Sauntering around Scotland: City Centre
Note: I have provided the relevant links to each places presented in this entry. Please feel free to click on the links for further information, especially their histories and for better images.
Edinburgh, ScotlandSaturday, 26 August 2006
Hand in handWe all woke up very early that morning. After a quick and simple breakfast (cereals) and waffles, we eagerly continued our adventure to Edinburgh city centre. My first impression of Edinburgh was "the city centre was sooo big packed with people". And my, I think we were all awed by the buildings around the city centre. There were just so many of them!
Before we properly parked our car, Uncle De cleverly took us to Craigmillar Castle. It was just a brief visit and to buy some fridge magnets from the souvenir shop.
We managed to park our car with NCP at Castle Terrace. But it was a very long walk to Edinburgh Castle (although on map it was merely behind the Castle), because we have buggies with us (we tried to avoid using the steep steps). Anyway, the longer route made us hungry. We saw a HALAL restaurant called Kushi's. It looked really posh from the outside.
We were contemplating to have a proper lunch at Kushi's when I thought I saw a ghost of Syeikh Nnydd smiling, crossing the road towards us. Of course, it was the real Syeikh Nnydd. The Des and Syeikh have been secretly arranging the surprise. It was a pleasant surprise though. Syeikh tagged with us for the rest of the day.
Sorry there is no photo of the food, but the lamb beryani I ordered was superb! (But the service was poor and slow.)Apparently from their website, Kushi's Restaurant was the first Indian restaurant to open in Edinburgh in 1947.
After that heavy meal, we continued walking uphill towards Edinburgh Castle. When we reached there, we were greeted by this unsightly stadium-like-seats right infront of the Castle. Apparently, there was Military Tattoo show running for the whole week during the evenings. It is something like a regime of military playing bagpipes in kilt sort of thing. We didn't enter the Castle. It was already 3pm and we thought of exploring other parts of the city centre first.
From the Castle, we walked downhill into Royal Mile. Probably Edinburgh's oldest street. The Royal Mile connected Edinburgh Castle with Palace of Holyrood House. Along the street, there were a lot of interesting buildings - all I believe have their own stories to tell. Here are some of them.
Camera ObscuraThis Victorian 'Eye in the Sky' has fascinated visitors for over 150 years! It is a 5 floors building offering you spectacular activities including a 360° panoramas from its rooftop.
Once a church, now a ticket office for Edinburgh Festival. It has an impressive octagonal spire at 74m making it the tallest in Edinburgh.
The open dome looked like a crown to me.
A landmark for the merchants and citizens within the official hub of the city market. Notice the unicorn right on top of the shaft.
Look closely, there's a statue of Alexander the Great training his horse, Bucephalus.
Beneath the City Chamber was a hidden street where real people worked, lived and died between the 17th and 19th centuries. It is called "The Real Mary King's Close" which was only opened to public since 2003.
Tron Kirk
On the North Bridge heading to Princes Street
Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh
1 Princes Street: average rate £250 per double room per night with breakfast
The above was seen on the left hand side of the bridge (facing Princes Street).
Princes Mall & Information Centre
Princes Mall: An indoor shopping centre.
Information Centre: Very helpful staff with lots of brochures and souvenirs for sale.
This monument is a testimony to Walter Scott's contribution to Scottish literature.
The background: Jenners another shopping complex. This is their advertisement:
Waverley Station
(background: North Bridge)
New Assembly Hall
We took the A1 and then A198 towards North Berwick. Again we saw stunning views along the way.
This could be the meadow Pycno and his children used to run across after his children's school hour.
Our self-catering accommodation was by the seaside!!!
Once a church, now a ticket office for Edinburgh Festival. It has an impressive octagonal spire at 74m making it the tallest in Edinburgh.
The open dome looked like a crown to me.
A landmark for the merchants and citizens within the official hub of the city market. Notice the unicorn right on top of the shaft.
Look closely, there's a statue of Alexander the Great training his horse, Bucephalus.
Beneath the City Chamber was a hidden street where real people worked, lived and died between the 17th and 19th centuries. It is called "The Real Mary King's Close" which was only opened to public since 2003.
Tron KirkThe Church was built in 1636 and completed 9 years later! The original square tower was destroyed by fire in 1824. The more slender tower was built later in 1828.
A unique architecture. If you enlarge the photo above, you will see "Royal Mile" street sign.
A unique architecture. If you enlarge the photo above, you will see "Royal Mile" street sign.
A reminiscent of a medieval Scottish Castle. Built in 1990 by Ian Begg. Average rate for a double bedroom is £120 per night.
On the North Bridge heading to Princes Street
The above was seen on the right hand side of the bridge (facing Princes Street).Walter Scott and Alexander Graham Bell went to the Old Royal High School.
While Nelson Monument is a monument of victory and death of Lord Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
While Nelson Monument is a monument of victory and death of Lord Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh1 Princes Street: average rate £250 per double room per night with breakfast
The above was seen on the left hand side of the bridge (facing Princes Street).
Princes Mall & Information CentreInformation Centre: Very helpful staff with lots of brochures and souvenirs for sale.
This monument is a testimony to Walter Scott's contribution to Scottish literature.
The background: Jenners another shopping complex. This is their advertisement:
Unfortunately, we didn't shop there.No visit to Scotland is complete without a visit to JENNERS
- New York has Saks
- Paris has Galleries Lafayette
- London has Harrods
- Scotland has JENNERS
Waverley Station(background: North Bridge)
Turning left into Waverley Bridge, you will find Waverley Station, the main railway station in Scotland, on the left.
New Assembly HallInitially built for the Church of Scotland in 1859. A few years back, it used to house the Scottish Parliament.
Tired and bored
Tired and boredI'm sure you are exhausted reading this entry! And I can assure you that that were only a small fraction of the city centre. We were equally exhausted exploring the hilly city centre by foot. Furthermore, Sarah wanted to be carried most of the time, I think because she was also tired - it was her naptime. Mind you, she is roughly 15kg if not more!!!
Bear in mind, it was extremely difficult to take photos because it was also the Edinburgh Festival week. There were thousands of people swarming the city centre plus there were open performances held along the cobbled Royal Mile. Also, it was hard to appreciate the historic buildings, we even totally missed some of them.
The day ain't over yet. We have another destination to go to before the sunset. And that was to our accommodation for the next two days. Syeikh Nnydd went to Stirling.
The day ain't over yet. We have another destination to go to before the sunset. And that was to our accommodation for the next two days. Syeikh Nnydd went to Stirling.
We took the A1 and then A198 towards North Berwick. Again we saw stunning views along the way.
This could be the meadow Pycno and his children used to run across after his children's school hour.
Our self-catering accommodation was by the seaside!!!The accommodation was discovered by Uncle De via the internet. It was about 15 km from Edinburgh. The name was Seton Sands.
While waiting for Uncle De to collect the keys, Sarah took off her clothes herself. She insisted to be taken to the beach. "Sarah nak bath" she shouted.
We settled down in our accommodation, and after sunset the Babahs went out to buy some dinner for all of us. It was yummy.
We settled down in our accommodation, and after sunset the Babahs went out to buy some dinner for all of us. It was yummy.
16 comments:
My oh my....all those beautiful pics. have brought back nothing but fond memories of good old Edinburgh.
Walking along the streets of Edinburgh was my favourite pastime.
I fell in love with Edinburgh, even when I was still single and studying in London and promised myself that I'll continue with my studies there. Beutiful Princess Street with the majestic Edinburgh Castle as the background is simply breathtaking, dont you think so?
Thank you MS and Mynn for sharing. ;)
I kept on imagining - those who stay in Edinburgh sangat bertuah. They have so many things to do every week! Tak payah fikir. This week masuk Edinburgh Castle. Next week pergi Camera Obcura, etc...
Also, Mynn and I kept on saying that we are so in need of a new camera. Our camera sangat susceptible to bad weather + lighting. Kita perlu camera "canggih" and photographer eyes like Ikelah.
In a day, the sun kdg2 sembunyi belakang the clouds. kdg2 terang. Langit pun kdg2 biru. kdg2 heavy clouds. So ada lah juga gambar yang OK.
We hope you and Bea suka dgn our short tour of Edinburgh.
i wish i was travelling wiht you guys! the place looks absolutely beautiful (I havent been to Edinburgh!)
reading n feasting my eyes on the pics....tak dapat nak ingat nama nama tempat semua tu.. to see 4 urself is to remember kot... with a short circuit brain like mine susah nak ingat nama but u sure look like u guys had a great time :0)
mom2ashley I'm so glad we survived the 5-6 hours journey. Luckily, our kids are big enough to endure the journey.
may be next time you can bring baby ashley to UK :)
simah i made good use of the brochures i got from the information centre. major places were shown with pictures (ie edinburgh castle & jenners), so that was easy. Others, just by numbers with location. so that was pretty tricky. I had to get extra help from the web.
Gorgeous pictures !!!!! Syoknye rasa macam I was there too (perasan nye sherin ni!). I like the first pic where u can see sarah sleeping in her car seat. I really like this entry.. Good work Mama Sarah!
Hello MS,
sorry for the long silence. Can't say that work is piling up though, just being lazy me. Lama dah I tak check your blog, NICE pictures. Lucky you. Where is the next trip?
Jue
Very beautiful!!!Stunned seeing your lovely pictures!Nice trip, nice info and nice n3. Insisted to go there. Oh my...
Excellent journal Mama Sarah.
I remember that Princes Mall! Did u enter the dungeon? Hmm I guess it's not suitable for children :(
sherin Thanks Sherin. This time, I chose not to elaborate much on the history of each building. Nanti panjang berjela-jela pulak. Those who are interested boleh click on the links provided. and the links serve as my future references too.
Jue Where is the next trip? hahaha... (kenapa terasa nak cakap 'biarlah rahsia' pulak?) honestly, nak rehat dulu. Lagipun dah start sejuk balik. Dah 3 weekends berturut2 berjalan. Rehat dulu lah.
Nani Edinburgh mmg cantik. Lagi cantik agaknya bila tak ramai orang.
Naja Princes Mall tu biasa aje. Masa buat research utk entry ni, a few people comment tempat tu tak cukup gempak setanding dgn namanya. Dungeon??? Heyyy... not for me. RAsanya for the rest of my life pun tak akan masuk tempat camtu. Walaupun curious jugak nak tahu.
harap2 dpt dtg tempat2 ni satu hari nanti..alahai, siannya kat anak2 yg kepenatan tu :)
I am so envious of you guys who have so many interesting places to visit over there. Kat sini, asyik dok garu kepala nak pergi mana if and when we have the time. Paling takut pergi tempat yang indah khabar dari rupa.
bebudak tuh nampak syok ajer tido dalam pushchair depa. Macam rayyan pun suka tido senget senget. Agree dengan puan queen...kalau kat kl (even in dubai pun) pening kapala nak pi mana.
syikin saya pun nak pergi lagi!!!
Queen saya tahu, bila di msia akan sibuk melawat sanak saudara aje. Dan asyik penuhi undangan perkahwinan orang. dah tentu susah nak ke mana-mana. nak tunggu cuti sekolah, mesti ramai orang dan jalan jam dsb. alhamdulillah, kami ada peluang sebegini di sini. esok2 balik msia, semua ni akan tinggal kenangan sahaja.
Zakiah saya rasa kalau saya di msia, saya akan kembali menjadi katak bawah tempurung. Saya BENCI traffic di msia.
PMS...i'm always katak di bawah tempurung...dulu, kini n selamanya...:-)
Kat Ktn tu..InsyaAllah..traffic dia OK lagi, betul tak OK? tapi tak perasan masa public holiday mcm Raya Puasa..maybe jem lebih skit.
Kalau kat Muar...sahih jem time raya..(ramai org pseudo-Muar balik Muar..:-) ziarah kubur arwah2 atuk nenek n etc
arwah atuk saya pun duduk dekat Jln.Abd Rahman..if pernah dgr.."Lorong hj.sairan"...sekangkang kera je dari roundabout yg PMS crita tu :D, ada ingat?
fm... traffic OK lagi.. kalau ada highway nanti bypass Kuantan so lebih OK masa cuti raya.. orang tak masuk Kuantan.. jalan bypass from airport tu Gebeng pun dah nak upgrade jadi 4 lanes and akan siap hujung tahun insyaAllah..
Loved the pics of edinburgh.. masa A Level dulu I used to go there once a month as I had a senior there.. solat kat Masjid Edinburgh uni hehehe buka puasa kat Al-Arqam pun pernah...
shopping at forbidden planet, jalan kat princess street... makan kat pizza hut (byk kedai pizza along princes street tu!)
also masa turun ke london preferred waverly as we did not have to change stations... kalau kat Glasgow, kena change stations sebab train dari London dan ke Perth not at the same station..
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