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I used to know Auld Reekie (the capital) very well but, having been beguiled away by London some years ago, I'm not up to date with the old place. Depends what you're after really, Muesli. The whole of the Old Town, either side of the Royal Mile / High Street, is impressively historic, if that's what you're after. You can see a mediaeval "Land" or tenement house preserved at Gladstone's Land, not far down the High Street from the Castle. There's also a Georgian New Town house similarly preserved at the back of Charlotte Square.
The castle itself is just about the most visited tourist site in the UK and the views from it over the toun and the Forth Valley are great. There's an awful lot of soldiers in kilts and military memorials up there otherwise. At the other end of the Royal Mile is Holyrood Palace which I've always thought was a bit of a dud as palaces go, rather down at heel and forlorn. There's the ruined Holyrood Abbey next to it and that's a bit more Caspar David Friedrich and atmospheric. That's where the fabulous new (incredibly expensive, Stirling Prize-winning) Parliament building is too, that I would love to see but haven't since they buildt it after I left.
Arthur's Seat's a grand place for a picnic. Especially if you're a Stephen Baxter fan and have read Moonseed. Good views when you're up the top.
Clubs and pubs I couldn't tell you about because the ones I liked are probably all gone by now. My favourite was always The Mission, half way down Victoria Street, every Friday night, but I think it's been long since bastardised and refurbished. Probably turn the Goths and geeks away at the door now.
Leith is picturesque, and not far from the town centre. Easy get down there in twenty minutes on a 16 bus. I'm biased because I lived there very happily at one time but it does have great bars, some hundreds of years old like the King's Wark, and the shore and the docks and the red light district.
Edinburgh's not a big place but it's very bonny and all the poor people are sent to live on the outskirts, so the city centre is a kind of yuppie theme park, mainly populated by English academics and disproportionate numbers of students. |
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