Edinburgh Overview

I spent two days (Sunday, August 23, and Monday, August 24, 2009) in Edinburgh (pronounced eh-dinn-burr-ah), Scotland, before returning for my second stint in London.

Because I arrived on a red-eye and stayed only two days, I didn't have a great amount of energy and time to explore. My actions were unusual for me: for instance, I skipped some historic and cultural sites, neglected climbing a great nature spot, spent less time in museums than is typical for me, and took fewer pictures than normal, all because my brain couldn't absorb much and my body couldn't execute much, at least on the day I arrived. Nevertheless, I feel I got a fair impression of the city.

Edinburgh's a charming, small, hilly city. I found myself comparing it to Norway (Oslo and Bergen) and Quebec. They all have walkable, compact, cozy city centres, though Edinburgh's felt a bit larger. Due to Edinburgh's multiple-century-old buildings, all made of stone/granite (no wood, no brick), the city's Old Town felt like Quebec's Old Town. Furthermore, when walking around Edinburgh, Bergen, and Quebec, you can feel the character and history in the streets. Also, they're all rather green.

In fact, there's something a bit magical, a bit fantastic (as in fantasy stories) about Edinburgh: an ancient castle atop sheer cliffs, a lush garden immediately below, a historic town built of stone, and a great grassy rise ending in dramatic crags.

Although a coastal city, the main part of Edinburgh is far enough from the sea that one doesn't normally see it; it's easy to forget you're near the sea.

Edinburgh's famous for its numerous festivals, many of which happen in August. Our visit coincided with the largest and most famous of these, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and we saw a lot of colorful activities on the street because of it, but the only festival event we attended was part of the Edinburgh International Festival, a festival focused on the performing arts (music, dance, theatre, etc.).

Scotland, though part of the United Kingdom, calls itself a country and is self-governing for domestic matters. Some Scots, however, want independence. It constitutionally joined with England (to form Great Britain) three hundred years ago.

I'm not going to make a comprehensive list of places in Edinburgh I still want to see. I'll say that I'm mostly done with downtown, noting that I skipped or hurried through most cultural sites and museums, as well as Holyrood Park and Calton Hill. Aside from those, everything else I want to see in Edinburgh is a substantial walk from the center of downtown.