Chapter 13 - Edinburgh Part I

Chapter 13 – Edinburgh Part I

Monday, October 3, 2022

This is our first full day in Edinburgh. Bruce ventured out and had breakfast at Montpelier’s Restaurant. He had pancakes and bacon. Sarah, who got up earlier, had porridge in the apartment. Most of the morning and early afternoon was spent catching up on laundry and figuring out how everything works in our Airbnb apartment. Fortunately, we have BOTH a washer and dryer rather than the combination in other apartments.

We are in a lovely neighborhood about a mile from the Royal Mile. We are on a street with two rows of townhomes, most of which appear to have been converted to multi-family dwellings. They were built in the 1880s or 1890s. Much of the electrical wiring is visible on the walls and floors. There are three flats in our townhome. We are on the first floor. It has probably 14 to 15-foot ceilings with beautiful molding at the top. The living room is quite large and includes a small marble fireplace, a desk/office area, and a table that seats six in the bow window (Photo 13 – 1). The bedroom also has a bow window and is very comfortable. Both the bedroom and the kitchen look out onto a walled garden. It’s charming to

say the least.

Bruce walked a bit in the morning and found a local laundry for his shirts. Late morning Sarah walked for about an hour exploring the neighborhood. A few blocks away is the Union Canal and a great walking trail. There were canal boats docked along the canal (Photo 13 – 2). Sarah walked into the nearby park, the Bruntsfield Links, and got some great views of Edinburgh Castle in the distance (Photo 13 – 3). She also found a bakery and bought some sourdough bread. She came home and fixed a cheese pastie (sandwich) and tomato soup for lunch.

Bruce took another walk in the afternoon while Sarah finished working on the last chapter in our blog. We went to Saffron, a quirky little Mexican/Latin place, for dinner. We tried the beef and shrimp fajitas.

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

We went out to breakfast at Honeycomb. Bruce had cheese and mushroom toast and Sarah had shakshuka. Shakshuka is a classic North African and Middle Eastern dish made up of simmering tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and spices cooked with a poached egg. This version had tahini yogurt and chopped hazelnuts on top. Yummy!

It rained most of today, so we took the opportunity to rest. Bruce worked on his schoolwork. Sarah took about an hour walk around the neighborhood. We’ve discovered a local

butcher, fishmonger, a couple of green grocers, several bakeries, at least three flower shops, a bookstore, a toy store, and several other specialty shops. There are also lots of little coffee places and restaurants. Here are a few pictures of the neighborhood (Photos 13 – 4, 13 – 5, 13 – 6, 13 – 7, 13 – 8 and 13 – 9).

We fixed BLTs for dinner using the last of the delicious homemade bread and streaky bacon from the local butcher.

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

It was rainy and cooler this morning. Autumn is here. We had breakfast at Montpelier’s. Bruce had the pancakes, bacon, and eggs again. Sarah had porridge – the best she’s

had in Scotland. We walked across the street at about 9:50 am and caught the Lothian bus number 11 to Ocean Terminal to see the Royal Yacht Britannia. It was about a 45-minute bus ride but gave us a nice overview of several parts of the city.

The Royal Yacht Britannia was in service for the royal family from 1954 until it was decommissioned in 1997. It sailed over one million nautical miles during that time. She sailed the equivalent of once around the world for each of the 44 years in service, calling at over 600 ports in 135 countries including the United States. The living quarters were designed by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip (Photo 13 – 10). The ship is equipped with a sick bay, an operating room, a tiny mailroom,

and quarters for the 300 or so crew. It was designed to be converted to a hospital ship in the time of war but was never needed in that way. This is a model of the ship (Photo 13 – 11).

We had dinner at McLaren’s around the corner. Sarah had lamb curry. Bruce had a chicken Caesar salad.

Thursday, October 6, 2022

Sarah had porridge in the apartment and left for a full day of exploring on her own. Bruce worked on his paper and had a late breakfast/early lunch of salmon bagel at the local bagel sandwich shop.

Almost 23,000 steps and four bus rides later, Sarah returned to the apartment. She first took the bus to Lothian Street and then walked about 10 minutes to Dean Village. Dean Village is only about a five-minute walk from Princes Street, one of the busiest streets in Edinburgh. But it feels like a quiet oasis or a small village out in the countryside. The picturesque village, which is located on the Water of Leith, once housed mills of various kinds (Photo 13 - 12).

The Water of Leith is the main river near central Edinburgh and flows into the port of Leith and then to the sea via the Firth of Forth. The Water of Leith Walkway is a public

footpath and cycleway that runs alongside the river from Balerno to Leith for 12.25 miles. Sarah walked the footpath for about a mile from Dean Village to Stockbridge (Photo 13 - 13).

Stockbridge is a suburb of Edinburgh located north of the city center. The “Stock Bridge,” which was built in 1801, is a stone structure spanning the Water of Leith. It seems similar to the Brunstfield neighborhood (where we are staying) with many shops, restaurants, and specialty stores. Just off the main street through Stockbridge, there are beautiful Georgian and Victorian houses. One frequently visited place is Circus Lane, a very picturesque area of cobblestones and stone houses (Photo 13 - 14).

Catching sight of the sign to the Royal Botanical Gardens,

Sarah made a short detour and spent a nice hour or so wandering around the gardens. The Royal Botanical Gardens actually occupy four sites across Scotland – Edinburgh, Dawyck, Logan, and Benmore. The Edinburgh gardens were formed in 1670 in Holyrood Park and moved to the current Inverleith site in 1820. (As an aside, “inver” means mouth of – so Inverleith is mouth of the Leith and Inverness means “mouth of the Ness River.”). In 2008, the old Botanic Cottage was moved from its original site on the Leith Walk to a site within the current gardens. The gardener lived in the first floor and medical students were taught botany on the second floor. Here’s a view of the cottage through the very impressive hedge that has to be at least 16 feet high (Photo 13 - 15). This hedge forms the wall for gardens including the physic garden (medicinal), herbs, vegetables, apples, and student plots (for those working on a degree in botany).

The entire garden was beautiful and peaceful with many majestic trees. The rock garden was particularly beautiful (Photo 13 - 16).

From the Botanic Gardens, Sarah walked back up to Princes Street (and I do mean UP). She caught a bus and came back to the Bruntsfield area. She stopped into Three Birds, a tiny restaurant, to rest and eat an omelet for lunch. Feeling revived, she took another bus to close to the Grassmarket area. She spent another hour or so walking around Grassmarket, up Victoria Street to the Royal Mile, and down a long flight of steps back to Grassmarket. We are taking a walking tour of the Royal Mile area on Saturday so details and pictures will come later.

She caught another bus back to near our apartment and walked home. Bruce had spent the day working on his paper, reading, resting, and walking in the neighborhood. We went to Tempo Perso, a local Italian restaurant, for dinner. We shared a starter of Parmigiana Melanzane (aubergine, tomato and parmesan) which was delicious. We then each got a ravioli dish and shared. Bruce’s was ravioli with spinach, ricotta, and tomato sauce. Sarah’s was ravioli stuffed with pecorino cheese and black pepper served in artichoke sauce and fried leeks.

Friday, October 7, 2022

We actually slept a little later than usual and fixed a late breakfast in our apartment. When we got up it was raining heavily but then cleared for a bit. Rainy days are good to read and catch up on rest but if you stayed in every rainy day in Scotland, you’d never go out!

Sarah washed some clothes then went out for a walk around the neighborhood. Bruce had a phone call with two professors from the University of Leicester in England in the afternoon. We had dinner at a small local restaurant called Fin and Grape. It’s a tapas place and we had several small plates – cod mousse, small potatoes, salad, and a chicken dish with grilled cabbage. For dessert we tried two different dishes – poached pear and chocolate mousse and ricotta, plums, and oats. Everything was delicious.

Saturday, October 8, 2022

We had breakfast at Honeycomb – avocado toast and poached eggs. We then took a bus from Bruntsfield Place to Victoria Street just off the Royal Mile. We met a City Explorer tour group at 11:00 am for a two-hour walking tour. Kenny, a Glaswegian, led our tour. He was a good storyteller weaving history, legend, funny anecdotes, and current information on food, restaurants, etc.

We started near St. Giles Cathedral at the Heart of Midlothian Mosaic (Photo 13 - 17). This mosaic marks the location of the entrance to Edinburgh’s Old Tolbooth which was Edinburgh’s main jail in the 1700s. It was known as a gruesome place where physical punishment, torture, and public executions were routinely conducted. It was also

where locals came to pay their taxes at one time. Spitting on the mosaic is now said to bring good luck to the local football (soccer) team.

As we’ve mentioned before, Edinburgh is a city of “closes” or alleyways that led to courtyards and homes of the residents. We went through Waldrop’s Close marked above by dragons (Photo 13 - 18). This close lead to what was once student housing for Edinburgh University and currently the Writer’s Museum (Photo 13 - 19). The Writer’s Museum celebrates the lives of three giants of Scottish literature – Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Maybe they should add J.K. Rowling?

As we continued our tour, Kenny regaled us with stories of

early Edinburgh life. At one time it was a completely walled city with very dense population and horrible hygienic practices. We won’t include details. He was also good at weaving in the history of various periods, battles, and kings (and Oliver Cromwell, a controversial figure who ruled as Lord Protector from 1653 til his death in 1658 when Scotland did not have a monarch).

We walked along the Royal Mile and got some great views of the Castle and the volcanic rock on which it was built (Photo 13 - 20). From there, we went through the Grassmarket area and up to Greyfriars Kirk and graveyard. There are over

750,000 people buried in this small graveyard! Surrounding one side of the graveyard is a piece of the old wall that once enclosed Edinburgh (Photo 13 - 21).

Near the Kirk is a small coffee shop (now closed due to a fire in a nearby bakery) where J. K. Rowling is said to have written much of Harry Potter. The windows, now boarded up, overlooked the Kirk, the cemetery, and the oldest building in Edinburgh which was originally built as an orphanage. It now houses a private school. These sites along with Victoria Street, Grassmarket, and the Castle are thought to have influenced much of her descriptions in the book and been the inspiration for Hogwarts and Diagon Alley. She even took a name from a grave in the cemetery, Tom Riddle, as one of the characters in the books. Tom Riddle was better known in Harry Potter books as the evil villain, Lord Voldemort.

Greyfriars graveyard is famous for another reason. In 1828, Edinburgh was the leading center of medical research and students needed bodies for dissection. Graverobbers were common. People with money could use cages over graves to prevent graverobbing or they could hire (or have family) sit by the grave especially at night.

The term “graveyard shift” comes from this practice. Finally, the church hired a guard. This guard, John Gray, had a Skye Terrier named Bobby. After John Gray died and was buried in the Greyfriars cemetery, Bobby spent every day for fourteen years near his owner’s grave. It is said he left only once a day (when the cannon fired at 1:00 pm at the Castle) when he trotted down to the café his owner had frequented to be fed. Bobby is buried just outside the churchyard gate and a statute of Greyfriars Bobby is in the churchyard (Photo 13 -22).

After the tour, we spent about an hour in the National

Museum of Scotland and then headed home via bus. We picked up Chinese take-away for dinner.

Sunday, October 9, 2022

We slept later than usual and went to McLaren’s for breakfast. Sarah had pancakes with blueberries and crispy bacon. Bruce had an “open” breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and toast. On the way home, Bruce noticed that the barber shop was open and stopped in to get a much-needed haircut.

Sarah worked on the blog during the afternoon. We had a traditional Sunday Roast at Black Ivy for dinner. A Sunday Roast is roasted sirloin with gravy, roasted potatoes, carrots, and parsnips, green beans and Yorkshire Pudding.