As Joelskie arrived in Dublin, we wanted to get his time in Europe rollin early and fast, so we booked a boys weekend away to Edinburgh two weekends ago. We flew out on a Saturday morning after having a late night on Friday in Dublin with his co-workers, so we weren't able to tap the Scottish beer until early afternoon. We arrived, checked into the Backpackers hostel (my first bonefide hostel in a while, but it was great and highly recommended), and hit the ground running, picking up Joel about 14 McGregor souvenirs at the kilt shop. We then began to walk the royal mile, a beautiful street that epitomises the amazing city buildings.
We hiked the mile and then up to a nearby hill with monuments and a great view of the city.
After our hike up the hill (Canton I think?), we went on the Mary King Close tour that showed us part of the underground city that was formally inhabited in the 1800's. Following the tour we went to the castle and had a nice tour with a guide who had great information and hated bagpipes! Below is the main square of the castle.
Following the castle I plotted out our Scottish pub tour (I take my job very seriously)...
We had an amazing dinner of mussels and fish and then set out on the crawl, hitting seven bars that night that started at Bow Bar as seen below. They had a really nice IPA on tap that was countered by the maltiness of the Scottish beer, one of the best I have ever had.
The next bar was the Blue Blazer, very local, good pints, nice people. Good times!
We went to a couple more and ended the night at Kay's bar, which is an old pub with great character that has old casks stacked on one side of the bar. Highly recommended as well!
The next morning (after a couple more bars and some pizza) we set out for some serious hiking, starting with Arthur's Seat, which was a nice (and strenuous hike) right outside the city center.
We walked all over town and to the harbor to this restaurant for lunch!
Afterwards, we made our way back to the city and up a really old tower-thingy that had commanding (the best views over the city). The old building are beautiful, especially with the different levels with the sunset hitting the different angles!
View of Edinburgh castle from the tower-thingy! [Writing this post at midnight as we leave for France tomorrow and I want to be caught up!]
After the tower we went back towards our hotel and stumbled upon a market at the nearby square (Grassmarket). The burgers were too good to pass up (before our tasty pulled pork sandwich from Oink (anyone in Edinburgh MUST go there, it is sooooo good!)!!!
After we picked up our luggage, we made one last pass down the royal mile, I think this is a great shot as there are virtually no cars and people in the shot.
We hiked the mile and then up to a nearby hill with monuments and a great view of the city.
After our hike up the hill (Canton I think?), we went on the Mary King Close tour that showed us part of the underground city that was formally inhabited in the 1800's. Following the tour we went to the castle and had a nice tour with a guide who had great information and hated bagpipes! Below is the main square of the castle.
Following the castle I plotted out our Scottish pub tour (I take my job very seriously)...
The next bar was the Blue Blazer, very local, good pints, nice people. Good times!
We went to a couple more and ended the night at Kay's bar, which is an old pub with great character that has old casks stacked on one side of the bar. Highly recommended as well!
The next morning (after a couple more bars and some pizza) we set out for some serious hiking, starting with Arthur's Seat, which was a nice (and strenuous hike) right outside the city center. 
We walked all over town and to the harbor to this restaurant for lunch!
Afterwards, we made our way back to the city and up a really old tower-thingy that had commanding (the best views over the city). The old building are beautiful, especially with the different levels with the sunset hitting the different angles!
View of Edinburgh castle from the tower-thingy! [Writing this post at midnight as we leave for France tomorrow and I want to be caught up!]
After the tower we went back towards our hotel and stumbled upon a market at the nearby square (Grassmarket). The burgers were too good to pass up (before our tasty pulled pork sandwich from Oink (anyone in Edinburgh MUST go there, it is sooooo good!)!!! 
After we picked up our luggage, we made one last pass down the royal mile, I think this is a great shot as there are virtually no cars and people in the shot.
No comments:
Post a Comment