Ask me again why I love Edinburgh…
Okay, here’s the skinny. As pretty as that picture may be, Edinburgh is not the place to visit in winter. It’s witch’s tit cold, a kind of damp, raw cold that seems to defeat even Chicago-strength coats and gloves — ask me how I know this — and it turns any kind of pedestrian touring of its gorgeous streets into a series of short dashes between oases of relative warmth, these being shops and pubs (not that the latter is a terrible option).
That’s the physical part of it. More depressing is the gloom — daytime in winter is technically six hours long — about 9am to 3pm, but “daytime” in wintry Edinburgh seldom involves “daylight” (as seen from my hotel room at about midday):
…and this largely explains why Scots are, by and large, the gloomiest people on the planet and why Scotland’s largest export is not whisky but people.
All that said, I don’t know any Americans who don’t love the place. It ranks in the Son&Heir’s (and Daughter’s, and her mother’s) top three favorite cities in the world — and they’ve been to many — and it’s certainly in both my and New Wife’s top five, although we prefer summer or fall because Olde Pharttes. Ditto Doc Russia and his New Wife, who were there in early November last, and who both want to go back, and soon.
With one regrettable fracas excepted (mine), we’ve all found the people to be as friendly as can be. I remember Connie once asking for directions, prefacing her question with “I feel like such an idiot asking for help in my favorite city in the world [it was], but…” only to be met with a huge smile, a “Dinnawurry, lassie”, followed by a string of directions that we couldn’t understand at all. Fortunately, there was a lot of arm-waving and pointing, so we got the gist.
I would go back there tomorrow, and it’s January, FFS. And for the cold, there’s porridge (“parrutch”) and single malt. Every man should.
It’s full of socialist SNP supporters FFS. Disclosure my grandfather was a Thomas and a mining engineer. In my whole life I have never been colder than summer in Scotland though wearing everything I had in my backpack, except underpants and maybe I should have doubled or trebled up there too. Oh and Scotland was full of retired Americans trying to pick up backpackers.
Auld Reekie? Best avoided, even if my nephew is studying there. Head north-east to visit a land of castles and whiskies.
Galway City in October must have the same weather. No land to break the wind coming off of the icy Atlantic Ocean. Same solutions though, find a warm pub with Guinness and uishe baha (or however they spelled it) plus the Irish have good music!!
JQ
Our introduction to the Edinburgh temperament came from a B&B proprietor who scolded us, my wife and I, for removing our luggage from the car and setting it down on the spotless sidewalk (dirty, dirty) before bringing it into his charming and lovely row-house establishment. Many apologies later we had a pleasant stay, including a Full English the next morning. The things you don’t forget 30 years later …
Another would be a Paris cab driver correcting your French pronunciation, but that’s a story for another time.
A buddy and I decided to go to Edinburgh foe Hogmanay (New Year’s) for the REAL millennium, 2000-2001. It is probably the friendliest city in the world. One morning, while we wandered, a Scots gentleman asked if we were Americans, and then told us where to find a statue of Abraham Lincoln. He led us halfway, and excused himself because he had an appointment, but two blocks later we were in Old Calton Cemetery and looking at the statue of Abe. It was on top of a memorial to Scottish-American Civil War dead (and stood in front of David Hume’s mauseleum).
The Scots know how to throw a party! There was something to do every day of the week leading up to New Years (and fireworks from the seven hills around the city!). The weather was quite nice. A few sunny days and only a bit of snow one day. The temps stayed in the 30’s for the most part. But, yes, the days are quite short at that latitude. That was a bit of a shock.
I’d go back in a heartbeat. Even in winter. Beautiful, wonderful city.
I loved Edinburgh on my first trans-Atlantic trip there in August of ’02 during the Festival (and saw the Tattoo 5 days after ER II made her first appearance as the Queen Mum had passed earlier that year), so much so that I planned on taking a trip back for Hogmanay in 06/’07, which I did.
Aye, colder than a witch’s tit, with winds that pushed ME around as I crossed a street. And the concert at Prince’s Street was cancelled due to the high winds, but the fireworks went off!
Definitely high-light of my pre-married life. I have a picture I took of High Street on NYE in the afternoon that is the background for my Gmail page.
Get back quick if you intend to go, it’s quickly being overrun by refugees and disgruntled socialists, but I repeat myself. Apparently, the Danes and Germans, among others, have lost interest in their invited guests and cultural enrichers from sub-Sahara and the Levant and are shipping them courtesy of free, one-way ferry rides from Germany and Holland, off to Scotland.
My niece, recently an intern with the NHS, had the temerity to complain about her assignment in Cardiff (wanting London) and found her next rotation (October to April) in Edinburgh. Her hospital in Edinburgh employs full-time bodyguards for the female physicians and nurses to keep the dusky foreign lads from hacking them to bits for refusing their advances, but refuses to let their staff carry mace. They gave them a whistle instead.
A good friend and I went to Scotland for an extended pub crawl and fishing trip after my late wife died in 2012. Best trip of my life. I loved the ancient Scotsman publican, who, when I said I couldn’t understand his accent, repeated the exact same thing 4x louder and 2 inches from my nose.
I dunno about every man, but this man is going there in May with his British woman, who lived there after she finished uni. I visited with an ex back in 89, and loved it, and I’m greatly looking forward to going back.