Travels with Shep: Wonderful Edinburgh

Scotland's a place . . .

. . . of live music . . .

. . . colourful taxis . . .

. . . real kilted men . . .

. . . & sweet, bonny lassies!

This street is quite crowded . . .

So in Stockbridge we eat . . .

There's a booth when you need one . . .

And the women are sweet!

There's lots of cold ice cream . . .

. . . and places to drink . . .

The wrong flag flies brightly . . .

. . .around women who wink!

"There's a stairway to heaven . . ." FORGET IT! I shall never climb the stairs to reach the greatness of some of Scotland's REAL poets, but I can claim at least one thing: After my second visit I have decided that EDINBURGH is my favourite city so far in the UK.

These stairs are in the mediocre lodgings we had booked in the New City, near Dean Bridge.

We walked to the Travelodge in one of the rows of housing, and found it easily. It wasn't much, just the basics, but it was clean and the shower was hot. There seemed to be two staff running the whole place: when we went to the cafe to see about food, there was no one there; she came running, muttering that she couldn't be in two places at once! It turns out she also works "upstairs." The woman at the Registration Desk soon brought us our bedding, and I swear I saw her cleaning rooms too!

On Dean Bridge, in the New City.

A church at the end of Dean Bridge.

Looking down at the Village of Dean and the Waters of Leith.

We chose to look for a meal elsewhere, mostly from one end of Rose Street to the other (and back), catching glimpses of the Castle, and the Royal Scottish Academy. I swore there was a highly recommended place called Martin's but we couldn't find it. I stopped a young man on the street and asked, and he punched it into his GPS and pointed us back up the block. There is a back street called North Lane: we saw some rather interesting sights in some upstairs windows involving half-naked men . . . I couldn't understand why there were so many "Gentlemen's Spas, Health Clubs, and Saunas" around! We never found Martin's--Mary's guidebook is ten years old. Instead, we settled on a mediocre place called The Filling Station, which was like eating at a garage!

In Edinburgh you cannot escape the perching omniscience of Edinburgh Castle. I will talk about it in my next blog.

The Sir Walter Scott Monument is called by some, "The Gothic Rocket" and this year--two years after I first climbed to the top up 300 stairs--I pass on the chance, knowing I likely would expire in the process!

Everything costs money, even this chance to hear a Scottish Piper near the Scott Monument.

The Scott Monument predominates. In the background is the Balmoral Hotel, also an impressive edifice.

The Divinity College, overlooking the train station.

I love the ornamentation of the Edinburgh style, as in this sign for a first-class eatery on Castle Hill. It requires reservations so we passed.

Of course, we followed the Royal Mile and poked our noses into the numerous little lanes or closes.

I dragged my fellow travelers down George IV Bridge to see Greyfriar's Bobby, and there was a great laugh at my expense, since we all assumed the statue of "Bobby" would be impressively large, but it was tiny! I had read that people needed to stand in the street to take the photo. But the statue has been moved and turned around. Originally it faced the cemetery, but one of the owners of the pub apparently had it turned around so that people could get his pub in the background of some photos!

Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye Terrier who became known in 19th Century Edinburgh after reportedly spending 14 years guarding the grave of his master, John Gray, who is buried in the churchyard of the nearby Greyfriars Kirk. He posed for this sitting a year before he died, according the the inscription: "From the life just before his death."

He died 14 Jan 1872. A year later Lady Burdett-Coutts had a statue and fountain erected at the southern end of George IV Bridge to commemorate his devotion and loyalty.

Several books have been based on Bobby's life, including Greyfriars Bobby by Eleanor Atkinson, and the films Greyfriars Bobby (1961) and The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (2006).

The statue is by William Brodie and is the smallest "listed building" in Edinburgh. It was totally restored in 1985. The fountain was removed because of concerns about public health. I placed my cap on his head--which is tinier than mine!

On George IV Bridge, we chanced upon the cafe where J. K. Rowling apparently dreamed up Harry Potter.

For some strange reason, no one trusted my suggestions about places to eat, until we arrived at Whiski Bar, and I pointed out that we had eaten here in 2008 and our friends Gary & Cindy liked it. We had a great meal amidst interesting decor, with a wait person who tried hard to do well as it was her first day. The others enjoyed a Scottish beef & ale pie, and I loved the Cullen Skink. (This is a smoked Haddock chowder, from the village of Cullen. I learned that "skink" once referred to beef skin.)

I noticed on the Whisky board the 15-year-old Dalwhinnie made in the distillery we passed in the Highlands. I didn't try it--or any other: I have not acquired a taste for single malt. I did find a beer I thoroughly enjoyed, Island of Arran Blonde: "Quality is in our Nature."

I like the curious and eclectic collections that adorn the walls. Not sure how they relate to Scottish Whiskies, but they are fun to look at.

Speaking of eclectic, Edinbugh has a fascinating mix of building styles and building methods, in part illustrated by the partly repaired rock wall partially covered with stucco.

Other buildings are quite up-to-date in style, although this story-teller is dressed for the occasion. I love to listen to the lilt of the Scottish dialects.

I keep my eye open for architectural adornment, too, as this stag's head perched atop a Royal Mile structure.

Seeing this school reminded me that I miss Horton High School, the staff , and the students. I wonder what I would have felt had I taught in this Royal Mile school for 36 years.

A visit to a great attraction, The Children's Museum.

The founder of the Children's Museum, Patrick Murray, was an Edinburgh town councillor. He insisted it was really a museum specializing in one field of social history. A bachelor, he pretended he did not really even like children.

Plaques embedded in the exterior wall of the new Scottish Parliament.

Views of the very modern Parliament buildings across from the Queen's Scottish home, Holyrood Castle.

Back "uptown," Wellington guarding the Scottish Records building.

Another view of Balmoral Hotel. I notice how the Scots have solved the "white van" stigma, whose drivers are considered the worst in the UK.

A church as we approached Stockbridge, seeking a decent place to eat NOT requiring reservations.

The Waverley Train Station.

Atop the Scottish Royal Academy.

National Museums Scotland.

A monument next to the cemetery on Calton Hill.

The Art Deco-inspired Scottish Government Offices.

Next: The Dugald Stewart Monument on Calton Hill, overlooking the old city.

The Nelson Monument commemorates Admiral Horatio Nelson's defeat of the French & Spanish at Trafalgar. It was built between 1807 and 1815 and restored in 2009.

Next: Scotland's Parthenon, the National Monument, was started by William Playfair as a memorial to those who died in the Napoleonic Wars. The work began in 1822 and ended when the money ran out in 1829. It remains unfinished and some call it "Edinburgh's Disgrace."

Views of the Scottish Parliament and Holyrood, with Salisbury Crags visible.

The Queen's Scottish Palace, Holyrood, at the end of the Royal Mile.

A view down to Princes Street, dividing the Old City and the New City. Paul Theroux, in The Kingdom by the Sea, his 1983 brrok about his journey around the coasts of Great Britain, wrote:

Edinburgh was the most beautiful city in Britain and one of the most beautiful in Europe.

Views from Princes Street Gardens.

The Gardens occupy a space that used to be a marshy defensive area, and it included Loch Nor, a mostly fetid cesspool. Later, at the opposite end, the Mound was created using excavation materials from building the New City.