Oscar never likes to see us packing

I had planned our trip to Scotland one year ago. It all started with Charles’ bucket list desire to watch the Royal Tattoo https://www.edintattoo.co.uk in Edinburgh at the castle. This was added to my bucket list desire to travel on a train specifically The Royal Scotsman for a week. So we did it! And it was a fantastic trip. Probably one of our best.

Now I will tell you about it and why it was so excellent..I had never heard of The Royal Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle, but I was soon to discover a great deal about it. Each show has about a nine thousand person audience and there are shows for close to three weeks every August. So obviously this event is well known. So well known in fact that I booked our seats a year ago, but before I did, I invited our friends, Stewart and Barb, to join us. They live in the UK and we had travelled with them before, and always have had fun. They would only spend the weekend, not join us on our big train journey the following Monday. I organized a weekend with them arriving by train from Bolton, and we were planning to arrive on Friday from Toronto. I knew we would need a nap after our overnight flight, so planned to meet up for drinks and dinner on Friday night.

a little snooze while waiting for our room to be ready

Lobby of the Balmoral where they change the flowers every few days.

touring with stewart, Barb and Irene

Pilons on statues a crazy prank

It was so delightful to see them and I had heard an interview on CBC radio, that a friend had sent me, and decided we should attend a Fringe Festival offering. The Festival was on for three weeks, as was the Tattoo, and the population of Edinburgh soared to from 500,000 people to over a million and a half. Crowded sidewalks! Nevertheless, I thought we could get tickets to Louise, The Last Dance, a one woman show. It was 50 minutes long and in a small theatre space. We walked to it, got tickets and thoroughly enjoyed the performance. The star, Stella Kulagowski, who created the show, told the story of Louise, who had been the model for the famous Toulous-Lautrec poster of a Can Can girl.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_de_Toulouse-Lautrec. It was a riveting show that kept us mesmerized. We all agreed it was worth it, and celebrated after at an outdoor café with some drinks and catch up conversation in the sun. By the way I never had to open my umbrella the entire two weeks of our trip!

The beginning of The Last Dance

In Fishers enjoying a delicious meal.

After that we headed to the restaurant I had booked for dinner, a short walk, albeit an hour before our reserved time. But they seated us nevertheless, and Fishershttps://www.fishersrestaurants.co.uk/fishers-in-the-city/ in the City, a seafood restaurant turned out a simply delicious meal. We parted ways after that as they were staying in a different hotel from ours. Our hotel, The Balmoral, is a gracious, old world, very swish hotel in the centre of the city adjacent to the Waverley Station, https://www.scotrail.co.uk/plan-your-journey/stations-and-facilities/edb a busy train depot. The hotel was built in 1902 as a railway accommodation. I loved its Prince bistro https://www.roccofortehotels.com/hotels-and-resorts/the-balmoral-hotel/dining/brasserie-prince/where we had breakfast on our package, lunch before our train trip, and dinner when we returned to the hotel after our journey. We never tried the afternoon tea in the gorgeous tea room, but we did sample Scotch in their Scotch bar that had over 500 malt whiskies. Now as you may know from other blogs, I am a cognac drinker. However as they say in Rome…, I did have to sample the whisky. The waiters in pale blue Tartan kilts were very knowledgeable and helped me taste a cognac/style whiskey. They served tiny round dark chocolate wafers with our drinks. It was an elegant stylish square room with leather comfortable sofa like chairs that you didn’t want to vacate quickly. There was one whisky, I think a Glenmorangie, that was 1000 pounds a glass! Hmm.

Dean Village

Chinese restaurant with cherry blossoms

After a lovely sleep, a swim in a pretty indoor pool, and a delicious breakfast, we met our tour guide, Irene, and Stewart and Barb in our lobby. We were ready to set off on a 4 hour walking tour of the Old Town. Highlights were The Royal Mile, that eventually leads to the Castle, the Scott Monument, a fantastic structure in memory of Sir Walter Scott, the dog monument that you touched for good luck. We stopped for coffees/teas at an outdoor café. At different corners there were performers as part of the Fringe, performing with pop up audiences, children laughing and the energy in Edinburgh was palpable. Such fun! Irene was very very knowledgeable. She had a PHD in history and was also an Italian specialist. Views of the water and the volcanoes from which Edinburgh was formed were on our route. She took us to the ancient gates of the city where there are brass plaques in the pavement. All in all a wonderful tour.

Touring around the unusual sites.

In our favourite bar

Of course we returned to the hotel for our daily nap, and then prepared to meet our friends for dinner and The Tattoo, which started at 9:30 pm. I chose the restaurant called Devil’s Advocate, really a pub, which was within walking distance of the castle. I should add that I organized our whole weekend. The Craggs like that I book the restaurants and activities, and I do as well. Getting a place to eat on a Saturday night is not easy with the Tattoo and the Fringe, but the pub I chose was full of atmosphere, if not the greatest food. I liked my pork chop , but Barb hated her steak. After dinner we joined the throngs of people heading to the performance, which this year was entitled ‘A Call To Gather’. We were booked in excellent seats which allowed us to use the special entrance to the show ( many many others were also on this route) But it was very organized and we soon found our front row seats. A lovely gentleman sitting near us wondered if we had programs, which we had not, and he went and got us some. Kindness of a stranger!

before the show

The excitement everywhere was evident. And then it began. It was dark enough that the projections on the castle were very vivid. Imagine hundreds of Pipers parading in formation, and you have the beginning of the show. There were piping troops from around the world, including from British Columbia, there were dancers in special numbers and there was an announcer whose voice resonated throughout and told the story of A Call to Gather . Pipe bands and drummers amazingly never got boring and were interspersed with Highland dancers. Everything was colourfully lit and the 90 minute show passed very quickly and ended with a lone piper. We left the stands easily and in an organized fashion. Never did I feel claustrophobic in the large crowd. Then we found our way back to the hotel on foot, and found ourselves in the Scotch bar for a wee dram, as they say.

After a good sleep we met up with Irene and the Craggs once again in the lobby. This time we were heading to New Town, which is not so new as it was settled in the 1800’s. Lots of shops, but it was Sunday, so just for looking and the well known Dean Village, that was like a charming old hamlet in the centre of Edinburgh on the water of Leith. We wandered there awhile and soon parted ways with Irene. Another tour that we enjoyed immensely. All our tours are curated by Tours by Locals, an excellent tour guide company, that we have used for years and have always been extremely happy. This Sunday one was three hours long. After naps and a refresh we met Stewart and Barbara who joined us in our hotel bar for some pre dinner drinks. Then we walked to Tattu, a Chinese restaurant steps from our place and enjoyed Peking Duck in crepes, amidst a ceiling of cherry blossoms. Back to our favourite Scotch bar and then to bed. Farewells earlier to our friends.

The next morning a swim, breakfast and check in for our train journey on The Royal Scotsman. I will return and tell you all about our incredible week aboard. Till then,

Cheers!

Riki