Edinburgh

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The day started with coffee in the room and then down to breakfast. The breakfast room was packed we got the last table. The usual buffet for the full, now called Scottish breakfast. The difference here is that they will also prepare eggs directly either fired or poached. A word on eggs. There are three basic ways to get eggs here, scrambled, poached or fried. Fried is always sunny side up, there is no concept of over easy, over hard, etc. In some places you can also get a 3-minute egg. I avoided the meat this morning and just had some scrambled eggs, potatoes and a croissant. Jerry had the same, just added his morning yogurt. We would need the energy for the day ahead, the hills of Edinburg.

Our original plan for the day was the Scott Monument and Princes Street Gardens, before going up the hill to the castle. However, since every day we look directly at both, we didn’t really need to include that today. Instead, it was the direct climb to Edinburgh Castle. None of the guide books or google tell you just how hilly this city is. Edinburg Castle is up on a hill and it is quite the hike to get there. Today we opted for the Scotsmen Steps. We definitely felt the burn after we got to the top of those. From the steps it was about 10 more minutes up hill to the castle.

Edinburgh Castle is at the end of the Royal Mile, up on a cliff, at the other end (all downhill) is Holyrood Palace. The Royal mile is composed of three streets, the upper is Lawnmarket, the middle High and the lower Canongate. The distance between the two ends is not one mile, it is a Scot’s Mile, which is 1.1 miles.

The castle is built on a great rock (part of it is actually built in to the rock), but it was not the first structure built here, there is evidence of a hill top settlement dating back to 972 BC. The first castle is believed to have been built around 1093, the chapel still exists. The castle traded hands between English and Scottish The castle has seen many additions, renovations. Kind David II (1329-71) was the first to make it more livable. The most famous resident of the caste is of Course Mary Queen of Scots. Her son James the VI of Scotland and the I of England was born in the castle.

The castle was a real highlight for me, given the family legend is that we are direct descendants of Mary Queen of Scots, so I have always joked I was coming back to reclaim my crown. I didn’t reclaim them, but we did see the Crown Jewels of Scotland. There are several museums with in the halls, not a lot of the castle is open to the public, and there is even a tea room. The travel tip here is; go in the morning before the crowds arrive. Our entry was at 9:30 and by the time we left at 11, the castle was already pretty crowded. There are lots of hills and steps so wear good shoes. The guide book is a good investment as it gives you not only the history of the castle but the chronology of the Kings and Queens of Scotland.

The view from the castle is worth the hike up. You can see the entire city all the way to the North Sea.

After, the castle tour, which is self-guided, we headed down the hill, we took the steps down to Grassmarket Street, the other side of the hill from the city Center. Grassmarket at one time was the central market and is now a shopping street and open-air market. The walk was not level, up and down hills as we headed to Greyfriars Church and Kirk (a kirk is a graveyard). Here at the Greyfriars Church you can see one of the last sections of the old city wall.

We continued on our walk across George IV Bridge. It is an elevated street and is a bridge, but unless you approached it from the direction we did, you really would not know it is a bridge. The foot of the bridge has a famous statute of the Greyfriars’s Bobby, a dog that allegedly guarded the grave of his owner for 14 years after he died, (the owner not the dog). We were now headed towards St. Andrews square, back by our hotel for lunch.

Lunch was at Harvey Nichols. This is actually a department store but has a nice restaurant on the top floor. It was a beautiful Saturday and the “ladies that Lunch” were out in full force. We discovered a few years back, that department stores often have very good lunch places; Stella’s in Macy’s, Harrod’s Foodhall in London, etc. It was a good thing we had reservations, otherwise we would have been out of luck. We were seated at a nice corner table with a good view of St. Andrew’s Square. Just happens to be the square where the tram ends and all of the HoHo’s start.

We had couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc with lunch, and not just any Sauvignon Black but from Bordeaux. I had Scottish Chicken with ricotta dumplings, the chicken was not dry. Jerry had Scottish Sea Trust Niçoise. Tasted a lot like Salmon. We enjoyed out lunch at watching the “Ladies that Lunch”, they were certainly enjoying themselves, “I’ll Drink to That.”

After lunch, it was a quick stop at Marks & Sparks to get a new pair of sunglasses, then off to the Scottish National Gallery. This is the perfect size for a gallery, took 45 minutes to go through the entire thing and it was free. It is predominately Scottish Artists, but they did have a small impressionist section, Van Gough, Money, Degas and Gauguin.

The final stop for the day was back up the hill to the Real Mary King’s Close (nothing to do with Mary Queen of Scots, well they make everything about her somehow). This is an hour guide of what was the various tenement houses on the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile has several Closes, what we would call an alley, of it. They are fairly narrow passages that lead from the Royal Mile down to what is now Princes Garden and the train station. The tour is an hour long, and very interesting. Gives you a very good overview of the deplorable living conditions of the 17^th and 18^th century The close was once a busy open-air thoroughfare, with residents and a market. Not sure I would really want to live on the street as once a day everyone though out the chamber pots onto the street. When the Royal Exchange was built in 1753 several; of the closes were sealed off, yet the people remained to live in them, often 12 people in a one room house and on chamber pot to share between them that could only be emptied once a day. The tour takes about an hour and if you are claustrophobic, it is not the tour for you.

There are no pictures of this tour as they were not allowed, supposedly because we were under a government building.

That concluded the sightseeing portion of the day, so back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

The nights dinner was at Rhubarb at the Prestonfield House. It was located on the very edge of Holyrood Park. We dressed for dinner, jacket and tie and took a black cab (which are huge inside) to Prestonfield. The approach was like driving up to Downton Abbey. It is a hold Manor home turned in to a hotel. The stables have been converted to a 500-person event space. The footman greeted our cab and open the door and even helped me out (not that I am old and feeble, but more in the royal sense of being assisted out of the cab.) A peacock was roaming the grounds the loan survivor of 3 others. Next you are welcomed by the host properly dressed in a kilt. He showed us to a perfect corner table, later the blinds would be raised and we would have a view of the perfectly manicured grounds and the stables.

We started with champagne, and toasted to Mary Queen of Scots. The menu was small but full of difficult choices. After much deliberation we finally made our choices.

The Starters

Jerry had the Sound of Mull white crab, apple cauliflower and black garlic. The crab was done in a style similar to tuna salad, but 1000 times better. It also is the closets to Dungeness Crab that we have ever had.

I had Whipped goat’s curd & new season potato salad with a sorel juice and clovers. Normally, I don’t go for the goat cheese, but that is really a Jerry thing more than me. It was very mild and when mixed with the sorel and potatoes, it was quite tasty.

The sun went behind the trees and the blind was now opened to reveal the grounds. It was a beautiful setting inside and out. While we were dressed as one should dress for dinner in a Manor House, the rest of the guests not so much, some even in jeans.

The Entrées

Both entrées were exceptional.

Jerry had Scotch Beef en croute, with a horseradish potato mousseline. It was an individual wellington. The crust was perfect and the beef cooked to perfection on the inside, the sauce was very rich and delectable.

I had the Loin of Scottish Border Lamb, faggot of pork belly, violet artichoke, wild garlic and curds and whey. Even the puree of spinach was good. So, faggot means bundle not what your thinking, and no a spider did not come down and sit besides me as I ate my curds and whey. It was very very good, but The Scotch Beef en croute did win out for dish of the day.

Raven

While we were finishing our entrées, Jerry spotted a black cat in the herb garden. I did not see him for about 20 minutes as he was out of my line of sight. When I did, I knew that a certain kitty at home has used his powers to contact Raven to check in on us. Raven, is 14 years old and looks a lot like Tarragon. Turns out he is master of the house. As we left, he came into the foyer to say hello and good bye, he was very friendly.

Dessert

Dessert was a simple affair; I had a rhubarb confit (the rhubarb was directly out our window) and Jerry had a Chocolate Gateau. I forgot how much I like Rhubarb, growing up it was pretty much a mainstay of summer.

The Scotch

Jerry did not have Scotch but another Scottish tradition, Drambuie on the rocks. When ever I think of this drink the first thing that pops in to my head is Lady Elaine Peacock sitting at the bar in Hobo’s drinking her Drambuie. It was ok, just not for me. I stayed with the Scotch Whiskey, this time a 10-year Lagavulin. Very smokey and yet smooth.

It was a late night as we did not leave the restaurant until 11 and didn’t hit the pillows until 12:30. This is ok, because many of the things on the itinerary for tomorrow we actually saw today, so can sleep in a bit.

For consistency sake 13,869 steps, I just think we should get bonus steps for the hills and steps.

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Photos

Scottish Beef en croute
Dish of the Day