Edinburgh Part 1

3rd Sep
The trip over was as gruelling as ever, although made more bearable by 5 hours of sleep in Singapore. All went reasonably smoothly until Heathrow where confusion over our bags and hassles swapping terminals created momentary stress. The final leg to Edinburgh was marred by delays and a temporarily lost suitcase (along with luggage for about a dozen other people on our flight). But we had great views of the Firth of Forth and Edinburgh city (castle and all) as we came in to land.

Edinburgh Castle from Princes Street - Credit: J

We arrived at our B&B mid afternoon, so after a revitalising shower, we wandered off up the main shopping street to get our bearings. We were surprised by the mild temperature, but the dark skies created the usual gloomy look that Scottish cities can have, with all the dark brooding stone. Sorted out mobile phone sims and ate at an authentic Scottish pizza restaurant before stumbling into bed at 7:30pm.




4th Sep

Pipeband-a-thon, Scott memorial - credit:S

We awoke to brilliant sunshine, and then started the day with a huge breakfast, partly because our body clocks told us it was dinner time and partly because it was delicious - stone fruit and fresh berries which we haven't seen since summer, followed by a cooked breakfast complete with haggis.

Feeling several kilos heavier, we headed off to the National Gallery to see an exhibition of impressionist paintings. The sunshine made such a difference to the cityscape - the glowering castle looked a little more cheerful and even the grotesque gothic monstrosity that is the Walter Scott memorial glowed golden in places, hinting at what it would be like if the dreaded black mould wasn't covering it.

We got our first taste of bagpipes as we approached the gallery. The Stockbridge pipe band was holding a "pipeband-a-thon": 6 hours of continuous pipe band music to raise money. Somehow bagpipes seem right in Scotland, and the usual strangled cat noises were quite tolerable! It helped that they played "proper" folk music, not bagpipe top 10 hits.

Our first squirrel sighting this trip - credit:J

We'd just started viewing the exhibition when all the lights went out. A power failure meant we all had to be evacuated, and with no one able to say how long it would last, we filled in some time shopping and squirrel spotting in the Princes Street Gardens. I know they're just tree rats, but so cute!

Under one end of the gardens is the Waverly Railway Station, where we'll be catching the train to Glasgow later in the week. The array of glass roofs was a bizarrely high tech sight amongst the old buildings and classic gardens.

Railway Station roofs - Credit: J

By now it was close to the start of the Monza F1 Grand Prix, and thanks to the power of Google, we'd located a pub called the Rose Street Brewery that was going to screen it. Mind you, the poor publican said he has no idea why the website lists it, but given there were 6 of us who turned up, he shouldn't complain too much as it certainly generated some business for him. It made a nice change, watching F1 with a group of like minded people, while supping Guinness/cider. The race wasn't that exciting, but the occasion was fun.

Bedecked Gallery - credit: S

Then it was back to the National Gallery, where normal service had been resumed. What a fabulous exhibition: chiefly focused on Daubigny, the father of impressionism, showing his influence on Monet and Van Gogh. The cross-pollination was evident with paintings of similar subjects/locations by the 3 artists hanging side by side. The chronology also highlighted the evolution of their styles, Even the advertising outside was wonderful with the classical stone columns bedecked with silk flowers.

We quickly toured the rest of the Gallery which has a surprisingly good collection of everything from Renaissance art to more impressionists. The highlight was stumbling across John Constable's "The Vale of Dedham". We'll be staying in Dedham later in the trip, purely because of JC's work, and although I'd seen photos of this painting, it was just so much more impressive in real life. Given I had no idea it was here in Edinburgh, it was a serendipitous moment that also gave us a taste of adventures yet to come.

Princes St Garden, Scott Memorial - credit:S

We finished the day by walking up the Playfair Steps to the Old Town, again past the gardens. By now, it was quite warm and lots of people were sunning themselves on the sloping lawn or playing frisbee and soccer.

The Old Town was a sorry sight. When we were last here in 1988, this was an atmospheric place with alleyways and fascinating little shops. Now it's a tourist hell with nothing but cafes, bars and tacky souvenir shops selling everything tartan, shortbread, cheap Celtic jewellery and highland cow onesies. Our B&B hostess says the locals call the Old Town "the dark side" these days, and avoid it. We did have one highlight - when we popped into St Giles Cathedral, there was an organ recital underway. What an impressive sound an organ is at full blast!

St Giles - credit: S

We returned to the Rose Street Brewery for an early dinner, as it was one of the few places we've seen that has classic British pub food (sausage and mash, scampi and chips). Most places have either gone gastro (with prices to match) or foreign (tacos, Thai, spare ribs).

And then it was bedtime - that is, until I stood on a wasp while closing the curtains. Much pain, much medication, not much sleep!