Scottish Adventure

Edinburgh has been a favorite destination since I first visited in 1985. I knew little about this gem of a city before arriving, but quickly fell madly in love. Return trips have only strengthened my affection for this classy, fairy-tale setting which offers memorable sites and experiences no matter what time of year.

My first time to the capital of Scotland, I was a student and knew little about the culture aside from bagpipes, kilts and highland flings. Actually, as an eight-year-old Catholic student, I’d had the embarrassing (mis)fortune to learn Scottish dancing from the nuns of my elementary school for our annual end of the year program. The theme was ‘It’s a Small World’ and our Third Grade class was assigned Scotland. Most young boys will object to wearing a skirt and dancing in front of a gymnasium full of parents and teachers. But we went at it like pros, crepe-paper kilts and all.

On this visit, we were treated to an evening of local cuisine, including haggis (sheep innards), which I quite enjoyed. Our group was on the receiving end of the dancing, which made it much easier to appreciate.

The following morning our student group ventured into the city and a few of us hiked up the hill to the Royal Mile and explored Edinburgh Castle, which offered a stunning view of the city on a lovely June morning. Afterward, we had a picnic in the park below, munching on shortbread and enjoying the peaceful setting of green grass and roses. Heading back to our hotel we passed a small posted banner advertising a local club, The Edinburgh Ballroom. A new band, R.E.M., was playing along with support, Friends of Gavin. R.E.M. had recently broken into the college radio scene in the U.S. but internationally were still rather unknowns. So, that evening I took a friend and we enjoyed a smokey, punk-filled performance by the legendary Athens, Georgia band , promoting their new ‘Fables of the Reconstruction’ LP. It solidified an already great couple of days.

I wasn’t to return to Edinburgh for another 16 years, when I made a day trip from Glasgow on a business trip. It was late-September, and we’d just experienced the tragedy of 9/11. Everyone in my company was a bit shell-shocked and sad, and we needed a getaway. I caught the train into Edinburgh with a colleague and we ended up back in the park, taking in the view and enjoying the early autumn weather. My co-worker wanted to tour the castle, having never been, so I spent the afternoon wandering through the shopping area along Prince Street and sampling some of the traditional Scotch whiskey. It was a bittersweet visit, but added a salve to a painful time and only served to entice me back again some years later.

In 2009, my best friend and travel buddy asked if I’d ever been to Edinburgh as he’d become rather obsessed with visiting. I told him how much I loved the city and said I would look around for offers on flights from Amsterdam. I’d been living in Europe since 1995, so a jaunt to Scotland was a perfect weekend getaway. Easy Jet came to the rescue, offering a 99 Euro round-trip special in late November and I snatched this up. Wanting to treat my friend to the best experience, I went online and Googled hotels with a ‘castle view’. What came back was Castle View Apartments, which turned out to be a major coup. We reserved a few days stay at a private apartment right on the Royal Mile, two-minutes walk up to the castle and across the street from Tolbooth Kirk cathedral.

When we arrived, late on Thanksgiving evening, it was dark and we struggled to sort out our bearings. The taxi dropped us at the Upper Bow, a gorgeous traditional edifice of small cozy apartments with a bright red door. It wasn’t until we were settled inside that we realized our good luck. It was a small one-bedroom with a kitchenette and a broken TV set. But we were literally on the doorstep of Edinburgh Castle and smack-dab in the heart of the Old Town. The next morning we ventured out and were charmed by the shops and cafes around the corner, the friendly locals and the beautiful architecture. We walked up and toured the castle, me for the second time, and then trudged down the Royal Mile to Mary Kings Close (www.realmarykingsclose.com), which was recommended by a friend. This unique experience offered a historic visit to the area formerly a stronghold for plague victims during the height of the illness in the 17^th Century. History edifices, now underground, housed the sick. Sadly, families were separated and those who were terminal often died surrounded by strangers. It was a fascinating visit, but quite sobering and a far cry from the light atmosphere of the souvenir shops outside.

We toured the other shops and churches along the Mile, enjoyed a traditional Scottish breakfast, complete with black pudding, white pudding and haggis. Then we trudged down the hillside to the park and into the shopping areas, where an ice skating rink had been installed ahead of the Christmas holiday. In the evening, we had a magical meal at The Witchery (www.thewitchery.com), an amazing dining experience on the esplanade of the castle, frequented by Hollywood stars like Jack Nicholson and Catherine Zeta Jones and West End notable Andrew Lloyd Webber. We sampled the Beef Wellington in a cozy dining room like something out of a Harry Potter novel and enjoyed a scrumptious red wine (opting for a cheaper vintage than the £1,500 bottle). I quickly added the meal to my top 10 restaurants ever.

Heading back to our apartment, we looked up to find snowflakes coming down fast and hard and by the following morning, the entire city of Edinburgh was blanketed in white. What began as a casual weekend getaway quickly transformed into a once-in-a-lifetime winter adventure. We toured the local cemetery where Greyfriars Bobby, the little terrier of local folklore is buried, and took a ‘haunted’ tour of the city, made the more vivid by its dark history (www.mercattours.com).

Harry Potter was conceived in the famous medieval old town and our tour guide informed us that many of the namesakes were lifted from gravestones in the cemetery. Past the stone wall of the graveyard, a rather Gothic style school building offered the inspiration to J.K. Rowling for the famous ‘Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft’. So much lore of the famous stories has swirled around the town, that some pubs actually publicized their establishments with signs that ‘J.K. Rowling never ate here’.

We ended our visit in a swirling snowstorm, which threatened to strand us. Our visit did in fact get extended due to canceled flights. A couple extra days to enjoy the postcard scenes of Old Scotland was an added bonus, although we were grateful that we could finally depart. Edinburgh made a wonderful impression and elevated the trip to one of my most memorable.

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