To Edinburgh.
We packed up and parted ways with our cottage in Fortrose and hit the road, heading south toward Edinburgh, stopping along the way for a short visit to Pitlochry in Perthshire, at the southern tip of the Highlands, about two hours and 100 miles south. What a nice town, and I guess a lot of other people had the same idea as us, as the town seems very much a tourist stop, and a nice one. It’s a lovely place, with a population around 3,000, with stone buildings throughout and the hills of the Highlands to the north.
The weather couldn’t quite make up its mind, but as we headed south became warmer (but still on the cooler side of warmer) with intermittent showers along the way, and cloudy skies giving way to blue skies, and then back to cloudy. Still, overall a warmer day and nice weather.
We walked along the Pitlochry main street for a while, carefully as Elana’s knee is in bad shape, and eventually grabbed some lunch and sat in the local park to eat, and after an hour or so in town we headed back to the small car park at the railway station (where the woman at the ticket office kindly said we could park for free, as I couldn’t connect with the online parking app).
We had also planned to stop further south and visit Perth, but we wanted to visit Edinburgh today so Elana could see the city and experience at least a tiny drop of the Fringe street scene there, happening right now. So instead, we drove directly to Dunfermline where we’re staying tonight, at the City Hotel where I stayed a few days ago, and that was an hour and sixty miles south, and it was by now around 2 pm.
We arrived at the hotel around 3:30, and very happily and amazingly was able to park free in one of the few hotel parking spots, avoiding an overnight parking fee in the large parking lot immediately behind the hotel. Check in was straightforward, and we went to our rooms to unload and settle in, and then walked the 15 minutes or so to the Dunfermline City rail station where we had tickets for Edinburgh, and got there a couple of minutes before the 4:24 arrived. And thirty five minutes we were in Edinburgh at Waverley station.
We really didn’t have much time, as the last train back to Dunfermline left at 8 pm. and we also had to be careful to not over exert Elana’s knee, which looked painful, seeing the swelling through her leggings, so I can only imagine what it must feel like. Despite that, we spent a nice couple of hours walking, passing across and along North Bridge, with some nice views of Edinburgh Castle, as well as the high mound of Arthur’s Seat and the ridge of Salisbury Crags rising behind the city.
We walked just a short distance along North Bridge and then turned onto the Royal Mile, where a lot of the free street performances of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival are taking place, and is temporarily a closed pedestrian area while the festival is taking place. The Royal Mile itself is possibly Edinburgh’s most famous street, ruining from Edinburgh Castle at the western end and the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the other end, and the heart of Edinburgh’s historic Old Town which surrounds the Royal Mile.
Although many of the buildings on the Royal Mile now are from the 17th–19th centuries, the history of the street dates back 900 years to the 12th century, when what is now Old Town began developing around Edinburgh Castle at one end and the royal residence at Holyrood at the other. The Royal Mile became the main route connecting the castle with the royal palace and abbey, which was founded in 1128 by King David I, who also founded Dunfermline Abbey that same year, which I visited when I stayed in Dunfermline last week. I guess he got around.
The Royal Mile is filled with historic buildings along its cobblestoned length, with equally historic and interesting side streets. Today, with the Festival still in full swing, the street was filled with visitors and street artists of all kinds, with street performances happening along its length. It is really too bad Elana couldn’t spend far more time in Edinburgh, as she is a theater (theatre) person, and really would have loved to experience the Fringe proper, and not simply this slight taste, but unfortunately that wasn’t on the cards for this trip. Still, hopefully, she did get a taste.
Elana’s knee was hurting some, so we decided to catch the 7 pm train back to Dunfermline rather than the last train at 8, and we arrived back around 7:30, and took a nice stroll back to the hotel through Dunfermline park. On our way back, we passed Carnegie Hall, right here in Dunfermline This one, dedicated to Andrew Carnegie who was born here in 1835, was built in 1938, funded through a gift from his daughter.
As we left the park, headed toward the hotel, the city was empty, and I mean empty. Sunday night, and no-one out, and most of the stores and restaurants along the way closed for the evening. We ate dinner at the very nice hotel restuarant, although Elana wasn’t thrilled with her meal. I enjoyed mine though, mince and tatties, a classic Scottish meal, or ground beef and mashed potatoes, which was pretty delicious. Then up to our rooms, a little planning for tomorrow, as we fly to the Faroe Islands in the afternoon, and to bed, relatively early for a change.
