On our third day in Edinburgh we took a walk down by the sea. The grey and murky day was perfectly reflected by the equally murky sea. The wind was blowing off the water adding to the windchill factor. To put it mildly, it was bloody freezing! Needless to say the walk didn’t last long and we were soon back at the motorhome. The walk had been a minor interruption to what had so far been a very lazy day. At about 3.30 pm we decided to head into town again. Lynne wanted to buy some pyjama bottoms because of being cold in bed. In the end she bought some leggings from Primark for the princely sum of £2.50.
I’d said the other day that it would be interesting to see the Christmas market at the weekend to see how busy it would be. Well, it was absolutely packed with all the ensuing chaos that comes from huge crowds of people channeled into narrow walkways lined with market stalls. We walked up to the Royal Mile looking for somewhere to eat. At the top of the Royal Mile close to the castle there’s a restaurant called the Witchery. We’d seen it a couple of days previously and because of Lynne’s natural affinity with all things witch related we quite fancied eating there. Having looked at the menu however, it turned out that it would cost at least £80 before drinks. That seemed a bit rich for us and ultimately we decided against it. As I’m writing this I’ve just looked at the Witchery online and it looks amazing. I kind of wish we’d tried it now but maybe we wouldn’t have fitted in all that well in jeans and walking boots. Having made our way back down the hill and back towards the Christmas market we came across a restaurant called Whiski Rooms on North Bank Street. We’d noticed this place on the way up and thought it looked nice. When we walked in and asked for a table for two they said they would see what they could do. A minute later the guy came back to say there would be a table but they had to prepare it. Within two minutes the table was ready and we were led through to the next room. I find it almost comical when they go to all that trouble to look busy and you walk to your rocking horse shit rare table, only to find it sitting alongside about ten other empty tables. I’m sorry to sound cynical but it makes no sense to me!
That little rant over I have to say that the restaurant was very nice. Looking at the menu it seemed like every dish was accompanied by a whiskey recommended to compliment the food. We had Hummus and Flatbreads for starters. Lynne had Haddock and chips and I ordered Haggis which came with bashed neeps. I had absolutely no idea what bashed neeps were. They turned out to be mashed turnip and although I’m not a lover of turnip, these turned out to be delicious! Also we both ordered the accompanying whiskeys. Lynne’s was a 12 year old Glenkinchie while mine was called Ardbeg Uigedail pronounced Oog-a-dal. The waiter warned me it was a smokey one and he wasn’t kidding. I’m not a big whiskey drinker but this stuff was fantastic. Along with the whiskey was a glass of water and a pipette to apply drops of water in the spirit. The waiter advised us to try the whiskey neat and then add five drops of water which he said released the flavour. Long story short, the food was great, the whiskey was beautiful and the service brilliant. Lynne and I both agreed that our time in Scotland had confounded all our preconceived ideas about the Scottish people. The waiter whose name was David was just confirmation of this as his service was probably the best we’ve had in years! On leaving the restaurant I wanted to go and find a bottle of Ardbeg Uigedail to see how much it would cost. The shot I had in the restaurant was £9.50. There was a shop on the Royal Mile selling all kinds of whiskeys but we couldn’t find the one I’d had. What we did find however were some incredibly expensive bottles. The first one I saw was £3800 but by the time we’d had a good look around the shop we’d found a bottle of Glenfiddich which was a snip at £25000. Who on earth pays £25000 for a bottle of whiskey?
Before fighting our way through the Christmas market crowds to get to the bus stop Lynne bought a cashmere scarf for £45 from a shop on the Royal Mile which was quite expensive enough for my tastes. We timed our bus ride perfectly as it started to rain almost as soon as we were on our way.
The following day (Sunday) it rained pretty much the whole day so Lynne and I spent the whole day lazing around in the motorhome. Great!
Monday morning we set off for home. We left the Caravan and Motorhome Club Edinburgh site at about 10.15 am. By way of a slight detour we headed for the Forth Bridge which was only about 20 minutes away. We were there for all of five minutes while I jumped out and took photos of the Bridge.
As we drove away we were struck by the pretty little village of South Queensferry. Edinburgh and the surrounding areas are definitely penciled in for a visit in the summer next year. Next location en route was Falkirk where I wanted to see the Kelpies. Kelpies are mythological shape changers. According to the artist, Andy Scott, they represent the lineage of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges and coal ships that shaped the geographical layout of the Falkirk area. Whatever they represent you can’t help but be impressed by the sheer size of them and they really do seem to evoke a very palpable equine spirit. Leaving the Kelpies behind and back on the M9 we started to see signs for the Falkirk Wheel so having decided we would most likely stay in Gretna tonight rather than try to make it home in one day, we did another detour to see it too. Unfortunately we found it only opens Wednesday to Sunday so we could only see the wheel from afar and, once again it was raining so we didn’t hang about.
After the Falkirk Wheel fail, we headed directly to Gretna. Arriving at 3.30 pm we checked in at the Braids Caravan Park which is where we stayed the first night we were away. This time when we walked into the small shed which passes for a reception it absolutely reeked of cigarettes. The guy at the desk was friendly enough but jeez what a stink. As soon as we were settled in we walked down the road to the designer outlet for another dose of terminal boredom around the shops! So a relatively short trip over and back home tomorrow before the weather takes a turn for the worst as predicted by the forecasters. Apart from my solo trip a couple of weeks previously this was only the second time Lynne and I had spent any time in Scotland. I think it’s fair to say that it blew all our preconceptions about Scotland and it’s people out of the water! Literally everyone we’ve had dealings with or spoken to have been extremely friendly and helpful, and I’m not only talking of people in the service industry’s. That impression we always have of the Scottish people not liking us seems from our experience to be wholly unfounded! Speaking for myself, I can’t wait to go back!
Wandering Wildman 