Edinburgh

Three weeks ago now (how is it three weeks already?) my friend Dexter was over from America with his friend Riley doing a tour of the UK. We’d already met up in London within the first few days of them arriving and then on 7th April we all headed for Edinburgh.

I’d been out the Friday night before and shall we say was persuaded by the barman to drink a few more than I should, meaning my early start for the airport was a tad more of a struggle than it needed to be. However once through security at the airport I found Joe&The Juice and got myself a beetroot, ginger and carrot juice and that seemed to do the trick. I flew from Stansted into Edinburgh with EasyJet and it was an incredibly easy and hassle free flight which took all of 55 minutes. Flying in over the city I could see I was going to like it, with the old architecture standing tall in amongst new modern buildings.

Once I’d landed and got through arrivals I had a quick food stop at M&S before catching the 100 shuttle bus to the city centre (£7.50 return). The bus ride took approximately 30 minutes and dropped me 5 minutes from my hotel, Ibis Style, just off St Andrews Square. I’d heard of the Ibis Style chains through other bloggers so thought it would be fun to try this hotel out. Essentially the hotels in the Style group are themed but in a classy way. There was no doubt whatsoever that I was in the capital of Scotland. The hotel had a bright and modern entrance with welcoming, friendly staff. My room was compact but perfect for a one night stay. I had thistle wall paper, tartan carpet, kind of matching tartan patterned tiles in the shower and a kitsch little sign above the toilet with an explanation of the Scottish meaning of ‘wee’ – yep, it’s the little touches that make this hotel quirky. Aside from the quirkiness my room came complete with hair dryer, tea/coffee and biscuits, a massive TV and one of the comfiest beds I’ve ever slept in.

So after finding my hotel, eating and reading a map to see what I was near I decided to go out and explore. Dexter and Riley were travelling up to Edinburgh by car with our friend Amy and her fiancé Mike. We met Amy in New Zealand. They were making a stop off at Hadrian’s Wall and weren’t getting in until late so I had pretty much the entire day to to explore.

I started with the National Portrait Gallery. It was free entry and spread over three floors. There were a number of galleries from portraits to photographs, a library and sculptures. Following this I took a walk down to Princes Street, had a brief stroll along before I headed into the Old Town. I loved the steep hills, old buildings and general charm of the place. By this time I was getting pretty tired (after my early finish from the night before) so headed back to the hotel to catch up on some sleep before the guys arrived around 5 pm. The evening was pretty relaxed: we went to Zizzi for dinner and had a great catch up on travel stories from New Zealand and what Dexter and Riley had been up to since I had seen them a few days earlier.

The following morning we all got up pretty early and met at my hotel for about 10 am. After meeting, Dexter and Riley wanted to go and buy some English chocolate/sweets to take home so we made sure they got some good old classics and strangely named things such as Hobnobs and Curlywurlys to take home. After dropping a considerable weight of chocolate back with our bags at my hotel we all split up. Dexter and I headed for the Castle, Riley went for a walk around the gardens and a couple of museums and Amy and Mike headed up Arthur’s Seat.

The castle was awesome (£18.50 entry). I love history so this was great for me. I’m not so au fait with Scottish history but it was interesting walking around everywhere, seeing the Scottish Crown Jewels, seeing the incredible war memorial and see the home of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Following this we made our way down the Royal Mile and found the National Museum of Scotland where we met the others. Dex and I weren’t really in the mood for it so we saw what we wanted then headed out for a pre lunch snack. Dex had spotted The Elephant Cafe earlier, which is where the first Harry Potter book was written, so with Dexter being a massive Harry Potter fan and me liking Harry Potter we thought we’d go and have a coffee. We got seated at the bar area and what perfect timing because about two minutes later they were queuing out the door. Following our coffee we then headed to The Cumberland Bar for our lunch. It had to have been one of the best roasts I’ve had and all fully gluten free!! We had one final catch up on our day once all together and then that was it, weekend over. I had a flight, Riley had a train and Amy and Mike had to go back to Manchester. Dexter was staying for a few more days in the city before he flew home.

I loved Edinburgh and I feel I only scratched the surface of it. It’s a beautiful city, the people are friendly and the scenery is stunning. I’d highly recommend it as a weekend visit.

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