Edinburgh is Magnificent

July 08, 2018

Edinburgh is Magnificent

We thought Glasgow was a pretty awesome city, with so much to offer. As we left yesterday morning we thought Glasgow would be pretty tough to top. But we were not disappointed as we got off the train at Edinburgh, Waverly. To the contrary, we were stunned at the magnificence of Edinburgh. It's simply too much to take in, too much to try and express in words, other than to say it's one of the most magical cities I think the two of us have ever been in.

We checked into The Hub, Premier Inn, which is a budget hotel located a stone's throw from the train station. The accomodations were quite modest, an ergo friendly, minimalist affair, room to tuck your suitcase, a shelf to setup your laptop, a shower etc. but not much else. In fact, the bed situation was a bit disapointing wedged up against the wall, the person on the inside forced to climb over the other if they need the bathroom in the night. Here's a quick video we made.

Today (Sunday) the room situation was taken care of with a simple upgrade request.

We spend the day of arrival on a Hop on Hop Off bus, marveling at the spectacular city scapes, cobble streets, and the sound of bagpipes and girls singing to guitars. We could have walked around Edinburgh all night. We stopped at a pub, ordered up two pints of Tennant's and started talking with a couple of locals. They were both retired and live nearby. He loves golf, plays every day. They love Edinburgh, they told us of the amazing music scene, about the Fringe festival, and about the Edinburgh Tatoo, a spectacular display put on each year by the Scotish Military Regimin. If we return to Edinburgh, and I hope we do, we would definitely want to come during the Tatoo.

After a restless night's sleep, we woke up today, Sunday, and had breakfast and went for a walking tour of the City Chambers. You see, hundreds of years ago, the poor folk of Edinburgh lived in tiny low dwellings. Low, because if you lived in these parts, just off the Royal Mile, you were the lowest of the low, you were living in small homes with no sewer system. The streets would be extremely narrow, maybe 4 ft and would be stacked as high as 10 stories. To enter the home you would climb rickety spiral staircase while your neighbors yelled "Garde Leu" as they tossed raw sewage to the ground below. Pretty soon these tiny blocks of houses were over-built by the modern Edinburgh of today. But this morning, Stephani and I were roaming the City Chambers, perfectly intact. We saw the room were Mary Queen of Scots was held after her arrest. We were told of the Peubonic and Neumonic plague and how it devestated Edinburgh. It was quite a tour.

After some lunch we took a bus to the docks to tour Her Majesty's Yacht (HMY) Brittania. This is the same ship that Charles and Diana went on their honeymoon. Prince Charles even had a king size bed installed. It was surreal standing in the doorway looking into the room where they once slept. Several famous people have spent time on the Yacht including President Bill Clinton, and dozens of other rich and famous people.