Scotland

We were fortunate enough to have a long weekend (bank holiday, as they’re called here) and made our way to Edinburgh, from City Airport in London. After a short flight we arrived and picked up our ‘super-compact’ car, which in the brochure was a two-door bubble with wheels, but turned out to be a very nice four-door Peugeot 207.

This wasn't supposed to be quite this nice...

We headed into Edinburgh itself and checked into the Novotel, courtesy of Stephen’s frequent business trips to Melbourne, before heading out to check out the town. First stop, since the weather was lovely, was Arthur’s Seat. This is a basalt mound rearing up out of the plains near Edinburgh, and has fantastic views over the city and surrounding countryside.

Sarah on the way up to Arthur's Seat

Edinburgh Castle as seen from Arthur's Seat

Holyrood House as seen from Arthur's Seat

At the base of Arthur’s Seat is Holyrood, one of the Queen’s residences in Scotland. It is the first palace we’ve visited that is still in active service, and was in as great condition as you would expect from somewhere the Queen still stays. It is attached to a gorgeous ruined abbey, and surrounded by really pretty gardens (you could really tell that spring had sprung!). Outside Holyrood is the new Parliament building, which is an architectural marvel but lacks the grandeur of the older buildings (or, put simply, is ugly).

Sarah outside the ruins of Holyrood Abbey

We took a fleeting visit to Calton (home of some 17^th Century Greco-roman columns and the city’s observatory) before heading back to the hotel for a nap/work. That night we checked out an Italian restaurant recommended by Stephen’s workmate Nick (who is a Scotsman) – he called ‘Bar Roma’ the best Italian in Edinburgh, and it certainly lived up to its reputation.

Sunday, after a big sleep-in, we headed north to Stirling, home of Stirling Castle and the William Wallace memorial. Stirling sits in the middle of the narrowest stretch of Scotland and has been the gateway to the North for millennia. The castle is being re-constructed to come as close to the original appearance as possible, right down to the kitchens.

The William Wallace memorial - makes you want to shout 'Freedom!'

We then headed east aiming for Loch Leven, and the castle on an island in the middle, but poor weather had closed the ferry service. This was a shame, as the setting was fantastic, a lake surrounded by farmland and hills. Instead we headed round to Leven, a coastal town where Sarah’s grandfather’s family was from. We took the coastal route home from here, passing through tiny little towns and looking down rugged coastline and across the Firth of Forth toward Edinburgh.

Sarah at the seaside in Leven

We dined Sunday night at a cute seafood restaurant called Fishers, located in the dockland area of Leith. The restaurant was recommended by the Lonely Planet guide, and despite some concerns about finding it (it wasn’t on any of our maps) Sarah followed her nose right to it. The food and service was great, and the atmosphere was more of a cosy pub – in fact the whole street (called The Shore) had a really bustling atmosphere.

Monday we plucked the parking fine off our windscreen and headed up to the forboding Edinburgh Castle. We had to walk up from the lowest point below the cliffs and as we wound around the hill it was hard not to feel for anyone who had to try to storm the castle. Militarily the castle was the most impressive we’ve seen, and seemed to grow out of the rocks themselves. Inside was the 900 year old Chapel of St Margaret, the sobering war memorial, the Crown Jewels of Scotland and the Stone of Destiny.

Down the hill from the castle is a cute little restaurant called Witchery which had been highly recommended to Sarah. Here we had a fantastic lunch in gothic surroundings, and were intrigued by the list of celebrities who had dined here before us including Danni Minogue, Cathering Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas.

Although our time in Scotland was drawing to a close we had time to squeeze in one more location – Roslyn Chapel (famous from ‘The Da Vinci Code’ amongst other things). The carvings (both inside and out) on the sandstone chapel are intricate and beautiful, and the landscape around is breathtaking. The chapel is undergoing restoration, so the outside is roofed and surrounded with scaffolding, but this gave us the chance to see the carvings from up close and get an even better view of the valley and nearby ruined Roslyn Castle.

Some of the carvings at Roslyn Chapel - no holy grail though

Unfortunately this was the end of our wonderful break away, but we’ll take away some fantastic memories of Scotland and the energy that comes from being somewhere beautiful and clean.

p.s. for those planning a trip to Scotland the cheapest way to see a huge range of Castles and other landmarks is with a Historic Scotland Explorer Pass, for example our three-day pass was cheaper than the individual entries into Stirling Castle and Edinburgh Castle, but there are nearly 70 more sites to visit. Check out http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/explorer/ for more details