After five nights in London, we were up early on the 27th
hauling our luggage to the tube station headed for Kings Cross Station. We boarded an early train (after checking out
Platform 9 ¾ for one last time) for Edinburgh, Scotland. The UK Rail ride was in itself part of the
whole adventure. We drank our fill of
hot tea and ate the delicious satsumas (yummy oranges) brought to us after
every stop of the train. We enjoyed the
views of the English countryside, miles and miles of rolling hills and farmland
and always dotted with a walker in his or her wellies with a dog or two
off-leash (Olive would love the English countryside). Our train ride took us through York, past
Durham with a nice sweeping view of the castle and cathedral (but after Bill
Bryson’s glowing reviews of the city, I hope to stop and see more of Durham one
day), through Newcastle, along the Northumberland coast, on a viaduct crossing
the River Tweed and through Berwick-Upon-Tweed before crossing the border in to
Scotland. The coastline views were
stunning for this part of our trip—our look at Bass Rock, a volcanic island at
the entrance of the Firth of Forth, had me searching for its name in my
CityMaps2Go app. The terrain vastly
changed the further we got in to Scotland, as well, turning more rugged and
rocky. Winter was a wonderful time to explore
the big cities of England and Scotland, but one summer I will certainly be back
to enjoy the valleys and glens on foot.
From Waverley Station in Edinburgh, we walked our luggage
through the streets of New Town and on to our beautiful hotel, The Glasshouse
which was built behind the façade of the 172-year-old Lady Glenorchy Church. With only a day and a half in Edinburgh, we
wasted no time (other than grabbing a few cups of THE best mulled wine, and hot
cocoa for the kids, free in the lobby) before getting back out to explore this
city. What a change of pace Edinburgh
was from London—back to the cobbled streets and walkable charm of European
cities I’m more used to exploring. However,
unlike other European towns, the topography of the land affected the development
of the Old Town over the centuries was very unique, but more on that later. We started our exploration of Edinburgh by
hiking up Calton Hill in New Town to enjoy a view of all of Edinburgh and
Arthur’s Seat in the glorious golden hour before sunset (we lucked out with
beautiful, sunny weather for our entire stay in Scotland). Hiking up to Calton Hill and exploring the
grounds was definitely a highlight of our trip and really made me wish we’d built
in one more day on our trip to have time to hike Arthur’s Seat (next
time!).
After sunset, we walked back through New Town, by Waverley
Station, through Princes Street Garden (where a Christmas market had been set
up), and up, up, up to the Royal Mile in Old Town. We explored about half of the “Scottish mile”
of this famed street, lined with souvenir shops, pubs, and historic
sights. We then wandered down to the
other side of the Royal Mile to the Cowgate area to have dinner, quickly learning
that even though we had reservations at BrewDog for dinner, breweries in
Scotland are not family affairs. So, we wandered
further down Cowgate and found another restaurant I’d seen in my research, The Holyrood 9A, and enjoyed
our local beer and burgers there instead (no one would try the Haggis Bon Bons
starter with me).
After dinner, we were back up on the Royal Mile to make it
to our reserved 6:30pm tour at The
Real Mary King’s Close. The Royal
Mile runs from Edinburgh Castle at the top of a volcanic plug downhill (west to
east) to Holyrood Palace at the bottom of Arthur’s Seat. Volcanic and glacial erosion led to the “Crag
and Tail” shape of the Royal Mile, which basically means the road is a raised
strip of land from the top of the hill to the bottom. In the 16th and 17th
centuries, residents wanted to remain within the walls of Edinburgh proper, so
they basically built from the Royal Mile street down, structures that were
anywhere from 6- to 12-stories high. On the
Royal Mile these structures looked like only a few stories high, but from the
lower streets on each side you could see the many, many stories. Narrow alleyways were built off of the Royal
Mile to access dwellings and these alleyways were called “Closes” and often
named after a prominent resident. We
were told they are called “Closes” because at night each alleyway would be
locked off to visitors, or closed, to ensure residents’ safety. Most of these historical Closes were
demolished or redeveloped over time, but the Royal Exchange was built on top of
Mary King’s Close and left the lower floors intact as a foundation for the new
building. And I am so thankful for this
time capsule of this unique style of living 500 years ago. Our tour, given by a character actor playing
a 16th-century maid of a prominent resident, was honestly one of my
favorite experiences while in Edinburgh.
Unfortunately, no photos were allowed while on the tour so I have
nothing to show for it, but exploring the labyrinthine hallways connecting room
after room, hearing stories of what life was like for residents, historical events
occurring during occupation of the Closes (including the plague), as well as
the gag-invoking custom of “Gardy-Loo!”, really brought the history to life. The tour was definitely a highlight of our
trip—really because without seeing a Close, it really was hard to imagine what
life was like back when Edinburgh was called Auld Reekie and residents lived in
such close quarters—and their gift shop was one of the best, with local crafts,
that we encountered.
After our tour, we headed in the direction of our hotel back
in New Town, but stopped at Princes Street Gardens for the Christmas
Market. After much deliberation, the
kids chose a ride on the Star Flyer that swings you around and around, 60
meters high in the air directly adjacent to the Sir Walter Scott Monument. Definitely an experience, but one that I know
at least Jack doesn’t care to repeat. We
had an early-morning walking tour booked for the next day, so we headed back to
our hotel for an early night.
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