Day 32 - A Wee Bit About Edinburgh
July 23, 2023: Our second day in Edinburgh, we spend the morning at the castle. We had a complimentary breakfast in the Orangery Restaurant followed by our 60 minute massages at the Aqueous Spa. Then it was back to the Orangery for a High Tea. The whole experience was amazing. We both said we wished we had stayed another day at the castle. After tea, we took a taxi to Edinburgh Old Town to check into our Airbnb. We decided to stay at an Airbnb because we knew we would have laundry to do at this point in the trip. So after checking in, we go started on a few loads. We had a Eat & Walk Tour scheduled at 5:00pm that we were really looking forward to. We met our guide Sara about 10 minutes from our flat. She gave us a little bit about her background. She grew up in Aberdeen in northern Scotland. She said that she had to work on changing her accent so people could understand her because the dialect is so strong there.
Our tour had 4 stops; some sweet, some savory and some drinks. The first stop was an eatery called Under the Stairs in Old town. This place was owned by a couple who started it with only 3000 pounds to decorate the inside, so they ask friends and family to donate furniture. Now, it has become very trendy because they have all of this old furniture that doesn’t match. We had a cider made in Scotland and a traditional Scottish dish. Next up was The Scotch Malt Whiskey Society which is typically members only, but we were able to get in because we were on the tour. There we tried some Scotch Whiskey and had haggis for the first time. If you don’t know what haggis is, it is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver, and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased and cooked in the lining of a sheep’s stomach, though now an artificial casing is used similar to bratwurst. It is served with mashed potatoes and a gravy sauce. We actually really liked it. Although I did not like the whiskey 🥃. Next up was a place called Rabble (after the term rabble rouser). Here most of us had smoked macaroni and cheese and ginger beer, but Jimm had mentioned that he was trying to find Scotch eggs and so Sara had them make him that instead. It was delicious! A very cool place that we plan to return to before we leave. Our final stop was a place called Whighams Wine Cellar. Here we got Sticky Toffee Pudding with ice cream. Yum! I’m a fan. We visited for a while and then said our goodbyes and headed off on our own. We walked back to our flat and relaxed for a bit before calling it a night. Another day of lots of steps and stairs, but well worth it. A great first full day in Edinburgh!! 🏴♥️
Jimm’s rating for the day: *****