Weekend in Edinburgh
September 26th 2007 14:00
A glimpse of a castle between the trees
The trouble with these lightning Rugby weekends is that, apart from the game, there really isn’t much time for anything else. This is a shame when the place is one you’ve never visited before and will probably not have the opportunity to visit again. It is a double shame when the place is peopled by kindred spirits and is as historically interesting and as dramatically beautiful as Edinburgh. All that our brief two days there allowed was the World Cup Rugby Match between Scotland and the All Blacks, a fleeting look at a few stunning sites and a couple of evenings with the long lost Kiwi friends who made us so warmly welcome in their home.
Edinburgh Castle
The Scots, Kiwis often say, are just like us – they’re friendly, they love a drink and they love a party. From my brief meetings with locals at a Saturday evening barbeque and a couple of Sunday bars - I’d say true, true and true. It was easy to feel at home among the Scots I met. They were welcoming, witty and entertaining. I hope I meet them again. Another often-made observation about Scots is that they can all sing. True again! Thirty thousand-odd Scots belting out that wonderful anthem, Flower of Scotland, before the match, made for a sensational sound. Their half time Proclaimers’ sing-along was pretty good too. But best of all, was the ordinary lad, high up in the stands, who burst into Flower of Scotland some time in the second half of the game. His lone voice soared above the crowd, turning heads, creating an awed hush and drawing cheers and applause at the end.
View across the park to the sea
Our friends live at Portobello, a picturesque bayside suburb with a quiet, villagy feel. It’s not particularly popular with the Edinburghers apparently but is perfect for Kiwis – we are after all a salt-water people, never far from the ocean. We crowd in million dollar mansions along benign stretches of beach and cling, in tumble-down shacks to steep cliffs above sunless, storm-tossed bays. We took a late afternoon walk along Portobello’s beachfront. The sands are wide and flat. They sweep in a gentle curve between headlands, where houses dwindle into farm fields of bright green, brown and yellow and the chimneys of industry, tall as sentinels, stand far out on the ends. The sea is calm, steel grey and freezing. But, still, there were children building castles in the wet sand and paddling in the shallows in the pale spring sunshine. Tall, two and three storey, solid stone houses with large front gardens extend along the promenade at the edge of the bay. A bar called The Place was up for rent. The local cafe, offering “fish teas” was closed. Further along, at the Amusement Centre, two blonde waitresses stared idly out over the sea from the window of their kiosk, while games machines pinged in the background. The day was calm and mild but something about the solid stone houses with their thick walls and paned windows and the banks of sandbags on the sands, suggested savage winters.
A passage stone passage between buildings
Edinburgh city is small, featured by dark, imposing stone buildings, glimpses of distant, steep hills with jutting rocks, expansive green parks with spreading trees, ancient ruins, spectacular monuments and castles. It is hilly, but walkable. with labyrinths of lanes and passages with worn stone steps.
An Edinburgh garden
Before Sunday’s match the streets were crowded with kilts and Rugby jerseys. One particularly flamboyant wearer of the tartan and the black turned out to be a Spaniard!
Kilts, Rugby jerseys and street performers
We took the touristic walk up the Royal Mile from Holyrood Palace at one end, to Edinburgh Castle at the other, missing one extraordinary Edinburgh opportunity after another as we went.
Looking down the Royal Mile
There wasn’t time to see the weaving exhibition at the Tartan Mill and a run round two of its four floors threw up a dozen or more fabulous knitted and woven wonders that we couldn’t possibly carry in our limited luggage. Over at the road at the Whiskey House, we just missed the tasting tour.
Edinburgh Castle
We didn’t have time for the tour of Edinburgh Castle and missed the famous Tatoo by a month. We did our best to re-cap at least one lost experience and ducked into a bar half-way down the hill to sample some real Scottish Whiskey. Highland Park was the recommendation of the Texan Barmaid and a very good recommendation it was too.
A whiskey shop on the Royal Mile
With a wee bit of fire in our bellies we wound off down the hill, passing a statue of Greyfrairs Bobby and a bar of the same name, through the Grassmarket and Fountainhead to Murrayfield.
Greyfriars Bobby's statue and bar
It was a memorable weekend in Edinburgh. It’s a lovely city, with a great feeling and it was good to see the All Blacks win again. But best of all was the time spent with four long-lost friends in their warm and welcoming home at lovely Portobello by the sea. Te mahana hoki o te manaakitanga. Kia ora koutou katoa! Ka kite mai ano.
A piper on the Royal Mile
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Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
Health Focus
Poetry Lighthouse
MS Paint Art
Not into Rugby, well done, Patricia.
katyzzz
Comment by Patricia
Travel Stripe
Look, I must confess I'm not exactly a Rugby passionata either but am a wife and mother to it. Edinburgh, though was truly beautiful!