Edinburgh, City of Medieval Skycrapers

Please begin reading this post by giving me a round of applause for my driving prowess into beautiful Edinburgh. I did actually get the kids to clap for me when I parked the first time in the centre of the city.

The end of our visit to York was marked by the start of our personal drive north into Scotland. We got our (so far) trusty rental vehicle and began the drive north. We stayed overnight in Newcastle, just to sleep, so I don't have anything to post about this, apart from S's comment that a part of the countryside we passed on the way smelled like "sweet poo". She wasn't wrong, so just imagine that sensory experience as you will.

We began our drive to Edinburgh in the morning. It was 3 hours from Newcastle, give or take, and we did intend to take turns driving, of course. However, we began our drive, and after re-wiring my brain and getting over the initial nerves of driving on the left side of the road and going through what felt like thousands of roundabouts, all with different rules (some have traffic lights as well, and some split into multiple lanes within the roundabout omg), I got into a rhythm and just started driving. S and B were listening to audio books or doing Duolingo in the back, so the minutes and hours just ticked by. I decided because all was going well and I was in a driving groove to just push on and as such, I drove non-stop to Edinburgh.

Then we arrived. We had a walking tour booked in the afternoon so we had to drive straight into the city to make it on time. We knew something was going on because we couldn't get a hotel room anywhere except at the airport. We couldn't have imagined what we were coming into. If driving to Edinburgh was a video game, and I'd just passed levels 1 to 5 getting there, driving in the city forced me to jump straight to level 20. The already very narrow streets, which we're not accustomed to in Canada were inundated with people. There was so much humanity on the sidewalks that they were seeping casually into the slender streets. I drove through cramped, windy roads, went down a dead end, tried to park in a full lot (of course I didn't know this going in) out of which I had to reverse while Scott ensured I didn't hit anyone on the sidewalk, and for my almost final act, found a parallel spot on a side street, which I parked in, in one shot. This is when I asked the kids for a round of applause. However, we couldn't park on that street after all, and ended up in an underground lot nearby, phew.

Upon emerging from parking and into the claustrophobic streets we learned what we'd accidentally arrived to in Edinburgh. It was a confluence of multiple international festivals, all concluding on the same weekend, which also happens to be a "bank" holiday, to us meaning a long weekend. We learned there were approximately 8 festivals on, including the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and the Edinburgh International Festival, which is what we know as the Fringe Festival, but on a colossal, city-wide scale.

So. This would have been wonderful to attend on purpose, but when unplanned you just have to shrug and move on. Or rather shrug and squeeze through.

We spent two days in Edinburgh. We did a two hour walking tour with a company called Scotland City Tours, and our guide was Ignus. He's the one that referred to Edinburgh as a city of "medieval skyscrapers" which I thought was such a great description. Edinburgh Castle, which we also did a walking tour of the following day, strategically sits atop a cliff and was an ancient stronghold. When space within this stronghold ran out, if I understood correctly, the only way to build was straight down the steep valley leading from the castle. This is the street known as The Royal Mile, which actually is about a mile, and ends at Holyroodhouse Palace (which we did not visit). Because building in the steep valley was difficult, it was easier to build up, into the valley-side, rather than out, hence the "medieval skyscrapers" which can be around 11 stories high. This is how Old Town Edinburgh has such beautiful and unique character. We visited other areas, including the Greyfriars Graveyard which our tour guide explained was like a "human lasagna" as it has so many bodies stacked on top of each other, and the top layer is not six feet under... That's interesting, with a dash of disturbing. We also learned the heartwarming story of Greyfriars Bobby, a little dog that was a very loyal, and VERY good boy. Lastly, we had an absolutely delicious meal at Deacon Brodie's Tavern where we surprisingly waltzed in and immediately got a great table upstairs by a window and had the most delicious meal (I will vouch for the Puy Lentil and Vegetable Cottage pie, perhaps one of the most delicious comfort foods I've ever had) and an Innis & Gunn beer. Scotland, surprisingly to me, is a vegetarian's paradise, as options are everywhere, and they aren't just another Beyond Meat burger, but a variety of pies, stews and even vegetarian "haggis" meals (yes I know it's not really haggis when you make it vegetarian but I personally love it and appreciate it) that are richly flavourful and have great texture. So, there it is, the story of our time in Edinburgh in an overcrowded nutshell, bursting with people, history, flavour and lots of deep breaths to self-regulate in the crowds.

Oof, ok, breathe.

I'd love for us to return to Edinburgh again, it may be my favourite city in the UK (sorry York and London, love you too). However next time, will do an advance check on festivals and holiday weekends.