Palace of Holyrood & Calton Hill

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We rearranged out Itinerary a little to allow a little extra sleep. We didn’t cut anything out, just reorganized. This allowed us to have breakfast at a leisurely pace then go up and get ready for the day. This made the first stop of the day lunch. It was back up the hill then down the other side to Victoria Street. This was Sunday, which in the UK is Sunday Roast Day, we have a Sunday Roast lunch scheduled for Glasgow, so today was just some traditional Scottish food, well at least for me. I have not built up to Haggis yet, but it is coming.

Because it was Sunday, the restaurants were very busy and all running the Sunday Roast Specials. We had a 12:30 reservation at Howies. When we got there were just a few tables, by the time we left, the were waiting in line out the door.

There were several items to choose from, but I went straight to the first truly Scottish dish of the trip; Cullen Skink. Don’t let the name fool you, this is delicious. It is similar to clam chowder (not the thick New England style but thinner.) The base is potato leek and bacon soup (with cream.) Then you add the Scottish smoked haddock and, and chunky potatoes, I loved it and will be having it again, and recreate it when we get home. Jerry also started with a soup; Corgette (zucchini), leek, wild garlic, peas and Herb yogurt. It also was very good. Both were served with so so focaccia.

It was a two-course lunch for 16.95 pounds, so the second course for Jerry was a chargrilled chicken breast, seared hipsi cabbage, smoked bacon and leek fricassee with parmentier potatoes. It was pretty good, chicken a bit dry, but the sauce made up for that. I had the catch of the day, pan seared Hake over basically more Cullen Skink but not as brothy. Bread was required to get all of the good broth. It was a nice relaxing lunch before the walk that lay ahead.

Back up Victoria Street to High Street. The first part of our walk was along Lawnmarket the top section of the Royal Mile. He we stopped for pictures old Gladstone’s Land. This is a narrow six story tenement and one of the oldest buildings on the Royal Mile. Built in the early 17^th century it is now houses a re-creation of the living conditions of that time. We did not take the tour since we already toured the Real Mary King Close. What I failed to mention in the description of the tour that the Gladstone’s Land reminded me of, was that they kept their cows and sheep in the house, often on the first floor. Imagine that smell added to your chamber pot emptied once a day.

Further down the Royal Mile we came to St. Giles Cathedral (also know as the High Kirk of St. Giles. The current church dates from 1120 or 1829 when the church was restored. However, there was a church on the site since 854 AD. A bit further down you come to the house of John Knox, it was the leader of the Scottish Protestant Reformation and not a friend of Mary Queen of Scotts. He did not believe that a woman should be ruler of any country, especially if that woman was catholic. He was one of the principal architects of her downfall.

As you continue down the Royal Mile, the street turns from High Street to Canongate. This part of the walk has more gift shops than historical markers. The reward for making it to the end of the Royal Mile is the Palace of Holyroodhouse. This is still a working palace and when Queen Elizabeth II is in Edinburgh this is her official residence.

The palace started as Augustinian monastery founded by David 1 (1084-1153) in 1128. The ruins of the abbey are still there. Scottish royalty did not start living there until the 15^th and 16^th century, preferring it to the drafty Edinburgh Castle. They added on to the palace over the years until the union of the crowns in 1603, when they all left for England.

The most famous resident of the palace is of course Mary Queen of Scotts. She lived in the oldest part of the palace King James Tower. Her bi-sexual husband lord Darnley had quarters directly below her, with a winding small spiral staircase connecting them. This is where he plotted with other nobleman to attempt to claim the throne. The plan was to kill Mary’s secretary in front of her (oh by the way, the story is that Lord Darnley was having an affair with Mr. Rizzo.) Mary was 6 months pregnant with the future King James VI of Scotland and I of England and the plan was that she would miscarry and die from the chock of the murder. Unfortunately for Lord Darnley, the plot failed and he was assassinated a year later, many think at the suggestion of Queen Mary.

The palace was not much used until Charles II, rebuilt Holyrood in the style of Louis XIV. Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II have also both put their own touches on the palace. There is a self-guided audio tour which takes you through much of the older section of the palace, including Mary’s Quarters, so you can see where the murder took place.

With the tour of the palace complete, that also completed the easy part of our days walking tour. Calton Hill lay ahead.

In our Fodor’s travel book, it lists Calton Hill as “worth noting.” This is more than worth noting it is a must do. Yes, the walk up is strenuous but the views are worth the leg strain. Calton Hill is located in the heart of the city so you get views of both the Old and New towns and the Firth of Forth. There are numerous places to have a picnic, but you would have to carry that up the hill to enjoy. There are several structures on the way up and on top of the hill. The National Monument, which was never completed as they ran out of funds is just across of the Nelson Monument a 100-foot tower. There is also an observatory, museum, and a restaurant. While the walk up was difficult the walk down to Princes Street is not. When you come down off the hill you are at the start of Princes Street and then it was only four more blocks back to our hotel. That ended our Edinburgh sightseeing. We had a few hours so I did some blogging and Jerry started packing for the next segment of our trip, which included a laundry stop. Dinner was just down the street at the Balmoral hotel, so we had plenty of time to just chill and have a real wine-thirty.

Dinner was and Brasserie Prince. Casual atmosphere so no jacket and tie required tonight. When we were arrived, we were taken through the bar to the host stand, then seated in a nice table with direct eye shot of the kitchen. We also were kind of in the diversity section. Everywhere else in the restaurant was old white people or white families. All of us that were gay, Indian, Arab or Black were all in the same section. It didn’t bother me, but it was an interesting observation I made.

We have been on a complete role in Edinburgh, every meal was good, no misses at all. Tonight’s dinner was no different. There was a little kitchen drama, but that was just the show with dinner. We started with cocktails, just to be different. I had a Balmoral Gin Cocktail, it was pretty good, I cannot even begin to remember the ingredients, other than Balmoral Gin, spiced syrup and cucumber. Jerry had a Champagne cocktail, champagne and cognac among other things.

We did a simple three course dinner. I think our digestive systems are slowing down with our aging process. Jerry started with Balmoral Smoked Salmon, homemade butter and brown Soda Bread. It was ok, we have had better smoked salmon on this trip. I had Isle of Mull Scallops, nicely seared, there was a sauce, which I failed to write down.

We each had a salad Jerry a very simple rocket and tomato and I had Endive Roquefort and caramelized walnuts. The interesting thing about my salad is that it was not dressed at all, each ingredient stood on its own.

We both had fish for the entrée. I had a Balmoral Fish Pie, more of a fish shepherd pie not an actual crusted pie. The inside was smoked salmon, salmon, haddock and prawns. It was good, but I am hoping for better pies as we go further north. Jerry had roasted cod, gnocchi, samphire in a champagne sauce. The gnocchi was flat like a pancake not like we expect it to be in forked shaped balls. We had an excellent Sancerre, one of the best in quite some time.

The Scotch Whisky for the evening was a 21-year-old Aberfeldy (highlands) for Jerry and an 18-year-old Bowmore (Islay Island) for me. Both were very tasty.

Thus ends our time in Edinburgh, tomorrow we are on the train to Aberdeen and the Highlands. Dish of the day was the Cullen Skink and we got 10,559 steps, most uphill.

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Photos

Cullen Skink
Dish of the Day