Edinburgh Day 1 - Arrival, Haggis & A Spooky Tour

Having itchy feet and not a lot of cash is a bad combination. Since my week away in Wales last September (thank you again to my little brother and his partner for inviting me along for free), I hadn’t gone anywhere. Have you ever felt cabin fever, but it’s for your whole town? I was feeling antsy and bored again, so I decided to use some money I’d saved to go away for a few days. It was a short and sweet break, but I planned to pack in as much as I could.

I decided to go somewhere that wasn’t too far, partly for financial reasons. The other reason was that Edinburgh kept popping into my head. It looked like a beautiful old city, and I’d never actually been to Scotland before! I felt that I had to, seeing as I live in England and have visited Wales several times; the final country of Great Britain had to be seen. I just need to see Northern Ireland now to conquer the whole United Kingdom.

The trip was also somewhat of an experiment. I have stayed in hostels, but always in a private room. This time, I wanted to try staying in a dorm to see if I could deal with it. I’m a very, very light sleeper and like to have pitch dark and dead silence when I go to bed, so I wondered if I’d ever be able to manage sleeping in a room with other people. In the past I’d failed, but I wondered if it would be different after full-on days of exploring. I hoped to prove that it would be, as that would open up so many more possibilities travel-wise – for a start, it could cut the price of my trips all the way down.

Speaking of price… My hostel was £40 for three nights, and my return flight was £46. I definitely recommend looking at Expedia to compare prices, and always try to go away off-peak as prices soar around holidays and events.

So, armed with my cheap travel and accommodation, and a rough itinerary, I set off to bonnie Scotland!

Tuesday

My journey to Edinburgh nearly ended before it began. I arrived at the station to catch a train to Bristol, only to find that all of the trains to Temple Meads had been cancelled. All I could do was stand there in shock. “Well, I’m not catching my flight!” I laughed to a woman near me in what I hoped was a carefree way, but was probably super sad.

Fortunately, serendipity smiled upon me as the station pulled off an amazing feat and managed to scramble an emergency train to get to Bristol. A man started hollering about it in the main terminal and I was off like a shot to the platform, making it just minutes before the train left. Sure, I had to sit in the luggage rack for the entire journey but it was worth it to be on my way.

On arriving at Temple Meads, I went outside to the stop where the Bristol Flyer would pick me up. It’s a shuttle bus that goes to the airport. The coach was really nice and comfy, and there were parts of the half-hour journey where it became a guided bus. I’d never seen this before so I was really confused and excited when it happened.

I had the easiest security experience ever. The airport was super quiet when I got there, so it was a breeze to get my boarding pass scanned and have my bag checked. Another ‘experimental’ part of this trip was to travel with hand luggage only, and it really is a game-changer to not have to faff about checking in bags. It’s also teaching me to economise more when packing, as I do tend to go overboard with what I think I’ll ‘need’.

I had a really early lunch at Brunel Bar & Kitchen – a bacon and cheese burger with chips that tasted amazing (gross airport prices though). Even after taking my time eating, I was still ridiculously early for my flight. It’s absolutely better to have time to spare, but I will admit I started to get really bored toward the end of my wait. I was eventually ushered out onto the windiest runway ever, and my flight took off bang on time.

On the flight, I was listening to a boy behind me asking his mum why sucking a sweet helps to stop your ears from popping as you ascend. I’ve literally never had to do that, because I can flex my tempor tympani muscle and ‘pop’ my ears that way. Fun fact: this isn’t something everyone can do! I always assumed that it was universal because I’ve been able to do it all my life. I’ve since been quizzing people on whether they can do it or not. You know the ‘roaring’ sound you hear when you yawn deeply or plug your ears with your fingers? Can you make that sound happen voluntarily? If you can, then you too have the ability to flex your inner-ear muscle. Congrats!

The flight was fine, and it was really easy for me to find the Airlink stop when I got out of Edinburgh airport. It took about half an hour to get into the city centre. As always, I doubted my own research and got off the bus a stop too early which resulted in slogging up a gigantic hill to get to my hostel. It was an interesting way to approach, though. I went from your bog-standard high street, to a little slice of quaint history in the sky. It was seriously like going back in time, and I found myself immediately falling in love with the Old Town as bagpipe music filled my ears.

My hostel, Castle Rock, is situated across the road from Edinburgh Castle, which already made it an ideal location. I was greeted at reception by two charming Australian guys, who convinced me to go on a ‘spooky tour’ that evening by continuously reiterating that it was free. All the dorms in the hostel are themed, and mine was ‘Scottish films’. My bed’s name was ‘Whisky Galore’ which I thought perfectly apt.

I just want to take some time here to talk about Castle Rock hostel. Here’s a link to their TripAdvisor reviews – as you can see, the majority of them are glowing. It’s a beautiful old building with winding staircases and long corridors. There are suits of armour on the main stairs! The whole place was constantly clean and tidy, and housekeeping visited my dorm every day to straighten it up. The facilities are fab – there’s a kitchen for guests to cook in, a really cheap breakfast on offer every morning, three beautifully-decorated common areas, and an endless supply of free hot drinks. The hostel also runs lots of free events for guests to sign up for. Last but by no means least, the staff are amazingly friendly and work so hard to keep the hostel running at top standard. I’m not at all surprised that they’ve won so many hostel awards.

Once I’d had my fill of creeping around the corridors, I wandered down the Royal Mile just taking in the atmosphere. I had researched places to eat and found a place called Makars Gourmet Mash Bar. The menu is full of Scottish goodies, and all of the ingredients are locally sourced. I simply had to go there for my first ever meal in Scotland.

The staff immediately greeted me warmly and had me sitting at a table with a menu in seconds. They were all super friendly and I felt right at home. I was pondering aloud whether 16:45 was too early to have some Edinburgh Gin and the waiter said, “This is Scotland. It wouldn’t matter if it was 10am, have the gin!” which encouraged me, to say the least.

For a starter, I had the most Scottish thing I could think of – mini haggis, mashed neeps and tatties. It was a perfect small portion for a terrified person who’s never tried haggis before. It was so delicious, really seasoned and tasty, lightly covered with a rich gravy. Historically I’ve been a picky eater, and I do struggle with a phobia of certain food textures. So trying new things is still a big, scary deal. I’m really glad I was brave enough, otherwise I would’ve missed out.

For my main, I had two huge wild boar sausages (apparently one of the leanest meats you can get, and so flavourful), and some Scottish cheddar and chive mash. The sausages were so gigantic and rich that I couldn’t finish all of my mashed potato, even though I really wanted to! The whole thing was so good and – just a note – Edinburgh tap water is glorious.

I went back to my dorm to chill for a while because I was stuffed. A friendly guy from London had a good chat with me, and helped me close the huge old window that I’d been struggling with.

At 7pm, the ‘spooky tour’ started. Naturally, it started outside of the castle and was about an hour and a half, walking in a huge loop around the city with our tour guide, ‘Australian David’. There was a lot of gruesome stuff like murder and witch-burning and so much history everywhere we stopped. My favourite bit was the Old Calton Burial Ground, where ‘Australian David’ promptly shut us all in a cell and showed us Victorian post-mortem photos, before gleefully informing us that we were standing above layers of bodies (I believe he called it a ‘Scottish lasagne’, which was just lovely).

Also in the Old Calton Burial Ground was the Martyrs of Reform monument, and it’s apparently the burial site of notorious child farmer (murderer) Jessie King. Her grave isn’t marked, but she’s somewhere in there. We visited another cemetery in the tour – shamefully I don’t remember the name of it, and can’t seem to figure out where it was on a map. But here, we were told stories about the body-snatchers (murderers) Burke & Hare. It was a really interesting tour, and ‘Australian David’ was a fabulous guide.

On my way back, I got a bit lost trying to find a supermarket for drinks. I definitely got some good cardio walking up and down the steep hills. Ye be warned, Edinburgh is nothing but hills so I hope you’ve got some supportive calves if you’re planning on going.

Thanks for getting this far! Part 2 of my Edinburgh adventure is right here.