhausted from a very active weekend away.
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Scotland has been in the news lately due to the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence. Will they succeed? Perhaps. The Scots are a passionate group of people, well enough to be fired up by throat burning whisky and the ice cold wind hanging over the Highlands.
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