15/09/24
We aren’t usually great at enjoying city breaks, but we decided that we just had to spend some time in Edinburgh. Paul hasn’t been before and I’ve only stayed in the city on work trips. It was time to be a tourist.
Edinburgh Castle
It was also a great opportunity to use our Historic Environment Scotland membership cards. I got these about a month ago when I realised that a lot of the castles and antiquities I had targeted to visit were available through this organisation, a bit like English Heritage but for Scotland.
Timing meant we were going to be in Edinburgh for the weekend so it felt like a good idea to book up in advance. While in Innerleithen I booked up Mortonhall campsite for a few nights and selected a timeslot to visit Edinburgh Castle on the Saturday. It felt like a freebie even though I had already forked out the membership fee.
I didn’t realise at the time, but we would be entering the castle just in time to see the one o’clock gun being fired. A daily (except for Sundays, Christmas and Easter) tradition that harks back to the days when ships needed to know the time in order to navigate the Firth of Forth. Several spectators were disappointed that it a modern gun is fired rather than one of the big cast iron cannons.
We spent a good half day wandering around the castle. Given it was fully booked by the time we looked on the Saturday morning, it didn’t feel too crowded. A guide book is useful if you want to know more detail about the history of the castle buildings, but there are also plenty of diverting museums (mostly war themed) and exhibits. I don’t know if we would have thought it was good value for money if we’d forked out for the £39 tickets. Our favourite thing was the views and you can get those for free from the top of hills and mountains.
Mortonhall Campsite
The drive to Mortonhall was straightforward, passing through many 20mph zones on the way as the A703 passed through villages and towns. I didn’t realise that there were so many slow roads in Scotland, it seems to have had a lot less publicity than the similar scheme in Wales. Maybe because a little intelligence has been applied to the 20mph areas. It is still quite difficult to keep to such a low speed limit and us tourists may be the only people who are really paying any mind.
When we got to the campsite the warden looked quizzically at Bertie before directing us to our pitch. It was only when we drove to the sloped grass pitches that I realised she’d put us on a pitch categorised as ‘suitable for vans under 6m’. I went back to ask for a more suitable pitch and fortunately they managed to find us an alternative. There was no way we would have fitted and been able to level up.
Parked up in the Mortonhall campsite, trying out the new bike cover
I had a day of work on the Friday while Paul tinkered with our new bike cover, tidied the garage (a Sisyphean task) and cleaned the van around me. I was glad it was a nice day so he wasn’t cooped up inside. At lunch time he cycled off to the nearby farm shop to get some bread and sausages for a treat and after work we walked out of the back of the campsite up onto ‘The Braids’ hills which gave us a great view of the city.
View of Edinburgh from The Braids
Exploring Edinburgh
We’ve since spent a couple of days exploring Edinburgh while based at this large campsite. The city is such a great place to wander around if you are able bodied. There are many steps, slopes and cobbles to navigate as you work your way from the tourist hotspots of the Royal Mile to the bustling chain stores of Prince’s street.
To add to all of the names we’ve learned for alleys over the years; Ginnels, Twittens, Jitties etc, we can now add ‘Vennel’. Exploring what Paul now calls ‘Dog Shit Alleys’ (due to one particularly unpleasant French alley) is one of my favourite pastimes. Some of them may just lead to bins and air conditioning units, but others offer interesting nooks and crannies, and in Edinburgh they all have names evocative of historic professions or people.
Edinburgh Museum was definitely worth a visit. The buildings themselves are worthy of some admiration, the spectacular Victorian atriums, designed to allow maximum illumination over the exhibits, and the modern Scottish wing with displaying exhibits from the history of Scotland, including the famous Lewis chessmen.
No visit to Edinburgh would be complete without seeing Greyfriars Booby. Can you believe that Paul hadn’t heard of this faithful terrier. I thought it was an essential part of the British school curriculum.
We accidentally happened to be in the city for the annual Riding of the Marches, an event that remembers the tradition of riding the boundaries of the city to check that everything was in order and then reporting back to the Trade Incorporations of the city, carrying the ‘Blue Blanket’ – a flag that is said to have been carried at the battle of Flodden by brave tradesmen in defence of their King. Watch our Insta/Facebook reel for a taste of the event.
In summary we would say that Edinburgh is a very easy city to be a Tourist in. Oddly it reminded me of visiting Switzerland, probably because of that same tourism oriented vibe without being too tacky.