A Whistlestop tour in Edinburgh

 

Great Scott, it is cold!!! Was my first thought on getting off Waverly station in Edinburgh from a comparatively sunny London - 12 degrees, chilled rain and a biting cold wind that blew off the Firth of Forth.  And it was only end of September, what would winter be like? Couldn’t be more of a dampener way to begin a 2-day sojourn in the land of legends and castles and poets and scotch, I thought, and boy, glad I was wrong. I looked up to see what Scotland was famous for, and guess what?  Apart from the great Scottish highlands, bagpipes and the bloody ubiquitous tartan chequered kilts (scarfs, jumpers, hats, shirts) – the place is called ‘Land of Oatmeal’!!. Lol. I’m going to give that a miss.

With no particular agenda or checklist in hand, I had decided to stay close to the new town (not sure why it is called that, since it’s a small city with the old and new seemingly mixed) and take in whatever I could in my 2 days there. Walking out of the station, just taking a 360 degree turn, I could see many of the famous landmarks from just where I stood – the Edinburgh castle, the St. Gilles cathedral, the National Art gallery, the Royal Mile, the Botanical gardens, and the Scott monument – a mammoth gothic tower that paid tribute to Scotland's greatest literary figure. To duck out of the rain, I headed to the Gallery – a short sprint away from the station and came to a screeching halt at the very first exhibit. 

Are you serious?? Leonardo da Vinci!! It was a small painting based on a biblical theme, probably something he created in between his more famous works, but still…Rembrandt, Raphael, Vermeer, Titian, Jan Van Eyck, Renoir, Rubens…in less than an hour I had gawked at works of some of the greatest painters of the world.

To get to know a city and its sights, one could read up, ramble around and make your own impressions, or just join a guided tour, which in my experience can either be really interesting – adding flavour to the sights – or be mundanely boring. Given the short time I had, I decided to join a tour – but a slightly offbeat one. Ben and Luca (that I found on GetyourGuide) called themselves storytellers and promised not the usual spiel. The 1^st tour was to the castle and I must say, the guide wove an interesting narrative to make the castle and its stories come alive. I enjoyed it much that I decided to sign up for a scotch and story session later in the day with the same team.

To kill the 4 hours I had in between the sessions, I did what best can be done in UK anyways, ramble. All (or most cities in UK) are great walking cities, where one just walked, stopped for sights or a bite, sat on park benches or town squares, and watched the world go by (weather permitting, of course), darted into interesting shops – selling everything from delicious croissants, vintage clothing, books  (found one specialising in just cook books) trinkets, jewellery, donor kababs, or just go from one museum or art gallery to the other, if that is of your interest. One could, at least in London, do a couple of weeks of this and still not run out of places and sights to see. 

Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, is as its name suggests, a mile-long street starting from the Holyrood palace - royal abode of Mary of Scott (I think she and her palace are far more interesting than that of the Elizabeth duo) and going up to the Castle, which has been occupied since 12thC till at least late 1700 by various kings and post that continues to be a military garrison. Every third shop (or second) sold tartan patterned clothing. But other than one gentleman at the castle, no other Scotsman I saw was wearing a kilt. So, I’m presuming all the tourists picked up one of these as a souvenir. 

Most ancient cities have been built on layers over centuries, so often have a labyrinth of structures underground that literally can unearth history. The Mary King Close (situated conveniently on the Royal Mile) is one such treasure. Going down 4 layers and a few eons, this is where the commoners lived and probably gives a true picture of life of those times, History is otherwise mostly relegated to royalty and their shenanigans, bloody murders and war and valour, pomp and splendour, with the town folk usually playing the extras as in with most period movies.   

Close – in Scotland – is like an apartment complex – and this was dark, dingy, desolate, desperately crowded and not surprisingly, the place where the great plague started. The commoners seemed to have been fairly poor and lived in deplorable conditions. But a vague impression of a flowery pattern on the wall or stories of the ghost of a little girl who died there and still seen there as she doesn’t want to leave her doll behind show vignettes of little bits of happiness in their lives. After the plague the place was stuffed with lime and was not inhabited since, at least not in the same conditions.  

You know what they say, when in Scotland…you got to try their scotch. Not being a whiskey drinker (btw, whiskey from Scotland is called Scotch), I did consider giving this a miss. I did say a definite no to their other famous culinary concoction - Haggis - a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver, and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, and spices. But the scotch was accompanied by a 2-hour storytelling session; I much enjoyed the scotch, the stories and the company of the large group that accompanied it.

Edinburgh is small enough to be seen in a couple of days or add in a couple more to do the day side trips to see Nessie (Loch Ness) or Leith.  Or if you like a good hike, you could spend half a day going up to Arthur’s peak for a good top side view of the city. However, a city is not just about its sights, to get to know the pulse of the place, its people, tradition, culture, one would need a lot more time - and that essentially is the difference between being a tourist and a traveller. Though two days is too short a time, some impressions I got were that somehow, the people were more reserved, less friendly than in London. 'The stiff upper lip' that one associates UK with, was something I didnt see much in London; in fact, quite the opposite, almost everybody had a quick friendly smile to offer. And no, most often it wasnt just being polite - people were friendly and quick to help if you needed - which was not what I expected from this supposedly xenophobic nation.    

But as a city, Edinburgh is beautiful, more charming and has much to offer both the tourist and the intrepid traveller. BnBs are plenty and a good option and if you don’t want to spend much on stay. Buses and trams are a good way to get about if you don’t want to walk.  Frequent trains and buses ply between Edinburgh and London – trains being more expensive but gets you there in half the time.   One does not need a separate visa for Scotland. 

Though short but surely sweet.  This is definitely a don't miss city if you are planning UK.