Edinburgh: Fringe and Blossom

It was August 2013. The now disgraced ‘Blurred Lines’ had been number one in the charts for what felt like a decade and I was in the back of the car, stuffed in by my belongings, on the way to Edinburgh to start my Masters in American History.

As I watched my parents drive away, I remember thinking ‘ok, what now?’ I was in a brand new city feeling nervous, excited, and like I had a stomach full of demented butterflies. That buzzing feeling we enjoy as travellers when we find ourselves somewhere new!

I decided to walk through the city to get to know my new surroundings. I was renting a room in a tenement flat in Marchmont which is about a twenty-minute walk from the heart of Edinburgh. And what a gorgeous twenty-minute walk. Just for anyone wondering, a tenement building is a huge, beautiful building made of bright stone; they tend to come in a row and look simply stunning in all weather. They can be three or four (or sometimes even more) storeys high, each floor its own flat, and they often have great big windows that let in lots of light. I remember ours had a big bay window in the lounge that you could see the castle from. Looking back, I was so lucky to have been able to find such a nice place to rent a room in.

I decided to walk through the city to get to know my new surroundings. I walked up and down the main streets, through snickets, round hidden corners, and up so many sets of stairs, trying to learn how everywhere linked up. I just followed my feet and they led me to Regent Road and the base of Calton Hill. I climbed up the steps with no idea what to expect when I reached the top.

Calton Hill is a spectacular collection of monuments sat in the middle of Edinburgh. You can see little sneak peeks of stone from the main road, just popping up from behind the trees, and you’ll be so intrigued that you’ll find the little slip of a path that takes you up (a fair few) stairs to the top of the hill. There it opens up and you’ll find Nelson’s Monument, which you can climb up if you haven’t had enough stairs, the National Monument, which you would think has come straight out of Athens, and the City Observatory. Beyond that is a stunning view of the whole city (if you’re there on a clear day), and it is truly beautiful. On that day, I stood there and felt on top of the world, ready to take on my studies and conquer my nerves. 

I arrived at the start of August with no real clue about the Fringe festival or the sheer scale of it. Like a complete novice I wandered around the city in the first month, watching the street performers and singing groups the full way up the Royal Mile, and it felt as though everyone wanted to give you a flyer. The city was heaving with people and full of excitement, every inch of it covered in posters with the barmiest designs.

I felt like I became a comedy connoisseur during my first time at the Fringe: if I heard a show was good, I would try and get myself there. I saw so many acts in the most random of locations from cellars, to lecture theatres to graduation halls. I saw performers who I’d never heard of before who then became household names like Luisa Omeilan, Aisling Bea, Sara Pascoe and Romesh Ranganathan. I became an expert at finding the small alleyways to decrease my travel time between venues. I saw comedy shows, plays, podcast recordings. Being alone meant I could I always find a single seat close to the front to slip into. In that first month I spent the majority of my money and developed a horrible cold, but it was exhilarating.

I was lucky that two Fringe festivals book ended my time in Edinburgh. It is one of the greatest festivals on earth and an experience that I thoroughly recommend.

Oh, the plans I had to explore Edinburgh and Scotland whilst I was studying. I had envisioned trips to the highlands to stay in remote cottages and write essays overlooking lochs and mountains. Nights in B&Bs, getting up early to go on long hikes in the great outdoors to get inspiration. In the end I never really got the chance to open the Rough Guide to Scotland that I resolutely carried round in my backpack until it became dog-eared at the corners. I actually spent most of my time in my room, nose to book, questioning my own intelligence. It was years later when I went to Glasgow to visit a School friend that I booked myself on buses up and down the country to see all the lochs, castles and hills that I could.

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One thing I never tired of, no matter the pressure I felt when I was studying in Edinburgh, was the walk from my flat to the University. Each morning that I stepped out of the flat, went down the three flights of stone steps and out of the huge red door, I would come out at the top of a hill overlooking the Meadows. I would set off down the hill past the other tall tenement houses with their brightly coloured doors and neat privet hedges, down and down over the cobbles. The Meadows is, as it says on tin, a grassy area, and one of my favourite spots to read in Edinburgh when the sun’s out. It is full of trees covered in pink candyfloss blossom in Spring and drunk students having bbqs in Summer. Edinburgh was the city that looked after me.

So, what to do for a weekend in Edinburgh? If the weather looks cold and/or rainy, good footwear is a priority! Have a good walk around the city and go up Calton Hill for my favourite view. The Royal Mile which has the castle at one end (which does great free tours), and the Palace of Holyrood (great giftshop) and the Scottish Parliament building at the other (which also has a really interesting tour). My boyfriend and I climbed up Arthur’s Seat the last time we visited Edinburgh having been assured it was an “easy” walk. We nearly died, but we had had a late night at the Fringe the night before…. Great for views from the top though and an all round sense of achievement. Also: good hangover cure.

After all the walking it’s time for cake in cafes to warm up – the Scottish Café in the Scottish National Gallery always has a great selection of hot drinks and cakes with a lovely view over Princes Street gardens. Dough on Rose Street does fabulously delicious pizza. Hadrian’s Brasserie in the Balmoral Hotel is also a lovely place to eat, for something a little fancier. In Marchmont, there is a fantastic café called Toast that does the best breakfasts.

My other hint is to book a hotel in Haymarket, it’s sometime a little cheaper and not that much of a walk to the main city centre.

Outside of Edinburgh, Glasgow is a fantastic city to visit with so many museums to wander round (the Kelvingrove is gorgeous), also the botanical gardens are lovely to sit in and have a coffee. I also used it as a base to travel to Loch Lomond and Luss, and Loch Ness. I used Discover Scotland Tours – the guides were all friendly and they fit a lot into a day’s travelling. Through them I also saw a very damp Glencoe (well, I saw a lot of mist, but I really got the atmosphere of the place!) and Stirling Castle.  

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There’s still so many places I want to visit in Scotland including the Isles of Mull, Iona and Skye. One day… Any recommendations for these places? Let me know!