Living it up on High Street

Before we begin our update on Edinburgh, I have to talk about one more amazing thing in Dublin.  Wallaby!  Yes, I did see one and I don't care how crazy Eric thinks I am.  There was a wallaby hopping around the airport grounds as we taxied for take off.  He was on the pavement where they stored extra ladders, etc. by the Ryanair terminal.  I'm not making this up.  Anyone care to confirm/refute that there are wallaby's hopping their way around Dublin?

Photo credits to the Google Machine

Edinburgh is ...  adjective's are too small.  The postcards don't do it justice.  It's everything we hoped for when deciding to visit this city and we were only half lucid after being awake for 25+ hours. (and no that doesn't have any bearing on the wallaby sighting I commented on above).

We are staying in Andrew's apartment on Cockburn street (pronounced koburn), right off of High Street.  Andrew is a nice chap who rents out a room on Airbnb.  He has the original parquet floors from the National Portrait Gallery in his apartment - several hundred years old and has had countless people grace them with their feet.  He laid them himself and they're pretty spectacular.  1" thick oak (I failed at getting a picture of it).

First thing we did when we arrived, besides chat with Andrew and take a shower, was to have dinner at the Witchery, just at the foot of the castle.  Thank you Michelle for turning us onto this several months ago when we made our reservations.  It was outstanding!!  The service, the food, the ambiance.  Honestly, the best meal I've ever had.  We started with asparagus with a spring garlic aioli and Eric had haggis and neeps and tattis.  It was all very good.  Well, haggis was OK... I did try it, just not a fan.  Then we had Lamb Wellington which was served for two along with basil mashed potatoes, ratatouille, and greens.  The greens were a bit astringent, and that's the only thing that can be construed as less than fabulous. Although, they did act as a good palate cleanser.  I don't like lamb, it's generally... I pause here because I'm typing this in Andrew's apartment and he's talking with his young daughter and it's cracking me up.  He's tuckered and his daughter is giving him a hard time.  He's calling her a funny sausage...  Oh these Scots and their words.  OK, back to the food.  This lamb was delicious - not too gamy at all, which is my normal complaint.

After the Witchery we went to the Real Mary King's Close tour.  It's an underground tour of Mary King's Close.  Much like the underground city of Seattle, etc.  Accept these streets were around and kicking during the plague, a few centuries ago.  We walked on the same cobbles as their cows that they kept inside for milking.  It was truly amazing to see the size of their houses and a glimpse into how they lived.  It was a fabulous tour and I highly recommend it to anyone who is waffling on spending the 15 pounds or whatever it was.  Well worth it.

It had been full sun when we went into Mary King's Close and when we emerged the Haar had rolled in.  I think I typed that right.  Basically, fog.

Afterward, we were coming up on being awake for about 40 hours and we needed to figure out if we could sleep.  We weren't quite settled yet, so we stopped in at a pub who had atrocious live music, Whistle Binkies, for a pint. We saw a bachelorette party there, who we had traveled on a plane with from Dublin AND sat next to in the Witchery.  Couldn't seem to shake these people and I was getting the idea that we were maybe in places a bit too touristy...  Oh well, it's touristy on High Street for a reason - it's spectacular.  More High Street today and more will follow about Edinburgh.

Whistle Binkies Bar