I went to Edinburgh for a few days at the beginning of December, there were very cheap flights that I found on HelloTrip (really handy app, you put in your dates, your departure airport and your budget, and it finds the cheapest destinations for you), and so I decided I'd turn 20 in Scotland. I loved this very short trip : it was freezing and windy, but the sky was bright blue, we ate great food and saw beautiful things. We stayed at the West End Hostel, which was nice, clean, and very well located, and only cost us £9/night (!). I'd been to Edinburgh but only for a day a few years ago, and it had left me a great impression, so I appreciated the opportunity to explore the city some more. It has a very particular feel about it : the centre is quite small but because the streets are wide, the building talls, and the general landscape so hilly, it feels a lot bigger than it is. Edinburgh was one of the few places where I immediately felt like I might like to live there for a longer time someday. Here are a few highlights and recommandations from this trip :
Robert Blomfield at the City Art Centre (Free, on until the 17th of March 2019)
Robert Blomfield, who is now 80, was a doctor who lived in Edinburgh, and photographed the streets of the city from when he was a student in the 1950s onwards. He took pictures throughout his life, aside his medical practice, until a stroke forced him to stop in the late 1990s. This exhibition is the first major retrospective of his work, and focuses on his pictures from the 1960s. His photographs reminded me of Cartier-Bresson or Doisneau's black and white photography, in how they captured the life and movement of the streets, and I particularly liked Blomfield's playful eye, especially in his pictures of children. The exhibition isn't very big, and it is very well curated - it notably features videos of Blomfield today talking about his work, which I found very moving. It is definitely worth having a look if you're in the area at some point before mid-March).
Lovecrumbs (155 West Port)
This lovely café is an ideal spot to take refuge from the cold and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate with interesting flavours, or a decadent slice of cake (chocolate rose featured above). Bonus : if you keep walking down the street, you'll find a couple of charming second-hand bookshops (third picture) which are another refuge from the cold, and everyone's favourite place to spend some time in while on a cold city trip.
The Boozy Cow (17 Frederick Street)
Delicious burgers (veggies and non-veggies), generous portions of fries, great live music (at least when we were there), and really cool mood (the lighting is quite dark, and there are very interesting lightbulbs all around), this is a perfect spot to recharge after a full day of trekking around town, and to get ready for the evening.
Arthur's Seat
About an hour's walk away from Prince's Street, in the middle of Holyrood Park, Arthur's Seat makes for a very nice short hike (and I'm not particularly a hiker, in fact I was taken there by a friend, lover of all things nature) with a breathtaking view on the sea and the city. It will take you about half a day to walk there, hike up and walk back, and it is absolutely lovely, despite the wind (would avoid under the rain though).
I hope you enjoyed this small round up of my favourite memories of Edinburgh, I personally am really looking forwards to going back, hopefully in warmer weather (I've been warmly recommended Dean Village, which we tried to see this time around but somehow managed to miss out on) !
Sleep tight !
Dormez bien !
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