Edinburgh

We arrived in Edinburgh on Monday evening and noticed something immediately - it wasn't raining - Oh bliss! We caught the airbus into Haymarket, the area in which we were staying, and a kind man who was heading in the same direction as us, basically escorted us the few blocks to our apartment, Fountain Court. The apartment was a two bedroom, with all facilities. 

We decided not to mess around and went direct to the tourist office to get tickets for the hop-on-hop-off bus.  the great thing with this one? It had a live person providing the commentary.  First stop, not surprisingly, was Edinburgh Castle where, by the way, we had the second best coffee of the trip (the first being in Dublin). We took the free 40 min guided tour (a group of only about ten people - surprising as there were people all over the place). The castle didn't disappoint nor did the weather, although it was a little chilly the tarten tights I purchased half an earlier did the job (don't worry, no photos).  We were both very impressed with Edinburgh - so many beautiful, old, buildings.  

View from castle (note blue sky)

Edinburgh Park

After the castle we continued on the bus tour before making our way slowly back to Fountain Court (about a 15 min walk from the centre of the city).  We called into a tiny pub thinking to get some dinner. They could only offer us crisps but one of the patrons recommended a Chinese place a block away called Chop Chop - http://www.chop-chop.co.uk/. He warned that it looked very ordinary on the outside but the food was great and Gordon Ramsay rated it his second favourite Chinese in the UK. Well, what a great little find it turned out to be - beautiful steamed dumplings, some extremely hot green snake beans (hotter than birds eye!). As usual, one of the highlights was the friendliness of the staff. One girl, from South West China, was particularly friendly and interested in Australia.  The food was so good we thought we may return tomorrow.

Peter at Edinburgh Castle

On Wednesday we visited The Georgian House in Charlotte Square. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in getting a feel for what it would have been like living in this period.  Each room has a guide to talk about what the different things were for, such as a huge rotessorie in the kitchen which was turned by the heat from the fire. We spent nearly two hours there but unfortunately weren't able to take photos.  We then walked around the city for a few more hours before deciding in a repeat performance at Chop Chop, to be followed by Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy at this great little cinema. This reminds me, we nearly swetlered in the cinema due to the heating. In both Ireland and Scotland we've found the heating to be a little extreme. I don't know if Peter and I have become a little tough by not having central heating at home but really, what's wrong with putting on a jumper occasionally?

Jedburgh Abbey

Time to dinner - more next post on our fantastic drive from Edinburgh to The Lakes and some info on the photo at right.