Edinburgh

Posted by Anura Samara, 14 October 2014

Why Edinburgh? I’m not really sure… I could say that it would be good to visit Scotland, but if I’m honest it was to see where Rebus lives and works.

Rebus walking tour

With this in mind, we had already booked in a Rebus Walking Tour. The premise was that we would walk around the city and see some of the sights that had featured in the Rebus stories.

The tour is conducted by Colin Brown. We knew from some TripAdvisor reviews that Colin can be a bit different – our experience of this was that he didn’t allow any distractions to impact on the tour, and would grumpily with humour respond to the odd stupid question. Beware, this tour is really for fans of the Rebus stories and if you haven’t read them then you make yourself a target!

The tour starts at the Royal Oak pub on the southern side of the city, and really only covers this part of town. We saw the morgue where Rebus’ pathologist friends work, a typical housing estate, the Salisbury Crags and St Leonard’s police station. Seeing the police station was particularly good, it helps to imagine what Rebus sees as he comes and goes from work.

The tour group was small – another couple from Australia, a couple from Denmark and a few others. Although it seemed limited to just a small part of the city, at the same time it gave us an opportunity to walk through some areas that we might not have visited otherwise.

The Oxford Bar

For me, the real home of Rebus is The Oxford Bar, located in the ‘New Town’ area. I’ve read so many times about Rebus enjoying a pint of IPA in the back bar there, that I knew I just had to do the same.

The pub is on a quiet backstreet. Far from being a famous landmark, it really does seem to be a place favoured by the locals. This is a typical pub – no food is served (apart from crisps and nuts), I think there might have been just one gambling machine in the corner, otherwise it’s all about the drinks. The front bar is narrow and was packed so we headed straight for the back-bar – a nice quieter room, but still small with space for maybe up to 20 drinkers.

While we were there, we ran into the other Australian couple from the tour. After a few more drinks, we headed out to dinner together. Who knew that a fictional character can help you find new friends half a world away from home?

Mary King’s Close

We’d heard about the hidden closes of Edinburgh, so turned up early for the first tour at Mary King’s Close.

The old Edinburgh was originally based around the ‘spine’ of the Royal Mile with narrow closes running off it down the hill on either side. It sounds like these narrow streets were really unhealthy, and at some stage a decision was made to build the new city chambers over the top of one of them – but without demolishing the buildings underneath. This meant that all of the old buildings above street level on the Royal Mile have gone, but the buildings below this level still exist.

The guided tour takes you down through here. There are stories about the people who lived here, how they worked, the impact of disease. Although darker than it would have been originally, you can along the close and go through the homes here. There’s even one place that was occupied until the 20th century (although you can’t go into this one). The close itself is very narrow, and would have been crowded with stalls and shops.

This was a great tour, it really felt like you were inside a time capsule and with no access to the world outside it was easy to imagine life here, with thousands of people all living, working, sleeping, growing up and growing old all packed in.

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle looms over Edinburgh wherever you are, and no visit would be complete without a visit. Although it looks like it stands alone on its rocky peak, it’s in fact quite easy to access as it’s really just an extension of the Royal Mile.

The Castle is worth a visit just for the views, but if you hook up with one of the short, free guided tours you’re learn about the layers upon layers of history here. There’s the opportunity to see the Scottish Royal Jewels and the Stone of Destiny (the last time we saw it was in Westminster Abbey), the Royal Palace (where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI) and the Scottish National War Museum which is surprisingly a modern building. We didn’t have time to see all of the military museums there but going inside St Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest structure on the rock, was special.

Calton Hill

Calton Hill sits sort of at the opposite end of the city from the Castle. It’s tall and steep but not rocky, so it’s a great place for a stroll and to see some different views, particularly over towards Leith and the sea. It also has great views looking straight down Princes St and the New Town.

It’s got a few monuments there, including an old observatory, a monument to Nelson and the barely started National Monument – just a row of Greek style columns was all that was finished before funds dried up.

On the walk up, it’s worth stopping in at the Old Edinburgh Burial Grounds to see where some of Scotlands good and great are buried. David Hume’s tomb is the main feature here.

Salisbury Crags and Arthur’s Seat

I remembered the Salisbury Crags from my only previous trip to Edinburgh, as an 18 year old. As you know (or should by now) being on high ground is my obsession, so for all these years I’ve wanted to climb them.

So, while Juliane went to see the Palace of Holyrood I set out for the Crags.

The Crags are one more feature – together with the Castle and Calton Hill – that dominate the skyline of Edinburgh. Arthur’s Seat is less noticeable as, although higher, its further away and tends to be hidden behind the crags.

The climb is reasonably steep but not beyond the abilities of most people – there was a constant stream of people going up and down, including families with young children. My first stop was the remains of a ruined chapel overlooking St Margaret’s Loch. From there, I just cut straight across for the peak of Arthur’s Seat. The confusing part is the multiple trails criss-crossing this area, which probably makes it a fantastic place to get lost for a few hours while staying close to the city.

At the top, there are even better views of the city, the Castle and the sea. It’s pretty windswept up there, but I could have just sat and enjoyed the view for hours. But I was on a deadline, so I headed down to walk along the path on the very edge of the Crags (no safety rails or equipment). From here, you can see the radical shape of the new Scottish Parliament Building and Holyrood Palace with its ruined abbey at the rear. I could even see Juliane leaving the Palace to come and meet me.

With so many paths to choose from, it was inevitable that I chose the wrong one for coming down. I ended up sliding down some muddy sections with only bushes to hold on to prevent a fall. All good fun!

Categories: UK

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