View from Edinburgh castle
Not exactly the quintessential summer long weekend trip – but then the weather wasn’t exactly traditionally summer – so Edinburgh was the perfect choice for a long weekend getaway. Filled with visiting, castles, palaces and royal ships, drinking Scottish whisky, gin and cocktails and eating among other delights, sumptuous shortbread and Scottish salmon – no haggis I’m afraid to say, I couldn’t even stomach the though of it – it was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of London.
Rice pancakes
After a five hour train journey – it was pretty tedious – we were both gagging for a drink and pretty hungry. A few potent cocktails later – never a good idea before eating – we decided it was time for some food. So we trekked down the Royal Mile to David Bann, Edinburgh’s award winning vegetarian restaurant.
Dark chocolate souffle
I’m not sure if the cocktails had anything to do with it but the food was really delicious. For starters I had the homemade hummus with freshly baked bread which was gorgeous, for my main course I had the rice pancake with spicy potato, cauliflower, chick peas and cashews and for the all important dessert we shared the dark chocolate soufflé which was totally divine.
The next morning after a lie in we wondered down to Holyrood Palace where we did
Chapel in Holyrood Palace
the first of a number of guided tours. Not totally up-to-speed on English, never mind Scottish history, I spent a pleasant hour or two being educated on the palace, the history and that of Mary, Queen of Scots and her dramatic story, it was fascinating.
Our following port of call included another walk along the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle.
Claive Vidiz Scottish whisky collection
Unfortunately the guided tour was not as efficient or enjoyable as the one at the palace, but it did have a great view of the city. After that it was high time to sample some of the famed Scottish whisky. We stopped by The Scottish Whisky Experience which is conveniently right by the castle. After a revolving barrel ride, we got an education on Scottish whisky and the various regions and their distinct flavours. Our overly enthusiastic – she really was a bit over the top – Canadian guide put on quite a show for us, after which we were finally allowed to taste the whisky of our choice while viewing the hugely impressive Claive Vidiz collection of Scottish Whisky. Honestly, I’ve never seen so many bottles in one place and not one was opened!
We decided that was enough sightseeing for one day and the next morning, with a few hours to kill before our train back to London, we decided to take a trip to see the Royal Brittania. For an Irish lass I had a pretty intense few days of British history.
Royal Yacht Brittania
Although I must say the ship was very impressive and I thoroughly enjoyed the tour, which we aptly concluded with – I had to have tea and a fruit scone, it was only fitting – in the yachts tea room, which was served on Wedgwood china and with silver cutlery.
The train back to London was once again long, and unfortunately I hadn’t brought the worlds most stimulating book along and was at a slight loss of what to do with myself for the whole journey. However, that said and despite the rain it was a great trip, short but sweet!
Brave It All 