2015

After an epic week travelling the highlands I am back in Edinburgh, feeling a bit sad to be on my own again, but looking forward to a weekend here.

On Saturday morning I met up ____ and we head up to see a few iconic Edinburgh things before she flew back to London. We began by climbing up to the Edinburgh Castle and taking in the view, from the outside of course. It was a beautiful blue-sky day and freezing cold with the wind whipping all around us.

From here we headed to the farmers mark Rich told us about, where I bought some short bread and tablet and debated on buying all of the yummy foods, many of which were proudly vegan. Our final stop of our quick tour of Edinburgh was visiting the famous cemetery where Thomas riddle aka Lord Voldermort resides, and of course the inspiration for Professor Mcgonagall's name.

We said our goodbyes and Shaunna headed for the airport, while I headed to the meeting spot of the local Sandeman’s walking tour, a solid 2.5 hours in the cold! Things we saw: Edinburgh Castle, St Giles’ Cathedral, The Royal Mile, New & Old Towns, Mercat Cross, Greyfrairs Kirkyard (cemetery), Scott Monument, Princes Street Gardens, Grassmarket, Site of witch burnings, the original Hogwarts, William Wallace and the Stone of Destiny, National Museum, the mound, Tron Kirk, The real Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the Scottish Enlightenment.

Walking around you can truly see how much inspiration J.K Rowling got from living here. It’s awesome.

In the afternoon I took some time out in my hostel and watched the semi finals of the ATP World Tour in London, BBC iPlayer I will miss you very much. As night fell, at 4pm, I went out for a walk about town and see if I could purchase tickets for the Hamlet screening on Monday. I walked up to Festival Hall and saw this recommended Indian restaurant. It was buffet style, cheap and delicious. In the end I spent the evening sitting by the fire in my hostel drinking wine.

Sunday was a slow start but I began by walking up and down Victoria Street, it was the inspiration for Diagon Alley. It has some fantastic little boutique shops, including a beautiful cheese monger, leather goods, several whiskey outlets. Rich recommended Oink hog roast sandwiches for lunch. It’s takeaway only and a massive turning pig sits in the front window, the line was out the door every day.

I settled on a lovely looking French restaurant with a good lunch menu instead. After lunch I made my way to the west end in search of a gin bar I had discovered, it didn’t open until 5pm, but I was satisfied that I’d found it, as this was the second time over the weekend I’d been in search.

I then took a walk along varies different roads taking me down petit side streets, past huge houses and into main thoroughfares and Christmas parties. As the sun started to set the sky light up so I raced back towards the Royal Mile and up to the castle to take pictures of it setting over the town. It was truly beautiful, great pinks and oranges and yellows all mixing as the inky blue sky descended upon the town.

On Monday it was raining so I visited the Writer’s museum learning about three famous authors including the guy who wrote Dr Jekell and Mr Hyde and Treasure Island. It was very interesting. But these days when I look back at history and these places I wonder what would’ve been of the women authors had they been given a place in history.

When I finished here I walked into new town to find a shop called Social Bite, it was a bit like a Pret but 1 in 4 of the staff members there used to be homeless, 100% of the profits (it says) are donated to charities to help homeless people and the menu was created by a Michelin starred chef. The shelves were almost empty, clearly its popular and one needs to visit much earlier then 12:30.

As my much desired pie was not available I left promising to return tomorrow before I left. Instead I looked up famous pie shops in Edinburgh and headed towards one recommended on TripAdvisor. It looked fairly dodgy, but as there were lots of people in the shop I ventured in and thoroughly enjoyed myself a local Scottish pie.

To end my day I visited the National Gallery and joined their daily 3pm tour, which looks at a different section of the museum every day. It was great and I’d definitely recommend it for you if want a different take on history.

This evening I am going to see the NT live screening of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet. I um’ed and ah’ed about seeing this for a while now, but decided as I had the time in Edinburgh and I’d missed out on the Edinburgh Festivals and there didn’t seem to be anything else on stage wise to see that this was my moment. And it was cheaper here then in London haha.

It was really good and well worth it. I’m sure seeing it live and the beautiful stage would’ve been great! I had a chat with a wonderful lady who spoke about all the Hamlets she had seen. It made me excited to see more Hamlets and to be able to start comparing performances and different directors interpretations of the play.

On Tuesday morning I packed up and headed straight to the Social Bite café to get my pie, peas and mash. It was good to give back to the community. I’d be interested to know how their finances work behind the scenes, but alas a thought for another day. My next destination was calling and a flight to catch. Goodbye Scotland, Hello Norway!

Edinburgh Walking Tour
http://www.newedinburghtours.com/daily-tours/new-edinburgh-free-tour.html

Social Bite
http://social-bite.co.uk/

Where I stayed
Castle Rock Hostel - 15 Johnston Terrace, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

This place feels like your classic backpackers, where the staff lives there and it just feels a bit like someone's home. The place is massive! It's well located and has everything on hand to hire or borrow. They have things happening every night, so book in early and enjoy! PS. This is part of the MacBackpackers group, they have hotels all around Scotland where you stay if you're on the tour, or you can stop in stay any other time. Bed - comfortable, beside lamp, rooms are massive Lockers - little ones that come with keys to use Bathroom - unisex bathrooms and showers, plenty about to use Breakfast - 3-4 pounds I think, there was cereal, toast, fruit, juices, I had my own so can't comment Kitchen - really well equipped, huge!! There are technically 2 kitchens side by side, loads of fridges, boxes to keep food in if you're staying for a while, big tables to sit at and loads of cooking equipment Lounge - This was probably the best part of the hostel, there are 5 lounge areas divided as follows: the movie room (they play movies back to back from 6pm, there are big lounge chairs in here), the main area (this is a double storey section with a mini kitchen hot drinks and a sink, a big table to sit at, a pool table, a lounge area, lots of seats up stairs too, and lots of flyers on this to do. I'd see it a bit like a common room at uni), the posh room (has a piano and real fire in it, it's quieter then outside), techno room (had 2 computers in there to use, plus epic chairs), finally the chill out room ( you couldn't take tech gadgets or shoes in here haha, but there were musical instruments) Computer - yes 2 plus printing Reception - 24 hours, had everything you could need to hire, plus you could leave any tech gadgets with them and they'd charge them up Heaters - worked well Wifi - pretty god Staff - really friendly Location - right in the centre of old town, looks up at the Edinburgh Castle, its perfect! Alcohol - you can bring on site Washing - it's a couple of pounds and you get it back dry & folded the next day Tea / Coffee / hot chocolate - free, available all the timeRead more