6 - 8 August 2014
Day 20
Hostel
I booked a few nights at the Prince's Street East Backpackers and it was only a short walk from the train station, which was nice. All the walls and doors of the hostel were painted with street art, which gave it a cool feel and they named all their beds. Mine was nice, that's the name of the bed, and I scored some very pretty bed linen.
I went for a walk to explore some of the city and instantly loved how the whole city is on so may different levels and is covered with towers.
I walked down Rose St, which is lined with bars and cafes, and over to The Royal Mile to see all the hustle and bustle of street performers from the Edinburgh Festival.
Beer Garden
In the evening I went up near the university to a festival beer garden and hung out with the Scots I'd met in Mabie forest. The day was lovely and warm but it quickly got cold at night, which I foolishly didn't prepare for, so I ran back to the hostel and grabbed some warmer clothes and back to the beer garden.
A few of us went for dinner at a place called the Mosque Kitchen. I'm told the original one was actually in a mosque but this place took over the name and was just a normal shop. It served generous portions of great food at reasonable prices. Just the thing we were looking for. I had a chana masala and a naan bread. Afterwards we went to a pub called the Pear Tree where we had a few drinks and talked about all sorts.
Day 21
Walking around
The first destination of the day was Calton Hill to see the Roman structure they had.
I had some pretty nice views out over the city from this hill.
However, I could also see people climbing a big hill that looked like it would have even better views over the city. There was also a larger hill behind it that had people-like shapes sticking up at the peak but they didn't seem to move for the few minutes I watched them so I assumed they were trees or something else and headed off for the small hill.
As I started climbing the small hill, I could see a lot of people were heading for the big one and being the competitive person I am, I decided to do the big one too. Once at the top, it was obvious the shapes were people but they all stayed up there for quite a while admiring the view and that's why I didn't see them move.
You can see why they weren't moving: because it was a great day and the view was worth admiring.
Dirty Dicks and the Pear Tree
After the walk I headed over to the Dirty Dicks pub to meet the Scots again. After a chat we went to the bus stop to see one of them off, who was headed back to London, then we made our way to the other side of town to go to the Pear Tree again. On the way I was given a mini walking tour of the city where I heard the story of Bobby the dog. At the Pear Tree there were some new faces and we had a few drinks and a chat.
Festival Show
We decided that seeing as I was in Edinburgh at the same time as the Festival, I should probably see some shows. People were handing out fliers everywhere we went, even while we sat at the pub, so we had plenty of choice. We took the easy option and went to one that was close and soon. It was a live band but they weren't really what I, or any of us, were into so we went into another room to see a sketch show by the Cosmonauts. This second show was mostly strange but had a few laughs in it.
Live n Loud
After the shows we wanted to go to a venue by this name but it was too early to get in for free so instead, we headed across the road for some overpriced but amazing burgers. When it was time we headed back to Live n Loud and inside was a stage with a live band playing all sorts of popular songs from the last few decades but in a mashup so they blended them together and never stopped, only transitioned to the next song. There were only about 30 drunks and night owls dancing away to them, including us, and I had a great time. This band did an amazing job too. I finally got home at 4:30am to try and get some sleep before I had to check out.
Day 22
I had to check out at 10:30 but they let me hang around in the hostel so I went down to the TV room and fell asleep on one of the couches for a bit. I ducked out at lunch time and grabbed a chilli burger from the local shop, which was really good, and then went to see a free show. This show was a stand up comedy gig. It wasn't amazing, but like the other one, still had some laughs. You get what you pay for I guess.
When I came out of the show, it was bucketing down with rain. This sucked a bit because I had to grab my bag from the hostel and walk to the bus in the rain but thankfully I didn't get too wet because it was a fairly short walk.
Late flight
I arrived at the airport with plenty of time and made my way to the gate. You could see everyone was getting visibly uneasy when we were within 10 minutes of the scheduled departure time but the board didn't say anything about a delay and the gate hadn't even opened yet. I was worried too and I asked the couple next to me if they were flying to Oslo, which they were, so that made me feel better that at least if I was at the wrong gate somehow, I wasn't the only one to mess it up. It the end the gate did open and we took off about 30 minutes late.
Thoughts about Edinburgh
Day 20
Hostel
I booked a few nights at the Prince's Street East Backpackers and it was only a short walk from the train station, which was nice. All the walls and doors of the hostel were painted with street art, which gave it a cool feel and they named all their beds. Mine was nice, that's the name of the bed, and I scored some very pretty bed linen.
 |
| Pretty in pink |
 |
| Panorama over the train station |
 |
| The castle from Rose St |
I walked down Rose St, which is lined with bars and cafes, and over to The Royal Mile to see all the hustle and bustle of street performers from the Edinburgh Festival.
Beer Garden
In the evening I went up near the university to a festival beer garden and hung out with the Scots I'd met in Mabie forest. The day was lovely and warm but it quickly got cold at night, which I foolishly didn't prepare for, so I ran back to the hostel and grabbed some warmer clothes and back to the beer garden.
A few of us went for dinner at a place called the Mosque Kitchen. I'm told the original one was actually in a mosque but this place took over the name and was just a normal shop. It served generous portions of great food at reasonable prices. Just the thing we were looking for. I had a chana masala and a naan bread. Afterwards we went to a pub called the Pear Tree where we had a few drinks and talked about all sorts.
Day 21
Walking around
The first destination of the day was Calton Hill to see the Roman structure they had.
 |
| Roman thing on Calton Hill. Apparently also called the Nation Monument |
I had some pretty nice views out over the city from this hill.
 |
| Looking toward the ocean from Calton Hill |
 |
| Looking over the city centre from Calton Hill. Note the climbable hills on the left |
As I started climbing the small hill, I could see a lot of people were heading for the big one and being the competitive person I am, I decided to do the big one too. Once at the top, it was obvious the shapes were people but they all stayed up there for quite a while admiring the view and that's why I didn't see them move.
 |
| People at the top of the hill |
You can see why they weren't moving: because it was a great day and the view was worth admiring.
Dirty Dicks and the Pear Tree
After the walk I headed over to the Dirty Dicks pub to meet the Scots again. After a chat we went to the bus stop to see one of them off, who was headed back to London, then we made our way to the other side of town to go to the Pear Tree again. On the way I was given a mini walking tour of the city where I heard the story of Bobby the dog. At the Pear Tree there were some new faces and we had a few drinks and a chat.
Festival Show
We decided that seeing as I was in Edinburgh at the same time as the Festival, I should probably see some shows. People were handing out fliers everywhere we went, even while we sat at the pub, so we had plenty of choice. We took the easy option and went to one that was close and soon. It was a live band but they weren't really what I, or any of us, were into so we went into another room to see a sketch show by the Cosmonauts. This second show was mostly strange but had a few laughs in it.
Live n Loud
After the shows we wanted to go to a venue by this name but it was too early to get in for free so instead, we headed across the road for some overpriced but amazing burgers. When it was time we headed back to Live n Loud and inside was a stage with a live band playing all sorts of popular songs from the last few decades but in a mashup so they blended them together and never stopped, only transitioned to the next song. There were only about 30 drunks and night owls dancing away to them, including us, and I had a great time. This band did an amazing job too. I finally got home at 4:30am to try and get some sleep before I had to check out.
Day 22
I had to check out at 10:30 but they let me hang around in the hostel so I went down to the TV room and fell asleep on one of the couches for a bit. I ducked out at lunch time and grabbed a chilli burger from the local shop, which was really good, and then went to see a free show. This show was a stand up comedy gig. It wasn't amazing, but like the other one, still had some laughs. You get what you pay for I guess.
When I came out of the show, it was bucketing down with rain. This sucked a bit because I had to grab my bag from the hostel and walk to the bus in the rain but thankfully I didn't get too wet because it was a fairly short walk.
Late flight
I arrived at the airport with plenty of time and made my way to the gate. You could see everyone was getting visibly uneasy when we were within 10 minutes of the scheduled departure time but the board didn't say anything about a delay and the gate hadn't even opened yet. I was worried too and I asked the couple next to me if they were flying to Oslo, which they were, so that made me feel better that at least if I was at the wrong gate somehow, I wasn't the only one to mess it up. It the end the gate did open and we took off about 30 minutes late.
Thoughts about Edinburgh
- Lots of gypsies and beggars, which I guess is normal for a big city
- It rained at least once a day
- The festival is massive. There are hundreds of venues, quite a few beer gardens, street performers and a surprising number of free shows
- I learnt that the festival isn't just the Fringe, it's actually a few different festivals that are all on at the same time
- I really liked how the city had so many different levels because there are hills plus they built the new city on top of the old city
- I'd come back again. There's lots of see and a good mix of city and nature
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