A Few Days In Edinburgh…

After spending 3 busy and hectic nights in London we took a train from Kings Cross Station to Edinburgh. My daughter was excited about this station because of Harry Potter. We got there a bit early and she walked around the store and bought a few things. After getting situated on the train, I started thinking of what I was going to eat for lunch… as I love eating on the train, especially in Europe! I love the soft sandwiches on white bread with just the right amount of filling. So, I shared an egg salad sandwich and a cheddar cheese sandwhich and also got a tiny bottle of Rose and a bag of salt and vinegar chips…. yummy!!!

Four hours later we were in cool, cloudy Edinburgh. I have been here before and really enjoyed the beautiful city with a mix of old and new. We made our way to the hotel and immediately ventured out to look around. The good thing is that Edinburgh is city where one can walk mostly all the sights. We walked on the royal mile, which is the main street running through the city leading to the castle. The city is hilly with lots of steps everywhere…we walked around and came across an outdoor food festival serving all sorts of cuisines. We ended up having the most delicious, freshly made arepas! There was an ice cream shop there as well. Scotland has the most delicious ice cream. I ordered a blackberry frozen yogurt. It was creamy, not too sweet and had the most intense blackberry flavor… wow, a few days later I am still thinking about it! After a lot more walking we ended up at a local pub and had some snacks as we were not super hungry. I ordered my favorite dessert, sticky toffee pudding, which is a sponge cake made with dates and while it is hot, it is drizzled with a toffee sauce and then served with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream- oh, my God.. it is the most delicious thing ever!

As I was eating this delight, I remembered all the trips I have made to England, Ireland and Scotland and how many times I have enjoyed this yummy dessert… and how I was going to order it everyday while I am here! I did some research and found out a pub called Whiski served the best sticky toffee pudding… the problem was that we were 10 to 12 people at any given time and it was very hard to get into the eatery. We tried 3 times- finally got in the last day and enjoyed the yummiest sticky pudding…  I also ate a yummy deconstructed steak and ale pie…… it was really good. Before dinner I did go back to that food market and indulged in another blackberry yogurt as I had been thinking about the delicious frozen delight for a few days now and I had to have it one more time especially as it was my last day…

We also made a day trip to a seaside town called New Berwick, about half an hour from Edinburgh… it was beautiful to walk around by the ocean. We decided to hike up to the top of a hill to get amazing views of the town. As we reached the top, the skies opened up and it poured sheet of rain including some heavy hail. We didn’t have any shelter and so got soaked and hurried down. It was quite an adventure and views were breathtaking.

All in all, Edinburgh is a beautiful city, quite small, so a few days are enough but one could make lots of day trips to the highlands, etc.

The vacation has come to an end and it is always great to go home and get back into a routine. Exercise and healthy eating, here I come!!