Edinburgh

We spent Easter in Edinburgh. On Friday afternoon, we paid our first visit to Calton Hill. National monument, old observatory, and an old Spanish cannon are the highlights of the park. The National monument was dedicated to the soldiers who died during Napoleonic wars. It was intented to resemble a temple in the Acropolis, but money run out, and it was never finished, so now it looks a bit disappointing. The cannon has the crest of Phillip IV of Spain on it, and there are recordings of it in several places around, including India. After touring around the world, now it is resting on the hill, pointing to the city.

Bee buzzing over a cannon

After Calton Hill we walked through the new part of the city, and ended up for dinner at Crag and Tail (503 Lawnmaket), which offers nice and not very expensive variety of Scottish dishes. If you are used to proper dinner everyday, try not to be so late. Most of the restaurants close the kitchen after 22:00. And when you receive the change don't be surprised when you see Sir Walter Scott instead of the Queen.

Friday had been quite cold and windy, but Saturday started with a promising sunshine, so we decided to discover the mystic Inchcolm Island. The most practical way to get there for us was taking the train from Haymarket to South Queensferry (it takes around 15 minutes) and then taking the ferry to the island (it takes around an hour). One should find the tiny tiny path from the station to the harbour; the path is not long, but it has a number of steps, so bare this in mind, as the way is uphill on the way back!

There are two companies running ferries to the island, Forth belle and Maid of the Forth. Prices are similar, about 10 pounds. The ferry services are not very often (about 1 per hour) so it is better if you check the timetable before hand.

On the way to the island, the Forth Rail Bridge (Firth of Forth Bridge) salutes you on the right hand side. The Victorian construction is very impressive with up to 104 m height and over 2500 m length.

One needs to pay a fee to visit the island (about 4 pounds) as it is under protection and run by Historic Scotland. We were allowed 1.5 hours on the shore. Inchcolm was home of monks related to Irish missionary Saint Columba. The history of the well preserved monastery goes back to 12th century. It was really nice to enjoy some time in this island, far from any cars or city noises. One could only imagine how was life for the monks here before the abbey was closed. In contrast with this, the island also has memories from when it was fortified and transformed to a military base during both I. and II. World War, as it is quite a strategic position to the North Sea.

Abbey on the island from the boat

Inchcolm and the whole of the firth of Forth is also home to some wild sealife. It was very nice to see seals lying lazily on the rocks and charming puffins with their bright colors. Just to keep in mind: Seagulls are not so friendly during their nesting period, in this season watch out where you step on.

Some seals in the firth of Forth, with snowed mountain in the background

After a long and nice journey, we were back to Edinburgh. We had lunch at the café-restaurant Hub, which is the center of activity during the August festivals. At this time of the year it is not so busy, but it was nice. The food is quite uncomplicated, and not too expensive, so it is a good option if you're in the center. Funny enough, the waiter started to speak Spanish to Bee; indeed, we found that there is a lot of Spanish-speaking people up here. How do they survive without sun? This, we could not find out.

Then we wanted to see the curious Camera Obscura, which is very close to the Hub and to Edinburgh Castle. The large exhibition of optical toys is really interesting. I liked the part of pinhole photography most. A pinhole camera is very simple, though it should be prepared with much more care. The lense is replaced with a pinhole. As only a small amount of light can pass through the hole, a long time is needed to acquire image onto the film; some of the pictures exhibited had been exposed for hours! The resulting images are more softer and different. A question crossed my mind I don't know why, if the images of the universe could be stored in black holes?

Camera Obscura is a giant pinhole camera. With the help of a periscope you can see the live image of the Edinburgh Castle's parking lot, with the people walking around; because of this, it seems that during the first demonstrations (in the 19th century), some people fainted! The demostration takes 15 minutes. Then we enjoyed the beautiful view of Edinburgh from the tower.

The Royal Mile from the roof of Camera Obscura building

Out of Camera Obscura, we walked all the way down the Royal Mile, to see the new Scottish parliament. The building, by Catalan architect Enric Miralles, is a diverse architecture among the old stone buildings. It seems cute with the Scottish terrier like figures on the facades. It is different than the other parliament buildings we have seen elsewhere.

Late again but we should try Haggis-vegetarian version of course. Deacon Brodie's (435 Lawnmarket) was our stop to do it. It is a bit touristic but the service was fast and the atmosphere was warm. The pub is named after the city council member Deacon Brodie who had a life story that later inspired the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

On Sunday, our first destination was exhibition of nature photographer Steve Bloom in the frame of Edinburgh Science Festival. The swimming elephant was my favorite among the photos. It was more flying to me. Bee was impressed by the size of this shark (note that the "small" thing in front of him is a seal!)

Going up and down around the Royal Mile made us a bit tired and hungry, so we stopped by Turkish café-restaurant Truva (251-253 Royal Mile) to enjoy baklava and Turkish coffee. It is a very nicely decorated café, and the staff were very friendly with us.

Then we made our way to the famous Edinburgh Castle. Waiting in the queue and paying 13 pounds... The clerk asks "what is your purpose of being here, what is your nationality" and so on with a fake smile on her face. My Bee answered her "to enjoy the sunshine..." I simply refused to give any information. We accepted it as a Scottish way of humor.

Coming out of the Castle, we were just in time for a free organ concert at St. Giles Cathedral. It was a nice way to relax after so much walking these days!

Afterwards, we decided to walk through the small streets of the older part of the city. We arrived at the old campus of Edinburgh University, which was so abandoned in the Easter holiday. By this time, we had learnt not to wait too much to start looking for a place for dinner. We ended up in a Sudanese restaurant called Nile Valley, were we enjoyed quite good food again at a reasonable price.

By the time we came out, it was late, so this time we took the bus to our hotel. The bus went right through the city center, so we could see again all those views, with the special light that things have at night, especially the things that you've enjoyed visiting.

Altogether, we enjoyed our holidays in Edinburgh, and we would recommend anyone to visit the city. On the down side, the weather was colder than we would have liked, and we think that the City Council should consider investing some money in cleaning up the buildings in the city center. They are covered in a black layer of smoke that does not suit them at all!

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