Edinburgh -- WARNING: Long post!

We had been told a number of good things about Edinburgh, Scotland. However, the actual visit exceeded expectations. What a wonderful city! Our impression may have been influenced by the fact that we had nearly ideal weather, whereas most of our other scouting trips have been drenched in rain. Nevertheless, we found Edinburgh to be delightful. It is easy to navigate, has tons of things to do (many of them free) and just has a great feel to it.

Known as "the Athens of the North," Edinburgh went through a dramatic urban renewal in the late 1700s, continuing through the Victorian period, in which the neo-classical style was popular. Banks look like Greek temples, department stores have statues in their facades. There is even a Parthenon, of sorts, on a high hill overlooking the city.

Mary at the Castle

We wanted to find a B&B close to the city center so that we could put the car there for the entire stay and not worry about it. As with most cities -- or at least European cities -- a car is far more of a nuisance than a help. As it turned out, the B&B was a converted Georgian house in Edinburgh's "New Town," so we got to sleep in an historic old mansion (even if the splendor had long since worn off the place).

Our first afternoon focused on the "Royal Mile," the main street of old Edinburgh. It runs down hill from the Castle to Holyrood Palace, which was home to Scottish monarchs until James VI of Scotland became James I of England and the whole Unification thing. It's still the official residence of Queen Elizabeth whenever she happens to pop in at Edinburgh.

Along the Mile are countless shops where one may buy a kilt, bagpipes, or Scotch whisky, not to mention normal stuff and cheesy souvenirs. It's also alive with restaurants, coffee shops, and pubs. But we were there for the free stuff and just to soak up the atmosphere, which is festive, complete with street performers and plenty of people-watching opportunities.

St. Giles' Cathedral is the mother church of Scottish Presbyterianism. The reformer, John Knox, used to pack the place when he preached here. He's buried in the church yard, but unfortunately the church yard was later paved in cobblestones and is now a "car park" (what the British call a parking lot). So you can only see Knox's tombstone if there doesn't happen to be a car parked in that particular space at the moment! We've noticed this in many old churches here, that just because you bought a slab in the floor or yard under which to be buried, doesn't guarantee that something won't be built right on top of you a century or two later on.

St. Giles'

We also visited Gladstone's Land, a six story merchants house and shop, built in 1550, that has been restored by the National Trust to show how people would have lived and worked along the Mile over the centuries. A partner site, The Georgian House, is a restoration of a late 18th century mansion in the "New Town," not terribly far from our B&B. It shows how things changed when Edinburgh's well-to-do left the cramped Old Town to settle in the fashionable new development. New Town, commissioned in 1766, was designed by architect James Craig to be strictly a residential area. It remains so even today. Even though most of the mansions have been converted to apartments, the streets are quiet, even within a short walk of the business center.

Georgian homes in New Town

Meanwhile, back on the Royal Mile, we visited several other free museums, one cleverly named The Museum of Edinburgh, another called The People's Story (devoted to the lives of common working people through the centuries, and to the labor movement), and the Museum of Childhood (toys and games through the centuries).

We also saw The Writers' Museum, dedicated to Edinburgh homeboys, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Robert Burns. Scotland loves its writers, poets, inventors, and philosophers! Where other cities have war memorials (those all seem to be in the Castle), Edinburgh has statues of these guys, plus folks like Adam Smith, James Watt, Robert Fergusson, and David Hume. There's even a Scottish national Storytelling Centre on the Mile!

Sir Walter Scott Memorial

At the bottom of the Royal Mile, just up from Holyrood Palace, is a complex of ultra-modern buildings, which some say are totally out of place among so many ancient structures, but we thought the design fit in nicely. These are the brand new buildings of the Scottish Parliament. After nearly three centuries of being ruled from London, in 1998 Scotland was granted limited autonomy within the UK, and established a unicameral legislature that deals with local issues. The Parliament's new building was completed in 2004.

Walking in with no appointment, we went through security and looked around a beautiful lobby area, but aside from a very few exhibits, there wasn't much to do or see. We asked a woman in uniform about what one could do, and in the sort of voice that law officers use when they are being official, she told us we could look around the lobby and that was that. But a few minutes later the same woman tapped us on the shoulder and slipped us two tickets to the gallery to see Parliament in session!

The debate was mundane, and there were only about a dozen of the 129 members present. It reminded me a good deal of a state legislature (Scotland only has a population of about 5 million people -- less than some U.S. states), but in very beautiful new digs.

There was certainly no shortage of restaurants from which to choose, and we found a quaint little neighborhood pub less than a block from our B&B for some evening relaxation. I've been in some great cities in recent years: London, Reykjavik, Berlin, Gothenburg, and Copenhagen, not to mention Cairo, Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Lima, Beijing and Shanghai. But Edinburgh is right up there at the top.