After our nearly 2-hour tour of The Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle, we were ready to sit for a few minutes and have a snack. We found our next tour starting point, and *shockingly * there happened to be a pub nearby. It had turned chilly and windy, so hot drinks were needed. As he was perusing the food menu, Jeff saw that they had a Haggis pannini. He said he had to be a real tourist and try some Haggis, so there you go. Haggis, for those who don’t know, is the traditional Scottish food that is all the parts of a sheep that you cannot sell as meat, ground up and boiled in the sheep’s stomach. A similar concept to sausage, but not as appealing. I was forced to try a bite of the pannini, and it did just taste like sausage.
Due to a miscommunication in times, we were 10 minutes late getting to our next tour, which had already started. This tour took place below Old Town, in New Town. Specifically we were going to see 2 places: Dean Village and Circus Lane. New Town was built a couple hundred years after Old Town, and even at 1800 it’s considered “young”! The two most noticeable things about New Town are the straight, grid-style streets that were patterned after Manhattan, and the Grecian architecture.
Dean Village is a picturesque, historic area in Edinburgh, located on the Water of Leith river. Its known for its charming architecture, tranquil atmosphere, and history as a milling village
dating back to the 12th century. These days it’s a popular spot for tourists and locals. Compared to the VERY crowded castle, which gets 2.5 million visitors a year, the village offers a peaceful escape from the city center. Having some time in such a beautiful spot without all the people was lovely!
Circus Lane is a picturesque, historic cobbled street in the Stockbridge area of Edinburgh. It’s famous for its flower-covered, ivy-clad terraced houses. Originally built in the late 18th or early 19th century as stables and carriage houses for the grand Georgian homes of Edinburgh’s New Town, it’s now one of the most photographed areas in the UK!
Some of the fun facts we learned on this tour were that most of the limestone buildings in New Town have distinctive black smudges on them from burning coal in the fireplaces. Also, we learned that the term “posh” originated from when wealthy Europeans traveled by steamer to the visit the United States, they wanted to have the sun on their stateroom for both halves of the journey. This meant that they had to book 2 different tickets….Port side for the Outbound trip and Starboard side for the Homebound trip: POSH. Since this was something only the very wealthy could do, it became synonymous with rich or fancy! We also learned that on New Year’s Eve, instead of kissing someone at midnight the Scottish tradition is to say, “Lang May Yer Lum Reek,” which translates to “Long may your chimney smoke,” which is wishing for a long, fruitful life.
After 6 hours of walking, covering 5.35 miles, it was time to head back to the hotel for some rest before dinner. Dinner was at a fairly touristy spot called Berties Proper Fish and Chips. While it was definitely not a “locals” place, it was something that seemed a “should visit” for tourists! After dinner we walked around the area for about an hour, hoping to catch a taxi back to the hotel. Interestingly enough, they were very scarce, and there were no Ubers available at that time. We finally decided to start the 25-minute walk back to our hotel, and as luck would have it we found a cab about 5 minutes into our walk. All in all we had around 15,000 steps for the day, which was enough!
We’re looking forward to our next day’s adventure which will be an all-day trip to the highlands and Loch Ness!!! Maybe we’ll see Nessie?!
Carpe Diem...seizing life's adventures 