Edinburgh

Last weekend I visited Edinburgh for the first time... and already it has made it onto my top 5 cities in the world. More updates on this entry to come shortly but I need to get some work done first.


and back again, I just typed all the info one would want to know about a weekend in this great city and I lost it all... What a bummer.

The city is fab for so many reasons, culture, beauty, walkable, and just stock full of Rebus references.
We started by arriving on Friday to a really nice a bright day, found our hotel and headed into town for a look around. Already you could tell like the rest of Britain it was being invaded by students of the ESL persuasion. But no matter it was impressive from the get-go.
Each morning we would leave our hotel and walk up the street to the large multinational coffee shop for our fix, and wandered on from there.
Staying in New Town was a great central location and quite easily the best place to access all that Edinburgh has to offer.
We walked around New Town, Old Town, up near the castle, the citadel and even up Authurs Seat to nearly be blown off the top. But what a view! Leith down one side and the castle and city jutting out on the other. On the way down the hill we went past the new Scottish parliament building, apparently a very sore subject due to the cost of the project.
We tried to go for seafood in Leith but found it was some bank holiday (a concept almost unknown to the Dutch government) and could not find a place to go, so headed back into town to eat at the hotel, which actually turned out to be a really fantastic meal, 4**** at least!
We found some great curry and even some mediocre pub food (you win some you loose some)
Took the whisky experience for what it was and explored under the city in Mary's Kings Close. What a crazy thing to have whole city streets buried beneath your feet. On a note for those whisky tasters out there, I recommend going to a good pub and asking for some recommendations, the tour was really hokey and touristic. We also visited the Scottish museum which was fantastic as well, only it was too big to take in all at once and we barely got past the Neolithic and Roman times before it was decided outside and the current history was beckoning.
One of the highlights was coming across the final parade of the Scots guard. This prestigious company was being decommisioned and this was their final march down Princes's Street after a 350 year old history.. It was emotional and fantastic to watch.
On the Sunday we wandered along Leith walk to the modern art museum, I found the walk to be much more exciting but hey it was so beautiful outside it was well worth the trudge. And before you knew it we were on our way back to the lowlands. A fantastic weekend break, a walkable city, so you don't need a car and more than a zillion pubs and eating establishments to choose from.
I really hope to explore more of Scotland in the future, it is a wonderful country full of history and