Walking the Old Town of Edinburgh 
I had to make a quick trip to Sweden for a few different reasons, and as I wanted to keep costs to a minimum, I choose to fly with Ryanair. Since there aren’t any direct flights between Ireland and Sweden, I’d usually fly through London, however on this occasion I decided to go through Scotland instead, spend a few days and experience at least some of what the country has to offer.
On the morning of my travel day, I woke up with a real sore throat, the kind you get when you know a nasty cold isn’t far off. Well, I wasn’t going to let that stop me so I stocked up on Vicks, Fishermans Friends and other cold and flu medication before I left for the airport and boarded my plane. After a very short flight, I landed in Edinburgh, early on a Saturday morning, with the city feeling deserted.
Walking down the city’s main shopping street, Princes St, I found most shops to be closed due to the early hour. Making my way to the Scott Monument, a tribute to the writer Sir Walter Scott, I considered climbing the 287 steps to the top, but decided against it this early in the day, maybe later. Either way, the views of the city from the monument itself were great, offering views over Edinburgh’s different sections.
Continuing my exploration of the city, I made my way to the Royal Mile, a historic walk that starts at the Palace of Holyroodhouse and runs to Edinburgh Castle, which is situated on top of an extinct volcano and totally dominates the central area.
On my way up to the castle I ran past the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre and couldn’t resist doing a tour. Here they will tell you of the origins of malt whisky distilling in Scotland and the differences of Irish whiskey vs Scottish whisky. The tour starts up with a tasting session of Teachers whisky, which I didn’t mind at all. At the end of the tour, I sampled four whisky’s from different regions in the country, and I found all of these to do wonders to my sore throat. I walked through the shop and saw everything on offer, even a section locked behind a glass where one of the bottles was a 50 year old whisky with a price tag of £4000.
After the whisky samplings, I headed on towards Edinburgh castle which contains a lot worth seeing. The panoramic views over the city, where you get to see the city is located between the ocean and the hills. Interesting areas inside the castle include the Great Hall which is an interesting collection of weapons and armour, The Crown Room containing the Crown, Sceptre and the Sword of State, the Scottish National War Memorial, the oldest building in all Edinburgh with St. Margaret’s Chapel and I saw the One O’Clock Gun. This, as the name suggests, fires every day (except Sundays) at one o’clock, which I got to see up close.
Leaving the castle, I came across someone dressed as William Wallace from the movie Braveheart who was collecting money for charity by having his photo taken. I managed to take a photo from distance, however was discovered in doing that so I quickly left.
Feeling tired and hungry , I wanted to try the local dish and found a nice place to sit down where I ordered some Haggis, served together with “neeps an’ tatties” (mashed turnip and potatoes). The definition of Haggis is: “A Scottish dish made from sheep’s offal (windpipe, lungs, heart and liver) of the sheep, which is first boiled and then minced. It is then mixed with beef fat and lightly toasted oatmeal. This mixture is placed inside the sheep’s stomach, which is sewn closed. The resulting haggis is traditionally cooked by further boiling (for up to three hours).” Despite my initial skepticism, I found it to be surprisingly tasty and actually enjoyed it.
After dinner, I wandered for about another hour or so before I had to board the bus that took my to Inverness and the Highlands.
When I returned to the city, two days later, I walked towards Carlton Hill, Edinburgh’s version of the Acropolis, which afforded great views of the city, including the castle, Holyrood, Arthur’s Seat, and Princes St. After that, I started a trek towards Arthur’s Seat, a large rocky outcrop in the city centre. I walked pretty fast to the top, or so I though. Once I reached one location I saw that there was a lot more to climb. Well, I kept going and eventually got to the top, sat there for a while just looking out over the city before starting my descend back down to the city.
That evening, I decided to try a ghost tour where I choose the “City of the Dead”, and with a guide, ventured into Greyfriars cemetery where we almost tripped over grave stones and other items that we hoped were only sticks. The Mackenzie poltergeist is said to manifest itself in the Black Mausoleum, an old prison inside the cemetery and this tour is said to be the only tour with the key to the prison. We entered the tomb but unfortunately no supernatural encounters, no scratches, bites, punches or cold spots. But still the whole experience was great. I went for a couple of pints later on and then to the hostel where I was spending the night. They had a karaoke night this evening and I sat in the bar for a while listening to the “singing”.
I really liked Edinburgh, it’s beautiful, cozy, romantic, and very interesting. It really is a small city but with lots of things to keep you busy for a while. There’s no doubt about it, I’ll go back there in a near future, maybe during one of it’s festival, such as the annual music festival held every year in August.
