We took the overnight bus to Edinburgh. I hardly slept and Sara came down with a fever. But that didn’t stop us!
When we arrived at 7AM, we were walking zombies. We found a coffee shop, charged our batteries, got caffeinated, and headed into the heart of the city. It’s really cold and windy in the winter in Edinburgh, much more so than in London. Also, the locals pronounce the city as, “Ed-in-bur-uh”. So score yourself some local points by practicing the name before you go.
Before coming here, all I knew about “Edinburuh” was what I had seen in in the movie Trainspotting. The film and our experience were far from similar but I will say that a lot of people sound EXACTLY like Spud, which was crazy to hear.
Also, the people in Edinburgh are extremely friendly and helpful. People getting off a bus will always say “thank you” to the bus driver and on several occasions people asked us if we were lost and needed directions.
The buildings in Edinburgh are darker and more ominous than the ones in London.
While we were in Edinburgh we did another MP3 tour. It’s a great way to learn the city on your own time. A lot of interesting stuff is on the Royal Mile.
We were really grateful for our hotel in Edinburgh after our “EasyHotel” experience in London.
Room service knocked on our door shortly after check in, bearing gifts of food and wine. I sent them away because we didn’t order any. It was time to enjoy the view with the scotch we just bought!
Room service knocked again thirty minutes later. They said there was a misunderstanding before and that the awesome food and drink is a gift, ordered from Texas, from Tom and Ginger!!! We grubbed down and stayed in.
The next morning we checked out the Edinburgh Castle. It is built on a volcanic Castle Rock and is visible from everywhere in the city.
Arthur’s Seat in the distance.
Robert the Bruce and William Wallace guard the entrance to the castle.
The castle is massive.
Scotland is famous for many things including scotch and haggis. I was determined to get my fill of both. In Spain we have a popular dish called Morcilla, which is blood sausage made from pork. I have tried it and I can dig it. Haggis on the other hand, is made from sheep and has more parts of the animal in it than just blood. It tastes like country gravy. I love it.
Beautiful streets and rooftops.
Sara scouted out this awesome restaurant called “Oink”. It’s delicious pulled pork. The locals put haggis and salsa on their sandwiches and so did I.
The Scottish Museum is huge. We were given a quick tour by a volunteer. They have a ton of great stuff like Dolly, the cloned sheep…
And this beauty called the “Maiden”. This was used 200 years before the guillotine was invented and has executed 120 people, including the contraption’s inventor.
The Maiden’s public beheadings were common on Grassmarket street. We loved this area of Edinburgh because of its colourful pubs. A few of them are named after the street’s bloody past like “The Last Drop” on the left:
We felt right at home at the pubs in Edinburgh. They had a wide selection of Scotch ales on tap and fresh meat pies.
Spain is notorious for its bad beer. We were so excited to get our hands on the real stuff in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh has some creepy cemeteries and is also home to Burke and Hare, two men who murdered to supply cadavers for Edinburgh’s up-and-coming medical research.
The weather was cold and rainy during most of our time there so we made sure to stay warm and hydrated at local pubs.
Back on the Royal Mile.
The city is full of “closes” which are narrow alleyways that lead to courtyards.
We loved exploring the closes.
Next we found Greyfriar’s Bobby. It’s a neat story about a dog that wouldn’t leave his owner’s grave.
Before we went to Edinburgh,we watched Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations episode about the city. We tracked down the restaurant that is famed to have the best fish and chips, The Mermaid Fish Bar. They specialize in all things fried.
1 Fried Cod, 1 Fried Haggis, 1 Fried Blood Pudding, and 2 Irn-Bru. We were happy when they said we had ordered “proper.”
I love the pubs during the holidays.
The MP3 took us to the top of Edinburgh. This is the silhouette of Arthur’s Seat:
Our tour ended at the National Monument of Scotland. It was a cool way to finish our visit.
Veigl Adventure Time 
Great blog post-Edinburgh looks amazing!! Not sure about the haggis…yes to all the beer though!
–That comment was from Sara!
Wonderfully interesting! So good to see Dolly again. ;). Wonder what the inventor of The Maiden did for him to fall victim to her himself??? Loved all the photos of you two. And the architecture. And the streets. And the pubs. And the history. But not the haggis.