- Bright Bus Tours
- Dynamic Earth
- Arthur's Seat
- Old Woods Cafe
- Holyrood Distillery
- University of Edinburgh
- Bobby
- Greyfriars Kirk and Graveyard
- Grass Market
- Scott Monument
- Fishers in the City
- Kitty O'Shea's
- Waterloo Bar
We slept fine last night, but the bed is small, probably the equivalent of an American "full" sized bed. Add the low height of the bathroom sink, the poor lighting design, and the ladies at the pub last night who were too short to get up on their barstools... All implies that the Scotts are wee people who prefer the dark.
Immediately on exit this morning we hopped on a tour bus. Last night I bought us Edinburgh City Passes that allow us to do the bus and about a dozen tourist sites. We did about 3/4 of the bus tour (it was raining, of course) and got off at "Dynamic Earth," the Edinburgh science museum. We immediately knew it wasn't for us, as there were about 5 elementary school groups lined up to go through the exhibit. We hung out and had a tea at their cafe while re-strategizing. The Holyrood Distillery was in our pass and a 15 minute walk, so we headed there, walking around the base of "Arthur's Seat," an extinct volcano overlooking Edinburgh.
We arrived at the distillery 30 minutes before our tour time. We walked to the nearby Old Woods Cafe and ordered a couple of sandwiches. By the time they arrived, it was getting closer to distillery tour time so we asked for them "to go." Maybe it was the hurry of walking down the street trying to eat this sandwich, but it was one of the best I've ever eaten! Certainly in the top ten of my life! BBC sandwich - bacon, brie and cranberry sauce, in a pressed panini. Wow, highly recommended! Yelena liked her salmon and cream cheese bagel as well. Thumbs up to the Old Woods Cafe.
We thought we were late for the tour, but we were the first of our group to arrive. Our group of about 10 included a mother and daughter from Prescott WI. Small world. The tour was fun. We learned a lot from tour guide Matthew and tasted Holyrood gin (Height of Arrows) and whiskey (Pitch Single Malt)... both not yet available at US retailers.
Our next intended stop was the Crime and Punishment walking tour, but we failed to register soon enough and so it was full. So we walked through the University of Edinburgh campus and toured Greyfriars Kirk and graveyard. We learned the story of Bobby, the faithful Scottish dog, who stayed by his dead owners grave here for 14 years, until passing away himself. He was a Good Boy!
Afterwards, we walked through the Grass Market, intending to visit "Gladstone's Land" a preserved house from the 1700s, but another swing and miss. The attendant said an "emergency environmental situation" (???) had forced it to close.
Rolling with the punches, we walked around the East Princes Street Gardens and down to the Sir Walter Scott monument. It's a Victorian designed, beautiful monstrosity, flying buttresses and gargoyles everywhere. We chose not to ascend the interior 280+ steps. We were quite tired by then.
A brief respite at our suite, then back out for dinner. We explored the "New Town" side of Edinburgh and landed at "Fishers in the City," timing it just right to score a table before the rush. And what a rush it was. We had a good view of the greeting stand/bar and it was fun to watch our host/server juggle phones, reservations, seating, food delivery... and do it all so well, meeting everyone's needs. It made me wonder how well servers are paid here, since there is no tipping culture/economy. Google says £12.50/hr or about $17/hr. That would be tough to live on in a city this expensive.
For dinner, Yelena had Scottish haddock and chips. I had monkfish tacos, king prawns and crispy polenta. Really great stuff! Yelena said the haddock was the best fish she's had on the trip. The prawns were my favorite.
After dinner we stopped by Kitty O'Shea's, an underground Irish pub. We listened to some proper live pub music and enjoyed a drink. There were signed drink coasters pinned on the ceiling of people who had "split the G" (a Guinness drinking game where your first sip stops in the middle of the "G" in Guinness on the glass). Austin would appreciate this.
Our final stop was at the Waterloo Bar, right across the street from our stay. We were the only customers and it seemed like we walked into a Benny Hill or Monty Python sketch.
Important to note here that the bar tender at this Scottish traditional pub was a fresh immigrant Chinese lady, around 30 years old.
Her: ""So sorry! We are a close in a one hour." (It was 8 pm).
Me: "Oh." (Thinking, wow it's weird for a pub to close at 9 pm), "That's OK. We're just having one round."
Her: "Oh, so it OK then?"
Me: "Yes. OK. A half pint of Guinness and a gin and tonic, please."
Her: " You want a ahsi drink?"
Me: "I beg your pardon?"
Her: "Ahs. You want a ahs?"
Me: puzzled look
Her: "Ahs." pointing in glass. "You want a ahs in drink?"
Me: "Oh. ICE. Yes please. Ice in the drink."
I look at Yelena with wide eyes as the lady goes behind a wall and comes back out, pointing to ice in the glass
Her: "This enough? Up to here?"
Me: "Yes, that looks great, thanks!"
She pours in a shot of gin, hands me the glass with separate can of tonic. (This is actually standard practice in the UK, I suppose so they don't water down drinks?)
I don't bother to ask for a slice of lime. She pours the Guinness (correctly!) and another customer walks in.
Her: "So sorry! We are close in a fifty minute."
She scares off 3 or 4 potential customers with this warning. I didn't think they are really understanding what she's saying. But then one couple stays! We listen in as they walk her through making a brandy with lemonade, the ice interpretation, pour up to here, etc. We're all giggling when about 8:30 she starts dragging stacks of chairs from outside of the bar to the inside, lining them up in the middle of the bar. Yelena and I finish our drinks and leave before we get blocked in, but the other couple orders another round!
I think the Chinese lady really didn't care about sales, she just wanted us out of there. Maybe she had TV shows she didn't want to miss.
Tomorrow, walking tours and Lex's concert at Greyfriars Kirk! He is in Glasgow tonight.
