Edinburgh – a photo book

Some cities enchant you the moment you arrive. Some are slow burners, which grow on you over time, some never capture your imagination or heart at all, but there are some that you know as special as soon as you arrive.

I found that with Paris, with San Diego and San Francisco, with Fremantle, and also with Edinburgh. Despite living only a few hours away by train, it took a work engagement for S to get me up to visit the Scottish capital. I have not even attended, or even looked into attending, the festival. But, as irony would have it, it was art which drew us up north of the border.

S was a judge for the ICCA Quarter Finals. To save some of you a quick Google search, the ICCA is the competition you saw in the Pitch Perfect movies. This was one of the heats in the UK leg of the competition, whose eventual winner goes on to compete in the final in New York against the best of the US.

As the competition only took place on Saturday night, we decided to head up on Friday morning and make a weekend of it. While I’ve never been to Edinburgh before, I have had the joy if visiting the Scottish Highlands, but for S this was her first time in Scotland.

So, on a cool, grey, February Friday we stepped out of Edinburgh Waverley train station to be greeted by the rolling streets and spires of the city.

Any city you can stroll around is always going to get a good review from me and, despite its undulating terrain, Edinburgh is a lovely walking city. The castle rising high overhead provides an easy wayfinder and the gardens which unfurl from the base of its hill made working out our routes very easy.

The city has so much to offer and in just a couple of days we discovered great eating spots, with vegan options aplenty, as well as beautiful walkways, fun shops and bar with cocktail menus which would make for an enjoyable evening.

For the foodies among you, I heartily recommend Hula, we visited the Fountainbridge outlet and the brunch options were tasty and fresh, and the coffee was great. Don’t be put off by the hanging wicker chairs and plants spilling down the window, this is not gimmicky, it’s genuinely good. So too is the Holy Cow Lounge, a restaurant which we finally found tucked away on the second floor of an art gallery in Fountainbridge. Though our orders got confused, leaving us with three plates of food between two, it was all very, very good.

Seeds for the Soul is a great vegan restaurant just south of the town centre, whose mac & cheese is worth the walk out of town. We also grabbed dinner at the wonderfully-named Voodoo Lounge, a bar, restaurant and live music venue which is decorated with the sort of kitsch you would expect, but perfectly deployed to create a fun atmosphere, with food and cocktails to match.

If you’re after a drinks spot, Edinburgh has its share of fun speakeasy joints, hidden away down steps and behind concealed entrances. In fact, one of the things which struck me most about Edinburgh was the number of buildings which are home to two or three businesses, with one below street level, but set back so it can be seen, like in film of New York in the Twenties. Our first attempt was Hoot the Redeemer, which has a very cool entrance, but was fully booked. We were redirected to Bramble Bar, which was populated by staff as entertaining and eclectic as their menu. Against the bartender’s advice I tried a mescal martini as my first drink. It was a memorable experience, though not one I would try to recreate at home.

To be completely honest, our touristy explorations left something to be desired. This was no fault of the city itself, in fact it was because its charm had convinced us that we would be returning for a proper holiday very soon, so we satisfied ourselves with walking the town and popping into a few shops, before making a mental note of where we wanted to come back to.