This trip was one of my dream trip, one of the top destination in my bucket list. Part of it was because I like to read romance/paranormal romance that sometimes takes place in Scotland/Highland. So, it was kind of a mission for me to visit the places mentioned in the books. This was also my friends and I annual get together trip. So, there will be some part of the day missing from my narrative as I had to pick up or drop off my friends from/to airport. I'm sure no one cares to know.
My friend and I took flight to Glasgow airport. From there, we rented a car (Land Rover Discovery, I loved it!!) and drove to Edinburgh where we had already rented a house in Stockbridge area. I actually intended to stay close to the Old Town so that we could go sightseeing easily. However, the house or apartment there mostly are quite small and I needed 3 bedrooms place with space. Stockbridge is about 15-20 mins walk from the Old Town, not too far. Also, it is more of a residential area and so it's quieter. I found this place on airbnb and it has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living area and kitchen, locates on West Silvermills Lane. Such a lovely place. It was spacious enough that we wouldn't feel cramp after 5 nights.
By the time we arrived at our place it was in late afternoon. After over 10 hours flight and an hour drive, we didn't want to do much. But, we still needed to get some grocery and a dinner, a fulfilled dinner. From our place, it was less than 5 mins walk to a supermarket. We got our necessity, food and drinks, then, returned home to store them. That done, We walked toward the back of the lane and turned right on St. Stephen street. Not even a block and we found our destination. I already looked up the restaurant in the area and pre-selected 'Kilted Lobster'. It was very closed and served seafood, that just got my attention anytime. We didn't reserve a table and luckily, they got a table for us. The place was cute, decorated in Mediterranean style.
Once seated and been given the menu, the staff asked if we knew about their lobster and champagne promotion. Of course, we didn't know but, it was welcomed all the same. It's such a great combination, lobster and champagne. We didn't have to think much of what we would order. The 1/2 grilled lobster tasted great and pairing with champagne? ... even better.
After dinner, we returned home and rested.
On the second day, we only had to pick a friend up from Edinburgh Airport. After that, we drove to Leith which is on the East side of Edinburgh for lunch. The restaurant is called 'The Ship on The Shore' and located on Shore, along the Water of Leith. The front of the restaurant kind of stood out as it was in black. The interior decoration was in a sea captain style. It gave the feeling that we were really in a seafood restaurant, a traditional seafood at that.
It was there that I got to try Ginger Beer. I've never had it before. It was very refreshing actually, like sparkling water with ginger taste. It pretty much become my stable drink throughout the trip.
We decided to share the meal, so we could try different dishes. I ordered fish n chips while my friends ordered steam mussels and seafood pie.
They were all delicious! My fish n chips was very crispy, not oily and the chips was great. The mussels were fresh and tasty. The seafood pie, though a bit heavy, was very good and filled with seafood; fish and scallop. My friend still talked about our lunch here a few days later. After lunch, I planned to take us to a beach in Portobello area but, with such big meal, we didn't really want to do anything after that. So, we went home, showed my friend the house.
Not until late afternoon that we ventured out and headed to the Old Town. The walk from our home to the Old Town was about 15-20 mins but, it was mostly uphill. We walked towards the back of West Silvermills lane to St. Vincents street, up to Howe street and Queen Garden West. It was very straight forward to Frederick street then, we turn left on Prince street and crossed the street in front of the Royal Scottish Academy. From there, we took the stair up to the Old Town.
Once there, we only had to follow Bank street and we reached Lawnmarket & High street. We spent the evening just hanging our and walking from the front of Edinburgh Castle to Royal Miles. We didn't go into any attraction in particular as we needed to wait for another friend.
The reason for my dragging my friends there was that I wanted to join a Ghost Tour. Because of its old history and from documentary I have seen, I just wanted to try. I have never been on ghost tour before but, here might be worth it. (http://www.cityofthedeadtours.com/) The tour started from the side of St. Giles Cathedral at 8.30PM. It was a new experience for us. The tour took us to an old underground vaults which rumored to be haunted. I actually saw a documentary about this place. Unfortunately, we didn't encounter anything, just some prank by tour operator.
The third day, we had to pick up the last person of our gang early in the afternoon. We have decided that we didn't want to bother with making breakfast so, we went out late morning for brunch in our neighborhood. The restaurant was called 'Hamilton Bar and restaurant and it was only 5 mins walk from home. We didn't have anything fancy just traditional full Scottish breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, haggis, black pudding and potato scone.
Oh it was very fulfilling. We were basically stuffed to the throat. After such heavy meal, we had to walk it off. So from the restaurant, we followed Hamilton Pl till we reached the intersection. There, we spotted Stockbridge farmers' market which located in Jubilee Garden across the street. Personally, I enjoy browsing through what local has to offer. I would stop at almost every farmers market I find, no exception for this one. Though, the area was small, it was packed with food and produces stalls.
Once we had gone through the market, we took Kerr St. and turned left to St. Stephen St. We didn't really looked around on our first day.
There were quite a few restaurants, bars and shops. There was also an entrance to the Old Stockbridge Market.
We followed the street till we reached St. Stephen's Stockbridge before turned left to West Silvermills Lane and our home.
That afternoon, we picked up another friend from Edinburgh airport and came back home to basically catch up with whatever happened in our lives. In the evening, we got appointment for dinner with another friend ... This trip was actually like a reunion trip. But before the dinner, we thought to spend a bit of time sightseeing. We drove to Rutland street and parked our car there. This was where our dinner venue was. We walked to Lothian road then, Queensferry street - Randolph Pl - Lynedoch Pl.
Before crossing the Water of Leith, we took a left on Bells Brae and walked down hill.
There, we reached Dean Village. It was wonderful. The village was small but, pack with charms. The waterway & the old buildings, it was perfect. It was one of my favorite place in Edinburgh.
We didn't have much time because the dinner time was drawing close. Not nearly having my fill, we had to head back to the meeting place. Our dinner venue was Galvin Brasserie de Luxe. It was awarded with Michelin Bib Gourmand back in 2013. Decorated in French brasserie style, the environment and atmosphere gave the feel of casual but, upscale...at least, that was what I felt. I was in the mood for seafood (which actually was quite often...I love seafood). I ordered half dozen of fresh oysters and grilled half lobster with garlic butter sauce for main course. The oysters were fresh and sweet. But, the highlight was the lobster. It was cooked just right and the sauce was really delicious. I literally mobbed the plate with bread (not the ones on the plate...those were too thin).
For desert, I shared passion fruit soufflé with my friend. It was light and airy with a scent and sourness of passion fruit. Overall, I would say that we had a successful dinner.
The fourth day, now that our gang was completed, we could have a full day of sightseeing. First stop, Edinburgh Castle, it's such an icon, THE landmark. We bought the tickets online to avoid the long line. It was very convenient and I would recommend anyone who's planning to come. (https://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/visit/tickets-prices) The process of getting the tickets print out was pretty easy too.
With tickets in hands, we could just go through the entrance very quickly. We stopped at the battery, to admire the view.
Then, we walked up Argyle Tower and to the right to St. Margeret's Chapel. The chapel was very small, only a few people could go in at a time. After soaking up some more view of Edinburgh, we visited Scottish National War Memorial. The Royal Palace was frankly rather small for such a large castle. We then, got on queue to see the crown jewels.
By the time we finished, it was nearly noon time. We spotted The Tea Room, opposite the entrance to the Crown Jewel. One of my friend had been saying that she wanted to try the real afternoon tea. Though, it was not yet afternoon, we decided to check it out. Fortunately, they also offered afternoon tea and so, we agreed to move the schedule for afternoon tea up to lunch time. The cost for a set of afternoon tea was 20 pounds, if I remember correctly.
The set came with a pot of tea of our choosing and a tower of both sweets and savories. It also included 2 delicious scones. We had a delicious relaxing lunch. I think we spent a bit too much time chatting and forgot that we still had a few places to visit. After finally moving our butts, we did a quick stop at National War Museum and the Prison.
Our next destination was St. Giles Cathedral. From the front of the castle, we followed Lawnmarket and then, High street to the cathedral. We were here the other night but, didn't go inside. The cathedral is free to enter but, there is a fee for photo permit, otherwise, we could not take picture inside. The fee was 2 pounds. It was beautiful especially the stain glasses. So, the 2 pounds were totally worth paying.
By the time we have looked through and well rested, it was mid afternoon. We wanted to see the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the last admission was at 4.30PM. I think we got there just after 4PM. The admission fee was 12.50 pounds which included the headset. The total tour took around an hour to hour and a half.
The highlight of the tour was at the end, the Holyrood Abbey. The Abbey was found since 1100s. Though it is now in ruin, it is breathtaking and peaceful. I think I could have sat here and absorbed the feel of it for quite some times.
Leaving the abbey, we had choices of going through the palace garden or walking straight to the ext. Well, we did went to the garden a bit which was very nice and we could see the abbey through the trees and flowers. We were almost the last groups to leave the palace before it was closed. This was our last sight for the day. By that time, we were getting hungry because we only had afternoon tea set for lunch. My friends would like to switch to Asian food, preferably rice. So, we decided to go for Indian food. We searched on internet and agreed on Spice Pavilion on Dundas St. The restaurant is on the basement level so, it was a bit difficult to spot. Honestly, we weren't so sure if the restaurant was really good. The review was quite nice but, there was no other customers dining in. Well, it was too late for us to change so, we tried. We ordered 4 pieces of papadum, 2 kinds of curry, an order of biryani, tandoori chicken and an order of naan.
It took quite some times for our foods to come out but, they were tasty. I enjoy the Biryani the most, the lamb was tender and rice was fragrant. We learned later on that, they do have lots of customers but, they were wise not to dine in the restaurant. By the time we finished our meal, we turned into spice smelling Thais. We arrived home very full and very smelly. I couldn't use the same scarf anymore on this trip.
The fifth day, one of our friend was leaving in the afternoon. After having breakfast and relaxing (packing for our friend), we drove to Balbirnie House in Glenrothes, to the North of Edinburgh. We planned to have our lunch there. There are two restaurants at the house and we chose the one with less formal setting which was the Balbirnie Bistro. Didn't know whether there would be lots of people and we didn't have much time to spare for waiting, we reserved a table online which was very convenient. The drive from Edinburgh to Balbirnie House took around an hour.
It was very quiet at the house with only a few cars in the parking. The Bistro was on the lower level of the house (one floor down from the lobby). The Bistro had a casual feel. They offered both set lunch and a la carte menu. All of us went for the set lunch which consisted of appetizer, main dish and dessert. I ordered ham hog terrine, fish and chips and crème brulee.
I quite like the ham hog with pistachio served with condiments of pickles, crusty bread and greens. The fish and chips was a bit too greasy but was fresh. The crème brulee could be lighter, I think. After a chit chat lunch, we had a bit more time to walk around the house and surrounding.
Then, we left to drop our friend off at Edinburgh Airport which took around 45 mins drive. Since we were already outside the city, we thought to visit historical place before going back to Edinburgh and we decided on Linlithgow Palace which was only 20 mins away. This is the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots as well as many Scottish royalties. Though the palace went through destruction by fire in 17th century, it was very grand and alluring. Driving to the palace, we didn't know that there is a parking lot available for visitor which most historical monuments often don't have. We parked in a paid public parking lot just to the side of the palace entrance. The entrance ticket costs 6 Pounds. There were only a few people visiting the palace at the time. After we bought the tickets, a staff gave us a quick historical description of this place as well as brief recommendation of which direction we should take. We were to take the stair in one of the tower to the upper floor and walk clock-wise.
There was no furniture nor any decorations inside due to the fire. However, there were signs with description of each room for us to imagine the past grandeur. Just a warning that the interior of the palace can get very windy and cold. We had to rush to wherever the sunshine was. The staff also suggested us to get to the top of one of the tower to see the view of the palace as well as the surrounding area. The view was amazing with Saint Michael's Parish Church, grassland and Linlithgow Loch.
Before leaving the palace, we stopped at the gallery which is located on the upper floor of the shop & ticket counter. It's simply a corridor exhibiting portraits and artifacts.
We went back to Edinburgh after that and later, to dinner. For this evening, we wanted to have steak dinner with Scottish Angus beef, of course. So, I had made a reservation at Kyloe Steak Restaurant. It is located closed to Galvin Brasserie De Luxe that we had dinner the other night. I found this restaurant when I searched for where to dine with our friends. The entrance of the restaurant is within The Rutland Hotel. I like the decoration of this restaurant with pictures of cow and calf-skin seating. As usual, we shared the appetizer of mussels (again) and braised beef. They were both delicious.
For main course, I chose individual beef wellington. Fortunately, I got the last serving, yeah! The beef was cooked just right at medium (pink center).
Overall, we really enjoyed the meal and were very full. This was our last night in Edinburgh. Though, it had been 5 days, I felt that we had not seen enough of Edinburgh. There were still sights to see and places to visit. There will have to be 'next time' for me.
On the sixth day, we prepared to leave Edinburgh in the morning. I really liked our home away from home in Edinburgh. It was very comfortable and convenient. I would recommend anyone to consider this place when visiting Edinburgh. We started our journey around 10AM and headed for Stirling on M9. We went straight to Stirling Castle which took us around 1.15 hr. The parking was pretty pack. To the side of the castle entrance, there was the statue of Robert the Bruce and, in the distance, you can also see William Wallace monument.
After buying the tickets, where did we go first?, cafeteria hahaha. We had to refuel before starting the castle tour. The cafeteria is off to the right side of the entrance. It serves coffee, other beverages, pastries and hot food. The dining area is quite cozy actually. Entering the castle, we started our (self administered) tour with Queen Anne Garden which is to the left of the castle. Apart from the small garden and the view, you can step into the castle exhibition which displays the history and timeline of castle as well as Scottish royalties. During our time at the castle, we went to see The Great Kitchen, Palace, Chapel Royal and Tapestry Studio.
We had a quick look at The Great Kitchen where it displays what happened in the castle kitchen, the produces and livestock they consumed. They even show the recipes. From there, we were deciding on where to go next. That was when I saw a woman dressed up in a queen-like dress from the historical period. She walked down a stair and entered into the palace. So I mentioned to my friends, 'let's follow the lady'. But, when we entered the inside (which was no more than 10 seconds after), she was nowhere to be seen. The first hall was quite large so, she couldn't have walked that fast especially with the outfit. One of my friend actually asked if I really have seen a person... a solid person. Well, if she was not a real person, why would she bother to open the door, right?! Ghost doesn't need door, right? I have never seen a ghost so, there is no reason that I would see one now. Anyway, we went on into the palace and eventually, we found the source of our curiosity in the Queen's room.
So, we finally could rest assure that we didn't see ghost. She was part of the re-enactment. There were a few of them in the palace actually. I would say there were not much in the palace. The highlights would be the tapestries.
Apart from the palace, we also looked into the church and tapestry studio which located at the back for the castle. It was quite interesting to see how they made the tapestry in the past and the effort needed for every inch of them.
After the castle, we stopped for a quick lunch in the town. Our today destination was Oban. This would we our stop for the night. We got our idea of stopping at Oban from our friend's trip. Oban is a port on the West of Scotland. We booked our stay at Barriemore Guesthouse which located on Corran Esplanade. From the guesthouse, it's about 10 mins walk to town center.
When we got to the guesthouse, we had to ring for the owner as he lives in the next house. He was very friendly and helpful even though sometimes I had a hard time understand his accent. We booked a family suite which located on the second floor, towards the back of the house. It has 2 bedrooms with a living room and awesome view.
It was very spacious, comfortable and very pretty. We had asked the owner to reserved a table at a local seafood restaurant in town for us. So, after we have freshened up, we took a walk to the town.
It was a nice leisurely walk along the beach. The weather was very nice, not too cold. From the walk, we saw McCaig's Tower which looked very much like the Colosseum from a distance.
We didn't stop anywhere. Just had a look at the town and went straight to the restaurant. The restaurant is called Eeusk (I still could not pronounce the name) and it's on the North Pier. There was a line at the front of the restaurant. It was good that we had our table reserved. We only had to wait around 5 mins for staff to clear a table for us and we got a very good table with clear view of the sunset. We ordered our usual steamed mussels as well as fresh oysters for appetizers to share. And we each ordered our own main course, mine was grilled king scallop.
It was not surprising that the restaurant was so crowded. The seafood was very fresh and well seasoned. They were all delicious. Usually when I ordered scallop in other restaurants, it only came with 3-4 scallops but, not here. Also, they were sweet and cooked just right. We were very impressed. The mussels here were our favorite of this trip.
With full bellies, we walked back to our hotel and enjoyed the sunset along the way...
