Walking on Cobblestones in High Heels, and Other Scottish Lessons
Sarah Groundwater
Enshrouded in fog, Edinburgh slowly reveals its magical heart and delightful history to the patient traveler. It’s an amazing city simply because there is a castle on a rock. Wherever you stand in the city, you can always hear the distant, eerie song of a bagpipe, every second shop sells whiskey, and New-World-Scots-descendants can search for their genealogical roots. All the above reasons make Edinburgh a city fit for any tourist. What many don’t realize, I suspect, is what a fabulous girlfriend getaway can be had in the ancient Caledonian city.
Let’s start at the Royal Mile and work ourselves down. That means the castle. It’s pretty hard to miss. And it’s pretty ridiculous not to go. Need I remind you it is a castle on a rock? You can wander through the cobblestone trails leading you to rooms that Mary Stuart once sat in, hear the delicate music played in the teeny tiny St. Margaret’s chapel, and check out the Stone of Destiny (or you can watch the movie about it). So just go.
As you meander down the hill (this is where heels and cobblestones get a bit tricky), the first thing your group of girls is going to do is get a glass of wine. Looking at old rocks makes one thirsty and what better place to rest your tired ankles (cobblestone walking) than in the Secret Garden at the Witchery? Let’s be honest, wine is pretty much the only affordable thing here, but this place is so worth a quick visit and a pinot noir. The Witchery is a magnificently restored merchant’s home that was brought back to life by the innovative James Thomson. The restaurant, the garden, and the hotel rooms have all been refurbished to reflect what they would have looked like in 1595 yet with all the luxuries of our modern age. It’s pretty spectacular and your imagination doesn’t have to work hard envisioning yourself wearing billowing skirts a la Elizabeth I.
The glass—or glasses—of wine may make you a bit clumsy on the cobblestones so make sure to watch your step as you move further down the mile to the Scotch Whisky Experience. No trip to Scotland is complete without at least a tiny sampling of whisky, and I have chosen this particular spot for one reason: you get to go on a ride. A ride! Okay, it isn’t exactly Magic Mountain but for a mere seven pound fifty you get the whisky ride of your life. Whisking (ha!) you down history lane in your very own whiskey barrel, you learn the early origins of the fiery beverage. Pretty much two old Scotsman made it by accident and then sat in a field delighted over their discovery (insert plastered in lieu of delighted). This ride is so amazing you can even smell the wood of the caskets and the fire brewing the whiskey. The best part is at the end of the ride you are plopped out into a shop that entices you to try their free, yes FREE, samples of whiskey. And there are about twenty different kinds.
Now that you are tipsier than before, it’s time to head into the haunting Mary Kings Close. I feel a visit to Edinburgh is not complete without at least one ghost tour. Unfortunately, the one going to Mary King’s Close is not touted as a ‘ghost’ tour, it’s a measly ‘history tour’. But I would venture to say any tour leading into a five-hundred year old close (an old fashioned sidewalk) now buried beneath the city might bring you closer to some ghost face time. MKC was a very famous close in the 17th century, where much business was done and about five thousand people lived. Then one day the plague came, Edinburgh blamed Mary’s Close, locked it up, and after three days not one peep was heard from its inhabitants. If that isn’t a ghost story, I don’t know what is. This tour is supremely interesting as well as terrifying, I nearly lost my whiskey. So a word to the wise: go with your girlfriends and make sure to promise yourself a stop on my next mile moment.
The place is called Chocolate Soup. And they serve… Chocolate Soup. Basically a fancy word for oversized mugs of pretty much the most amazing hot chocolate you will drink/slurp/eat in your life. I chose a cup of mint heaven: rich hot chocolate made with whole milk and grated chocolate, topped with chunks of mint aero bar left to melt on your tongue with each sip. My girlfriend had the dark chocolate shot served with a side of strawberries for dipping. Can you say divine?
So you are nearly down the mile. You’ve seen the castle; you’ve drunk some wine and tasted some whisky; you’ve done some ghost hunting; you’ve drunk your weight’s worth in chocolate. What else can this Scottish heaven give to you? Kilts!
I know it sounds incredibly touristy and silly in a city that makes money off of people buying bagpipes and magnets of Highland cows, but I think it is a good idea. If you don’t believe me, check the picture below.
Still need convincing? Imagine men like that, talking like Sean Connery, taking your measurements. Yes, thought that would do it. But to be honest, when I was there I didn’t see those men exactly. I met Alistair, a dark-haired blue-eyed man with an accent so thick it made my knees weak.
Edinburgh is a magical city that will tug on your heartstrings for years to come. And if you do find yourself missing it, simply pour yourself a wee tumbler of scotch and gaze at the above picture. Or the one below, for that matter.
Links:
www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk
www.thewitchery.com/
www.whisky-heritage.co.uk
www.yelp.co.uk/biz/chocolate-soup-edinburgh
www.geoffreykilts.co.uk
