Edinburgh

Clean, modern buses provide Edinburgh transit

We started our vacation with three nights in Edinburgh at Stay City, which I assume is primarily used by business travelers on extended stays. Our room had a kitchenette and washer/dryer, neither of which we used. Julie picked this place primarily because it was new, would sleep four and was relatively inexpensive for acceptable quality.  



While it wasn’t in the most convenient location, it did allow us to take the Airlink express bus (6 pounds roundtrip or 3 pounds 50 one way) from the airport all the way to Haymarket, a 10 to 15 minute walk away from our hotel up Morrison and then around some little streets.

Walking to the real action of Grassmarket and then the Royal Mile is about 15 to 30 minutes from Stay City, meandering back to Morrison and continuing away from Haymarket on Morrison, which changes names thrice, to Bread, West Port and then Grassmarket, by the time we cut north to the Royal Mile that runs approximately parallel.

Wes at Stay City sporting a goofy smile

Our room didn’t exactly have two bedrooms, but there was a thin wooden partition that could be closed for privacy by separating the “master bedroom” from the living room/kitchenette area. The convertible sofa in the living room was really more like a day bed, with a separate twin bed that slid out from under it, making it far superior to a queen bed for families. The bathroom was huge by European standards, and also modern.

Jay and Amy, who joined us after visiting Iceland where they stayed in youth hostels and a rural cabin, called our Edinburgh apartment “swank.”

Singer Gus and Belhaven's Best at Footlights Pub

As mentioned in the previous article, we ate at several restaurants in Edinburgh, mostly in the Grassmarket area. “Our pub,” Footlights, was about 15 minutes from our hotel. Nightlife for us generally consisted of playing darts and chatting at the pub. A singer-guitarist named Gus is the regular Thursday night entertainment at Footlights, but mostly they show sports on TV.

With the frequent light rain of Scotland, the treks back and forth were often damp and chilly, but overall we just talked and joked as we walked, making the most of passing through rather bland city streets between our hotel and Grassmarket.

Not quite sure about Haggis in epic breakfast?

On the rainiest evening, when our pub was overflowing with soccer fans, we changed plans and headed to Red Squirrel, where we had enjoyed an “epic” Scottish breakfast. It was a busy Friday night everywhere, and the doorman wouldn’t accept our word that Amy was over 21, so she had to double back to our hotel room to get her identification. It reflects strongly on how we felt about Edinburgh that we allowed her to take the 20 minute walk each way to retrieve ID on her own. Then again, she’s lived in New York City for a year after three years away at college in Connecticut, so we have become accustomed to the idea of her on her own.

Between Footlights and the Royal Mile was a redlight district of sorts, with strip clubs, including Burke and Hare, which to me sounds more like a law firm, but none of us, including Julie and Amy, felt uncomfortable walking through there. Edinburgh always felt like a very safe city.

Edinburgh Castle from a distance

The Royal Mile runs between Edinburgh Castle to the west and Holyroodhouse to the east.





Edinburgh Castle was constructed as a fortress in the 6th Century by Northumbrian King Edwin. As is the case with many early fortress sites, like the Rock of Monaco and the Acropolis in Athens, it is perched in a naturally strategic position for defense by claiming the high ground of solid rock. It was referred to by Ptolemy around the close of the first century as already having been established as a settlement called Votadini.  

Cannon at Edinburgh Acropolis

Stirling, featured in my previous article, is actually a more strategic location geographically, acting as something of a gateway between the Lowlands and the Highlands of Scotland, but Edinburgh Castle is symbolically significant.

Edinburgh became a royal residence in the 11th Century. In 1287, Scot King Alexander III died without a clear successor, leaving Scottish royals with conflicting claims as to who should become the King of Scots.  The contenders turned to England's King for a solution. 

As frequently happens when governments turn to outside help in settling power disputes, arbiter King Edward I (my 22nd great grandfather according to research) took advantage of the situation to establish English control over Scotland. Realizing that neither Scot royal was strong enough to control the situation, as proven by the fact that they were forced to turn to him as someone strong enough to enforce his decision, Edward "Longshanks" (at 6’2” he was quite tall for that era) earned his other nickname, Hammer of the Scots. 

Edinburgh's Acropolis above the city

Nothing lasts forever (or even many years in the case of Scotland’s power struggles in the Middle Ages), and English control weakened after Edward I’s death in 1307.

In 1314, the Scots re-captured Edinburgh Castle, and Scottish hero Robert the Bruce ordered the castle and all of its defenses destroyed so the English could not use it as a base from which England could control his country.

Braving crowds at Edinburgh Castle

Robert the Bruce established Scotland’s freedom, as the bad movie we watched at a B & B indicated, but when he died, England’s King Edward III came back to finish what his grandfather started.

The castle was rebuilt in 1371.



Siteseeing and Shopping Merge in Edinburgh

Yada yada yada, back and forth power changed until Mary Queen of Scots gave Monty Python fodder for one of the funniest bits of pointless low humor ever. By the way, Mary became Queen of Scots when she was only a week old, so you slackers better get on with your careers! There’s a lot of interesting history here, mostly before but also after Mary Queen of Scots, but I’ll leave that to your independent research.

The Palace at Holyroodhouse

On the other end of Royal Mile is the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Since Scottish monarchs, like most royalty, proclaimed their power was vested upon them by God, they naturally spent a lot of time at Holyrood Abbey. It had been established in the 11th Century by David I, King of Scots. 

In the 16th Century, Scotland’s King James IV apparently decided it was too long to walk all the way from Edinburgh Castle down the street (a mile, as evidenced by the name Royal Mile).




View from Hiking Trail to Aruthur's Seat above the Palace at Holyroodhouse

He took the Love It or List It dilemma in a different direction, keeping the old Edinburgh Castle and building the Palace at Holyroodhouse, which his son James V expanded. James V was the father of Mary Queen of Scots.

Mary lived in an apartment at Holyroodhouse after her young husband, the King of France, unexpectedly died, forcing the teen-aged widow to leave the royal life she loved in the Loire Valley to return to the relatively scruffy kingdom of Scotland, albeit in the finest Palace.

Unlike Edinburgh Castle, the Palace at Holyroodhouse is still in use as a royal home. British Queen Elizabeth resides at the Palace of Holyroodhouse when in Scotland.

Wes, Julie and Jay at Grassmarket

Between the royal landmarks are lots of terrific gift shops and restaurants. A huge industry of walking tours meets on the sidewalks, including some that are free with an expected large tip.

While the castles and the Queen’s Gallery at Holyroodhouse charge admission, there are lots of free sites to visit in Edinburgh, including the quaint Writer’s Museum and the City Art Centre, which is a wonderful art gallery that we really enjoyed.

Amy, Wes and Jay strolling through park in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh also has lots of parks, although the fact that they are enclosed in wrought iron fences with few gateways makes access less convenient than it could be. Then again, they don’t seem to have vagrants, vandals and graffiti scrawlers visiting their parks, so finding a gate is a small price to pay for the beauty preserved.

Edinburgh is a handsome city with lots of things to see and ways to spend your money without becoming the usual overpriced city. It is inhabited by friendly, well-groomed people.  I highly recommend it.