Edinburgh

by Stephan / 2 January 26'

Day 1:

What a week, we are both super stressed and happy to get away from Amsterdam from few days. Usually we do early mornings flights out but this time we decided to opt for the afternoon flight, must say it was bit easier on our stress levels.

I have been to Edinburgh before but can’t really remember what public transport we used to get to our accommodation, was a boys trip so valid excuse. On arrival at Edinburg we researched how to use the bus. You can scan QR code at airport to buy ticket but this didn’t work for us, so we just referenced to Google maps and headed to the busses. You can buy your bus ticket at the bus station itself, very kind lady assisted us and we got on board. It was 8 pounds for return ticket, more than half the price of a taxi. We stayed on the western side of the city which is closer to airport. Few stops from airport we stop right in front of our accommodation The Roseate Edinburg, we look at each other amazed with the lucky find. The building looks beautiful and rustic from outside, really impressive. We are greeted by concierge which tells us all the stories from the pictures on the wall, clearly there is a lot of history in this place. He seems surprised that we will be here for 5 days, with Belinda’s pocket guide she will make sure you get your daily steps in. Checked in, drop our bags and we head to city for dinner.

The castle on hill is all light up in festive colours and in the city is in really festive vibe. We try few of our restaurants on our “want to go” list but we settle for something for simple. Found tourist trap bar which is not too full and we managed to get table. I have to listen very careful what the barman is saying with his Scottish accent but manage to order us some food and drinks. We were both starving so was really good, finish our beer and we head back to accommodation.

Day 2:

Wake up all refreshed, I decided to skip my run just to take it bit easier from all the stress past few days. Breakfast was included with the booking so there was no rush in morning to head out try and find spot, definitely recommended. We head out late afternoon, back to city. This time the streets bit more quiet compared to last night chaos. We walk up to the Edinburgh castle and back down the royal mile, there so much going on the mile so take your time and allow sufficient time. We reference to our booklet and see few stops we have to make, one of them finding the Unicorn, Scotland’s national animal, interesting. Close by you can also find JK Rowling’s handprints, if you don’t know Edinburgh architecture and scenes were her inspiration for the Harry Potters novels.

We continue down the Royal Mile towards Holyrood Castle and by this time it is lunch already, we stop by great spot Outsiders, really lucky to find space. Book this in advance and ask for window spot. Once done we continue our walk down the Royal Mile towards Holyrood Castle. This is the castle that Mary the Queen of Scots stayed in and is also the castle where the Queen’s courtier and private secretary was murdered, stabbed 56 times. Apparently you can still see the stains in the adjacent chamber of the supper room. We booked tickets for the castle on the day that we return, more on this later. We slowly head back, stop at pub for beer and flat cider, Belinda not impressed. By the time we got bit closer to our accommodation it was almost time for dinner, we picked the first place that look decent enough which was Fava, a Greek restaurant, good food, bit pricey but we enjoyed it. Day done and we head back to our accommodation, on route Belinda discovers biltong and Tesco, happy Belinda.

Day 3:

Christmas day, we woke up, enjoyed good breakfast and get ready for run to Cramond. Not sure what to expect, all we know is for the part we want to go to we must be sure it is low tide so we can get to Cramond Island. We take the Roseburn path, greeted and wish wished “Good morning, Merry Christmas” all along towards Cramond by fellow runners, walkers & cyclists. We arrive at Cramond amazed at the landscape and the causeway leading to the island. We cross to the island, take a few photos and head back.

Everything is pretty much closed on Christmas day except the restaurants which we have booked in advance. We refer back to our booklet and find few walking trails, one of which is all along the Water of Leith. Everyone else seems to have the same idea. It is a beautiful walk, take your time, so much to see on the route. We end up walking all the way to Stockbridge. Since everything was closed we were not able to get something for lunch so end up just getting snacks from convenience store. It was getting dark so we decided to walk through the city back to our accommodation.

We made a reservation for dinner at Palatino, it was not our first choice. Since we got there we tried to get reservation at “Palmie”, which is actually called The Palmerstone. Apparently you can get everything from head to tail there, not sure how I feel about it but the vibe seems nice, something on our list for next time. Moving on we arrive at Palatino, it is busy but everyone in good spirits. Belinda had the beef carpaccio for starters and reginette for mains and I had beetroot tartare for starters and haggis pizza for mains, easy good choice meal. We decide to skip desert and go to bar instead, can’t resist not having whisky in Scotland.

Day 4

We booked tour at 13:10 to see Mary’s Close so we must be sure whatever plans we have, we get there on time but first we going to do another walk, this time towards Arthur’s seat. I was under impression we will just walk there and not go up Arthur’s seat itself, so I was dressed in informal long pants and my converse high tops. It required a bit of work and focus but it is doable, would just maybe recommend to dress in sport clothes and trainers. None the less it was beautiful view over Edinburgh when we got to the top. Still on the clock to be on time for Mary’s Close we head back down towards the Royal Mile again for our tour, we must be there 10min before the tour starts. Admiring the beautiful views as we head down we realise we took the longer route, not over the mountain but around. Picking up the pace, me stopping for pee break, Belinda heel-toe’ing (as she calls it) in front, me catching up again heel-toe’ing with her, we arrived exactly at 13:00, hows that for planning.

Mary’s Close is definitely something I would recommend if you visit Edinburgh, also if you like history like I do. We were welcomed by our very energetic tour guide Josh. His energy and humorous comments does not match the crowd, he is on level 10 and the rest of the crowd on level 2. We have to listen carefully with his fast talking but do get his jokes, maybe bit too much. He sure was a good storyteller, at one stage we were about to move to next room and he asks the crowd so where do you think the door is, me mumbling “behind you…” and of course what happens, he picks me as his “wingman” through the whole tour. I tried to introduce myself as Stephan, he didn’t get it so we just settled for Steve. Through the tour I was the example for most things, “Hey Steve, stand here”, “See Steve there in front, follow him”. I was so impressed with the tour that we end up being all the photos we took at the photo opportunity, typical tourist trap, but good memory.

By the time we were done we were starving and thirsty. We were not too far from the oldest bar in the city “The White Inn” from where we were and we been meaning to go for drink there since day 2 so we make our way there. The bar is quite full but we managed to get spot at the bar, order 2 stouts, tried to order food but no food at bar, order another beer, “Rocking Rudolph”, not a nice beer, tell everyone in beer don’t order that and I settle for pilsner, finish our drinks and head off back to our accommodation. We realise maybe we should have had something to eat before we had those beers and Belinda goes into hangry mode. We stop at few places on route back to our accommodation but not really what we looking for. Belinda hangry levels have increased, I take control and tell her I know a place, she is not fully convinced but we continue down towards Western Coates, not long down the road we arrive in front of Aboosh. The yellow coloured menu appears like mirage and Belinda stares with amazement, clearly impressed. We get takeaway and continue our journey towards our accommodation. It is about +/- 3 hours before our reservation so we don’t eat all of it, just enough to keep us satisfied.

Back at accommodation we shower and get ready for our last night’s dinner date at The Witchery. Initial plan was to walk there so we have an appetite when we arrive there but we settle for bus. The busses schedule have changed because of the holidays so the bus we planned didn’t arrive, bit in a panic we order a taxi, the taxi end up going past us or so it appears on the app. Stress levels are rising and as per schedule we will be 10min late for our reservation. Not sure what to do we see car further down the road parked, as if waiting for someone, IT IS OUR TAXI!!! We rush to the taxi, about 100m down the road and get in. The taxi driver is not having a good day and we might have made it even worse now. He kept mumbling things and clearly upset with people on road. At one stage he took a personal phone call, the person on the line seemed to have left the window open at their apartment and something got out, maybe cat? bird? We won’t ever know since they were also talking in another language but the guy was clearly not having a good day. He seemed bit frustrated with the location he had to drive to for us, can understand since it is very touristy area, so end up telling him to drop us off few hundred meters before the actual location and we walked the rest.

We have seen The Witchery on previous days from outside when we crossed it on the Royal Mile. It sure is something at night, beautiful lighting outside. We are welcomed at the front desk and shown our table. The interior decorating is just as beautiful. We order oysters for starter and for mains de boeuf to share for two and of course whisky for desert. The service and food was good, not in our top 10 but glad we tried it for the experience.

Day 5

When we planned the whole trip we really wanted to include Holyrood Palace. Our flight back to Amsterdam is at 13:40 so that gives us some time in the morning to squeeze in Holyrood Palace but we gave it some thought and evaluated our stressful situation the day before and decided we would rather opt for slow morning, good breakfast and stress free arrival at airport. On arrival at airport our flight was delayed but thats ok, next time we come back to Edinburgh we still have something to see.

The Roseate

Cost: €668

We booked this through Luxury Escapes. The extra benefits are great!

KLM Flight

Cost: €586

Last minute booking 😖

Day 1: