The surviving ruins of Holyrood Abbey date to the 12th Century. The Abbey is adjacent to Holyrood Palace, where Mary Queen of Scots lived before her imprisonment in England, and where the current Queen Elizabeth stays when in Edinburgh.
Our family trip to Edinburgh wound up tonight with a nice meal at a family run Italian bistro two blocks away. The service was efficient, if a bit perfunctory, but the food was generally consistent (the main courses outstripping the appetizers and desserts). We spent most of today at the Edinburgh Zoo, which looked as if it were going to be a disaster from the start. In the first six exhibits we visited, the animals were hiding and the California sea lion had been shipped back to California. This looked like it was going to be the biggest waste of $90 ever. But my zookeeper wannabe 16 year old daughter encouraged optimism, which paid off later with a few decent peaks at large mammals, some colorful birds and a hilarious 100-yard long parade of penguins outside their enclosure.
Here is the skinny on Edinburgh. Concerning the restaurants, we had neither a bad meal nor a great one. Individual dishes stopped just short of memorable - the pasta with king prawns tonight were quite good - but some of the little bites on the "sample platter" at one of the local pubs the other day fell short of decent (strange tasting chicken wings, mealy sausages). The Guiness on tap made up for it. For me, the most memorable bites of the four days were the two scones at Clarinda's Tea Room just a block from the Scottish Parliament building. Brown and rock hard on the outside, a combo of flaky and crumbly inside, they were perfect (embellished beautifully by raspberry preserves and clotted cream - essentially whipped cream, but better). On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give the food in Edinburgh a wobbly 7.
Our accommodations have been as good as we could have asked for. Not exactly in the middle of the old City Centre, still we are close to the Edinburgh Castle, close to city transportation and close to grocery shopping and breakfast places (the bakery a block away makes a nice scone, if not the stuff that legends are made of, as at Clarinda's). The Knight Residence is an apartment hotel on Lauriston St., and our two-bedroom apartment has been perfect for the four of us (two adults and two teens). Although the wireless Internet connection seemed to shut off around 11 each night, my hard wire connection worked on command all night. The three concierges on call during our stay - Charlie, Chris and Hugh - could not have been more helpful with advice and some hands-on help with the cable TV, which was mesmerizingly complicated (three different remotes and an info box on the screen that wouldn't budge). Chris saved the day with a bit of old fashioned technology; he unplugged and then re-plugged the cable. On my ersatz scale, The Knight Residence gets a solid 8 that would be a 9 if it were not for the strip bars - with discreet signage - down on the corner. Right now, our kitchen has an unobstructed view up to the Castle, but alas next year, no more view when the office building across the street is completed.
The city is wonderful, with a stunning display of history, topography (hills formed by volcanic activity millennia ago), and architecture. Many buildings pre-date American independence and, indeed, a few before Columbus even discovered America. Although enterprising Scots have turned tradition into moneymaking opportunities with fairly expensive tours, there are more than enough chances for the visitor to see things the way they were centuries ago (and without paying for the privilege). Despite the odious monetary exchange rate, we found the 31 pounds charge for tour bus trips around the city to be a good deal. You can use any bus of four lines that cover virtually every part of the city for 24 hours, getting on and off whenever you want. (One catch: The 24 hours is a little misleading since the buses run only from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
We could have used two more days to see the city fully, but not much more than that. Edinburgh is not a large metropolis, and I judge a tourist friendly city by how easily you can learn the local map. Edinburgh's main streets essentially run parallel, east and west, and the Castle is at the heart of it all. You can use it as a kind of navigational beacon wherever you are. As cities go, this is an easy one to traverse, with splendid public bus service (we took one home from the zoo), as well as the aforementioned private bus lines. The people of the city are respectful and friendly, but straightforward, with a wit and humor that can bump up pretty close to biting. At the train station this afternoon, I asked a young man at the information booth how best to get my wife and daughter's luggage onto the train to London tomorrow morning. I said they had a few big bags, to which he said, "Aye, you Americans do travel that way."
For the most part, you know where you stand in Edinburgh.
Every day at 1 p.m., the most extroverted penguins at the Edinburgh Zoo line up to take part in a parade outside their enclosure.
