First Day in Edinburgh

Had a great first day in Edinburgh.

Arrived at about 10am, a quick cab to the Pollock Houses at Edinburgh University got us to our room. Becky unpacked while I tried to figure out how to work the TV and facilities. Each of us
was starving, but we were even more tired than hungry, so we napped for 3 or 4 hours to get over the jet lag.

After we woke up, we figured we'd just take a walk around the city and get the lay of the land and find some dinner at a pub. The Abbey on South Clerk St. met our requirements, which is to say it was the first pub that had a menu outside we both wanted food from. I had what was probably the best burger I've ever had -- so the "British burgers are the worst in the world" myth was put to bed rather quickly. Mozzarella and bacon on a ground steak burger, for just 5 pounds. Not too shabby.

Of course we saw fit to begin our sampling of the delicious beverages that make Scotland famous. Becky ordered a Carling lager, and very soon asked me to try it and see what I thought. Just her luck that she managed to order the Coors Light of Scotland, which I confirmed upon first sip. My Deuchars IPA was much better, though not incredible -- refreshing for an IPA but nothing to write home about (Though apparently worth blogging home about). The next round was Tennets lager for me and Hop Back Sumer Lightning for Becky. Apparently if Carling is the Coors of Scotland, then Tennets is the Molson - malty and slightly better than the Carling, but still not the legendary beer I had hoped. The Summer Lightning was better -- malty and drinkable, but there must be better beer to be found. Both the Summer Lightning and the IPA were Real Ales (Cask ales), hand pumped rather than propelled by CO2 like most draught beer. Definitely "real" beer, and not mass produced garbage (As I suspect the Tennets and Carling were, but I don't know anything about them really). Just hoping there's more where that came from.

Lastly we began our malt sampling. The malt of the month was Highland Park 8 year. And it was awesome. The distillery is in Orkney, the group of islands north of Scotland, and apparently has the best distillery tour in Scotland, though we won't be able to make it up there to check it out (Not this trip, anyway). The malt (Meaning it was a single malt, with just one kind of whisky, as opposed to a blended "scotch" as it's called in the US, which is a mixture of two or more different malts to get a more balanced and predictable taste) was great. Light, airy, imminently drinkable. Certainly the best whisky I've ever had, it honestly took me aback how little bite there was in the drink. It made me very much look forward to tasting some other malts.

After dinner we walked down to a supermarket and picked up some Midlothian essentials. Irn Bru; Scotland is about the only place in the world where Coca Cola isn't the soft drink of choice -- it can't brea Irn Bru's stranglehold on the market! I'll let you know how the Bru is after I refrigerate it and give it a go. Also picked up some scary candy and some Mars bars. Oh, and a 2-liter bottle of Strongbow cider, in case we get bored in the dorms and trapped by rain or some such.

The rest of the evening was spent wandering around Old Town and looking for a bathroom. In the end we walked all the way back to waverly Station, where our train had arrived that morning, to find a place to pee. Note to self: public restrooms are hard to find here. Pee as often as possible.

Amusingly, on our walk back home we ran into an American. He saw my Red Sox shirt and yelled "Oh, hey, yeah, GO BOSTON!" though he later confessed to being a Cubs fan, as he was from Chicago. Turns out he flew here to be on a reality show, the Drambuie Pursuit, but hated it and got himself kicked off in the first week. He had planned to go back to the States immediately, but on advice from locals decided to check out Edinburgh first (He had been in Glasgow). He took the train over THREE MONTHS AGO, and has been living out of his backpack and sleeping on Arthur's Seat, the top peak in Holyrood Park, the beautiful craggy park to the east of Edinburgh that dominates the view from most of the city. He gave us a ton of advice on what to do - mostly which pubs had the best live music - I gave him a few pence before we parted ways.

Arthur's Seat

They're flashing the lights on us here at the bar/dining hall/study lounge (I love this country), so I better get going.


Edit: Oh! I forgot to mention. You guys will probably be amused to hear that Becky and I managed to leave the dorm for dinner with no fewer than three pieces Red Sox gear, though only two pieces were ever worn at the same time. Man we're dorks.