Edinburgh, Scotland — Life as an Americanadian

Mar 29

Mar 29 Edinburgh, Scotland

We wrapped up our week in Scotland in the amazing Edinburgh! The food was fantastic, the history was fascinating and the wine/whisky was top notch - all the criteria needed for an awesome city! We had less than 48 hours in the city so tried to make the most of it! We kicked off our first full day by checking out Edinburgh Castle - a historic fortress up on Castle Rock. Its the most popular attraction in Edinburgh and it was PACKED with people. The highlights for me were: the whisky tasting (duh), St Margaret’s Chapel (Edinburgh’s oldest building - build in 1130) and one of the first depictions of the US flag carved into a door by an American prisoner.

After a morning spent exploring the castle, we walked down the Royal Mile to Gladstone’s Land - one of the oldest buildings on the street (built in 1550) which was once owned by a merchant named Thomas Gladstone (who purchased and renovated the building in 1617). The building was almost demolished in the 1930s but was saved and in the restoration process, they revealed the original renaissance painted ceilings - so cool!

A bit further down we ran into David Hume’s statue and rubbed the toe for good luck (then heavily sanitized our hands afterwards <— and that was pre-Covid). Then we wandered through St Giles’ Cathedral which had a beautiful blue ceiling and really cool carvings.

The highlight of Edinburgh for me was Holyrood Palace - the official residence of the Queen in Scotland. You aren’t able to take photos while inside but the tour is AMAZING! Everyone is given an iphone-like device. You go through each room listening to the tour but you can also hold up to the phone to scan the room to see how it looked through various stages. The tour walked you through Mary, Queen of Scots, private apartment where she witnessed the murder of her private secretary AND through a dining room where you can see a painting that was cut by a sword in a fight. SUCH an interesting tour done very well. They also had a special exhibit about Harry and Meghan’s wedding - her dress is so beautiful and detailed in person. The grounds were also really beautiful especially the ruins of the Holyrood Abbey.

Edinburgh is a great city to walk around in with lots of parks and our hotel, the InterContinental Edinburgh The George , was in such a great central location. The hotel combined 5 Georgian townhouses to create the hotel and its absolutely beautiful - highly recommend staying here.

We ate such great food in Edinburgh - highlights were Dishroom Edinburgh (I haven’t been to the one in London so this was a treat), The Ivy on the Square Edinburgh (where I had delicious rose from the largest bottle of wine I’ve ever seen) and Indigo Yard (where I had a pork & haggis scotch egg!).