UK 01: Edinburgh - City Sightseeing

Thursday, January 2, 2025

This morning we were woken up during the flight for the breakfast meal service, which is opted to skip so I could get more sleep. We landed in Edinburgh at 09:45 and made our way through passport control. Thinh had to go through the regular line and was questioned by the border agent about the reason for his visit to the UK. The agent was apparently quite friendly though and gay himself. Everyone quickly reclaimed their baggage, and we headed for the airport light rail station.

The light rail is, by far, the quickest and easiest way into the city center of Edinburgh. My parents, Thinh and I were all staying at the same hotel, located just off the Royal Mile, while Susan was staying at a hotel in the New Town area, just across Waverly Bridge. We all got off the light rail at the same station and began walk towards our respective hotels. Susan planned to get checked in to hers and then meet up with us later in the day. When we arrived at our hotel, it was too early for check in, so we stored our bags and went out to get some coffee and then lunch.

I took everyone down the Royal Mile towards Holyrood and we stopped in at a Starbucks to get some coffee (and to get out of the cold). My plan for lunch was to go to Oink just down the street, but when discovered that it was closed today. We then walked back up the Royal Mile and ended up eating at a café close to our hotel. Susan came over and joined us as we were waiting for our food. Our meals were just so-so and nothing that I would go back to eat again. I had eaten breakfast at this café several times and their breakfast was far better than lunch.

After lunch, Susan wanted to have a walk around town while we all went to get checked in at the hotel. The rooms were nice, though small (to be expected). My parents wanted to have a rest in the afternoon, but Thinh and I went out to meet up with some more friends who had flown in for the wedding.

Lotta, Patrik, Py and Harri had all flown in from Sweden during the afternoon and they were staying at a hostel quite close to where Susan was staying. I had met Lotta while walking the El Camino in 2022 and we had become good friends over the course of the long walk. I had last seen her back in July when I had flown to Sweden to attend her wedding to Patrik. It was at their wedding that I had met Py and Harri, truly hitting it off with them over the course the weekend. I was thrilled that they were all able to come to Scotland to celebrate my wedding to Thinh!

We met up with the Swedish group at a nearby pub called The World’s End. I introduced Thinh to everyone and we joined them in having a drink. The pub was crowded and we had to stand while we had our first round of drinks, but luckily a group soon left and we were able to take the now vacant table. We spent the next couple of hours hanging out together, having a few rounds of drinks, and having a great time. Thinh hit it off with all of them quite well. He was really getting thrown in the deep end, meeting so many new people in such short order!

I had been messaging with my good friend Kevin (Penswe) who lives in Edinburgh, and we made plans to meet up for dinner this evening. Penswe and I had been roommates back in 2007-2008, when we both lived in Seattle, and we had remained good friends ever since. We planned to meet up at Pizza Express for dinner; his long-term partner, Steph, and their son Atlas would be joining us for dinner too.

Thinh and I said goodnight to the Swedish group and proceeded to walk over to the Pizza Express, which was located in the New Town area. It was freezing cold during the 20-minute walk, during which we walked by a winter festival taking place near Waverly Place. There were several amusement rides that people were riding, even in the frigid weather, which was crazy! It was a nice walk though and it allowed Thinh to see a little bit more of Edinburgh, including the castle, by night.

When we arrived at Pizza Express, Penswe was waiting for us. I introduced Thinh to everyone, though Atlas seemed a bit unsure about who this new person was who was speaking to him. I had met Atlas several times, so he knew me (though he was still somewhat shy); he’s an adorable kid. Dinner was very nice and it was great to finally have Penswe and Steph meet Thinh. I had told them all about Thinh ever since we started dating (and I’d also told Thinh all about them); it was nice to have everyone finally get to know one another.

There was one bit of unfortunate news this evening though: the weather forecast was calling for snow on our wedding day! While the city center would probably be fine, Penswe and Steph live outside of town and the snow there can be considerably worse, often closing roads and/or making it dangerous to drive. Penswe told me that he would do his best to make it into town for the wedding, but if the weather was truly bad, he’d leave Steph and Atlas at home. I assured him that it was perfectly fine – I told him to stay home if the weather was bad because I’d rather he be safe than risk making the hour-long drive into town on icy/snowy roads. Atlas had been particularly excited for the wedding ever since it was first mentioned to him, and Steph had bought a beautiful new dress for the occasion as well. I hoped the forecast would turn out to be wrong, but if it was correct, I was glad that we were all about to meet up this evening.

After dinner was over, Penswe and Steph needed to head home so they could put Atlas to bed. We said goodbyes and hoped that we would see each other on Sunday for the wedding. Thinh and I decided to take an Uber back to the hotel rather than walking, which brilliant because it had gotten colder during dinner. Once we were back at the hotel, we relaxed in our room before heading to bed. It had been an eventful, but long, day and we were still adjusting to the change of time zones. A good night of rest was exactly what we both needed now.

 
Friday, January 3, 2025

Today was all about doing some sightseeing around Edinburgh. We planned to meet the Swedes, along with my parents, at Starbucks at 11:00 this morning. When Thinh and I arrived, we discovered that my parents had arrived early and had already met the Swedes! Lotta said she recognized my parents from photos I had posted on social media, so she went up and introduced herself to them while they waited. We had a quick coffee to warm up before setting out into the city.

We first walked up to the castle, intending to tour around, but we discovered that it was sold out for today. I was surprised that it was already sold out since it was winter and not the high tourist season, but we regrouped and planned out other things to see and do today. Before leaving the castle, we stopped to admire the views across the entirety of Edinburgh. It was a crystal clear day, so we could see everything very well. We took a stroll down the Royal Mile, which was packed with tourists as usual. Thinh enjoyed the beauty of Edinburgh quite a bit.

Thinh stopped to take photos throughout the walk down the Royal Mile. It is, by far, the prettiest area of town (and the most historic), full of old buildings. Several closes (small alleyways) lead off of the Royal Mile and they are all quite picturesque. Thinh has such a great eye for photography, often taking pictures of things that would otherwise have passed me by. His photos from around town captures many places that I have seen dozens of times, but it is fun to see what particularly caught his eye. When we reached the old toll booth (one of my favorite buildings in the city due to its unique clock), we all decided to stop for lunch. I was keen to eat at Oink, but I knew that Lotta and Patrik couldn’t eat there since they are vegetarian. The Swedes, along with my dad, opted to eat lunch at a pub at the old toll booth, while Thinh, mom and I walked across the street to eat at Oink.

Oink wasn’t too busy and I helped Thinh and mom in ordering their lunches. Mom didn’t want to have the haggis spread, but Thinh joined me in having it on our sandwiches. It’s a simple pulled pork sandwich, though with the pig sitting in the window, it is very fresh and tasty. We were each given a piece of crispy crackling as well. Mom and Thinh enjoyed their lunches, and they could see why I love the restaurant so much!

While we were eating, we placed an order online for our wedding cakes for Sunday. Neither of us saw the point in ordering some elaborate wedding cake, which would cost a small fortune simply because it was for a wedding. The fact that it is a wedding cake doesn’t magically make it taste any better than a regular cake, and we didn’t need a multi-tiered cake for a small wedding. We found a local bakery, Mimi’s Bakehouse, which offered a variety of cakes at reasonable prices, and they had delivery service as well. Thinh and I each picked out a cake that we liked: he chose the chocolate fudge brownie cake, while I picked the banana Biscoff cake (I love Biscoff biscuits). Mom graciously paid for the cake order and we scheduled the delivery for Sunday.

The three of us walked back up to the pub where everyone else was eating and discovered that they had only just been served their food. They said they would enjoy their meal while mom, Thinh and I visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse, located at the end of the Royal Mile. So the three of us set off to continue our walk down to the palace, passing by the Scottish parliament building along the way.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse was a royal residence of the Stewart kings of Scotland. The place underwent numerous additions and changes over the centuries. The adjacent Holyrood Abbey (hence the name of the palace) was built in the early 12th century, though the abbey now lies in ruins. The palace itself began construction in the early 1500s under the Scottish king James IV, and additions were made to the palace by subsequent monarchs.

Mary, Queen of Scots resided in the palace from 1561 to 1567, when she was forced to abdicate. It was in the palace that Mary’s private secretary, David Rizzio, was murdered by her second husband, Lord Darnley, and several other nobles. Mary’s son, James VI, was residing at the palace when, in 1603, he was informed that he was now also king of England and Ireland, now that Elizabeth I had died. Significant changes and additions were made to the palace in the late-1600s, making the palace appear as it does today. It still functions as the official royal residence in Scotland of the British royal family.

I had last visited Holyroodhouse in 2016, and I had forgotten much of what I had seen there, so I was quite keen to tour around once again. We had a free audio guide for our tour of the palace, which mom and I found fascinating. Thinh was not as interested in the audio commentary, but he was still quite interested in the palace itself. We spent about 90 minutes touring the palace, which mom absolutely loved. At the end of the tour, we were able to walk to the abbey next door to walk around its remains.

With the tour of the palace finished, we messaged Lotta and dad to coordinate meeting up again. They had walked over to a nearby graveyard after lunch, which they enjoyed. While mom explored the palace gift shop, the Swedes and dad made the short walk over to the palace to meet us.

The group all together again, we set off back up the Royal Mile so we could visit one last site before it got dark. I led everyone over to Greyfriars’s Kirkyard, which is a very pretty graveyard (and said to have inspired parts of the Harry Potter books). Everyone split up into smaller groups when we arrived and spent some time wandering around the graveyard. I ushered everyone in the general direction of a few graves, notably the one for Tom Riddle, which fans of the Harry Potter books love to visit since it’s the same name as Lord Voldemort’s proper name. It was a nice walk in the graveyard and I hoped that everyone had enjoyed the visit.

It was starting to get dark by the time we finished. My parents and Thinh decided to walk back to the hotel to get some rest, while I joined the Swedes to head out for a drink. We walked around for a bit before settling on some random pub, but we instantly regretted the choice. The beer and service were both good, but the atmosphere was more akin to a college bar than a British pub. We had our one drink and then decided to find a different pub. The next pub was located on the Royal Mile and was busy, but we managed to get a small table and enjoy a drink together – this was a much better pub!

Everyone was getting hungry and so I messaged my parents, Thinh and Susan to see if anyone wanted to join us for dinner. Susan had spent the day wandering around the city on her own, but was eager to join us for dinner. We found another pub nearby that had a decent food menu, so we went inside to get two tables that could accommodate our entire group. The waiter gave us one table and assured us that a second table would be available when everyone else (mom, dad, Thinh, Susan) arrived. We ordered drinks and food while waiting for everyone to arrive.

Unfortunately, when they did arrive, a new waitress rudely told us that there would be no more tables available this evening. On top of that, the pub was out of two of the entrees that we had ordered. My mom decided that she and dad would go eat dinner elsewhere, insisting that it was perfectly fine for them. After chatting for a few minutes about what to do about the pub, Lotta, Py and I decided that we would rather go elsewhere for dinner, so we told the waiter to cancel our orders. I tried to message my parents to see where they had gone, but they didn’t respond. Susan arrived as we were getting ready to leave and she was happy to go anywhere with us – she’s so easy-going!

We found an Indian restaurant nearby that had a wide variety of option on the menu. The place was nearly empty, and we were quickly seated. It soon became apparent why the restaurant was so empty. The food, when it arrived, was mediocre, without much flavor whatsoever. No one in the group was very happy with their entrees. On top of that, the waitress accidentally knocked my fork off the table when she delivered the drinks (an honest mistake), but she then proceeded to pick it up off the floor and place it back on the table as if she expected me to use it! No replacement fork was brough, but thankfully there was a spare one at another seat at the table. It was

Nevertheless, it was nice to spend time with everyone during dinner. This was Susan’s first time meeting the Swedes (I’m not sure they all hit it off as well as expected…). Looking around at everyone, I felt so happy and lucky to have so many people coming to Scotland to attend my wedding. There were people that I met during my world travels and it meant so much to have them all there to celebrate my big day with Thinh. By the time we finished dinner, it was dark and very cold outside, so we decided to call it a night. Everyone split up to head back to their respective hotels for the night. We had no plans to meet up with anyone the next day because my family, Thinh and I were heading to the city of York, while everyone else had opted to remain in Edinburgh.

Thinh and I didn’t stay up too late this evening because we had to be up bright and early in the morning to catch our train.