three days in Edinburgh

In between finishing my old job and starting my new one, I managed to get a few days off, and, what with the rumour of cheap flights being v.much true (45 quid return!), Mitch and I decided to spend three nights in beautiful Edinburgh last month.

It was my first ever visit to the city so you should've seen my face when I stepped off the tram at Princes Street: there's the castle, the gallery, the Scott monument, calton hill in the distance, not to mention Princes Street Gardens. Edinburgh is, frankly, just stunning, no wonder so many people have been (and continue to be) inspired by it's incredible history, architecture and culture. As you can probably tell, I loved it immediately but these are some of my highlights:

Arthur's seat
For a capital city, Edinburgh sure is green and, taking advantage of the amazing weather on our first day, Arthur's Seat was our first port of call. It's a bit of walk, nothing too gruelling (although I'd suggest wearing decent footwear) and the views from the top of the extinct volcano are incredible.

Camera Obscura
The weather on our third day was not so wonderful so we descended upon the world of trickery and illusion, aka Camera Obscura. It's touristy but super fun (with lots of amusing photo opportunities).

Free walking tour
One of the best bits of advice we got was to take one of these, it was most excellent! Our guide was engaging and v.knowledgable, he took us to a number of parts of the city which we'd never have come across on our own such as greyfriars kirkyard (below).

Live music
Mitch knew of a gem of a pub, The Royal Oak, which was absolutely tiny but had the best live music (guitar, banjo, uke, mandolin playing patrons) we heard the whole holiday.

Food
Hot damn was there some good grub in Edinburgh, from breakfast (waffles with bacon, brie and maple syrup at Saint Giles Cafe & Bar) to lunch time snacks (pulled pork buns at Oink) to dinner (fish and chips at the Old Kings Head in Leith). And speaking of Leith, it's home to what seemed to be some of the best places to eat in Edinburgh, my favourite was probably V Deep, the curry was excellent and they had an extensive selection of delicious beers.

Other good stuff: Calton Hill (although the observatory was closed which was a shame); Portobello beach (it was pretty cold right on the coast but luckily there was a v.cute van selling crepes and a pub on the sea front); taking a two hour nap amongst the beautiful flowers in Princes Street Gardens :)

There was lots we didn't get around to in Edinburgh (the castle, the vaults, the writers museum) so I guess that means I'll just have to visit again which suits me fine :)