Tag Archives: Edinburgh

May 24 2012
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edinburgh

Walking Edinburgh’s Union Canal Tow Path

On Saturday, I crossed part of an interesting walk off my Scotland Bucket List. Leaving from Fountainbridge, I walked 14 miles of the Union Canal getting as far as Broxburn.

Looking at the map, I thought I would have gotten a lot further – at the start of the day, I thought I would make it to Linlithgow without any trouble. The distance was a little deceiving. Things always seem a lot closer on the map.

Unusually for Scotland, the weather stayed fairly dry for the whole day. Most of Edinburgh was inside watching the Scottish Cup Final so I definitely felt like i was doing something different.

Near the start of the walk, around Harrison Park, there were loads of people playing with their kids, running, and walking dogs. Once I got past Hermiston Gait though and crossed over the motorway I would see other walkers very rarely.

There were more cyclists than walkers as I got further out, which is probably what I would do if I wanted to go all the way to the Falkirk wheel along the canal.

The whole thing is a pretty impressive piece of engineering. Its very narrow and shallow in places, but you have loads of bridges and these massive viaducts including a very high one at Slateford that passes over the Water of Leith.

When it was first built in the 1820’s, it was mainly used to haul coal and other freight. The narrow canal boats were pulled along by the current and horse power.

Nowadays, the remaining boats are more recreational. A few people even live on them.

I don’t know if I would be able to do but it seems like a pretty idyllic life – you can choose to berth wherever and if you don’t get on with your neighbours or just want a change of scenery you travel a few miles upstream. People in the UK have some really romantic ideas about their canals, but in reality I don’t think many really take full advantage of them.

Around the 1930’s, the canals fell out of use as freight moved to railways. Cities like Amsterdam have tens of thousands of people living on canal boats, but in the UK its definitely a smaller scale, more rural thing. I saw a fair number of these boats berthed in Ratho but its not on the same scale that you’d see in Europe.

Initially I was hoping to stop their for a bite to eat, but I discover that the Bridge Inn was fully booked up for a wedding.

Before tiring myself out, I managed to cross over a couple more impressive aqueducts, and was able to do some plane and train spotting from the same part of the canal. About a mile and a half outside of Broxburn, the canal goes right underneath the Edinburgh Airport Landing Path, which coincidentally is very near one of the two Edinburgh-Glasgow rail lines.

You can see the Ratho viaduct in the distance, which is also a not too shabby bit of engineering.

By the time I got to Broxburn I was thoroughly wiped so decided to forego the last 10 miles to Linlithgow and catch a bus back to Edinburgh.

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Apr 15 2012
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Scotland

Blackness Castle

Just made a day trip to Blackness Castle. The castle is on the shores of the Firth of Forth in West Lothian, about 2 miles from Bo’Ness and fairly  near Edinburgh.

The castle is unique in that it is remarkably complete. It was built in the 15th century and has been in almost continuous use for most of its life. It protects the Forth and the port of Linlithgow, and though it is smaller than the castles in Stirling or Edinburgh it has seen numerous sieges over its history.

The landscape offers excellent defense and the walls here are extremely thick. From the outside, the castle design greatly resembles that of a ship, which is new one for me.

The village of Blackness is very tiny – not so much as a shop, cafe, or pub (that was open) and just a few houses.

I’m guessing this relatively remote location made the castle a perfect place to store ammunition which was its primary function from 1870 up until WWI. It was also a minor military barracks, but its primary purpose (other than defense was as a prison. The castle itself has a very rugged and one could argue grim appearance (nothing like picturesque Urquhart or Castle Campbell), but you can see a natural beauty there as well in the way it rises out of landscape.

At the time Blackness Castle was built Linlithgow was the primary royal residence and Blackness was the primary port – the castle was built by the Crichton’s but soon passed to James II. Fortifications were added in the mid 16th century making it one of the most advanced artillery forts in Scotland, but that didn’t prevent it from falling to Cromwell’s army a century later.

It was recently used during filming for the movie Doomsday.

Travelling around the countryside is not so easy when you don’t have a car, I managed to get the train to Linlithgow and a bus from there to Blackness. Unfortunately there are only four buses a day that go Blackness so rather than wait around for another 2.5 hours in a village with no pub or cafe I walked back to Bo’Ness  along the shore route to catch a bus from there – its nice to feel like you have the time to take an impromptu 90 minute hike, especially since it did get me home an hour sooner.

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Apr 10 2012
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Food

Foraging at the Edinburgh Botanical Garden

As part of the Edinburgh Science Festival, Aarti and I went to a foraging workshop and breakfast this past weekend – completely her idea but I enjoyed it immensely.

Originally, I was not so keen on having such an early start on a Saturday morning, but as I started to wake up a bit more I began to get more into it. The event was at the Edinburgh Botanical Garden. A foraging expert and a local botanist toured us around while pointing out edible plants along the way and giving us some pointers about how to identify them in the wild and also how you’d prepare some of these things in your own kitchen.

I guess the event was pretty popular because there were more than 60 people there by my count. They broke it up into two groups to make the logistics a bit easier.

The forager who showed our group around was named Miles Irving, he’s the author of A Foragers Handbook and has supplied some London restaurants with foraged food.

I was interested to hear him explain about how much of his plant knowledge is self taught.  I don’t have much experience with botany, but I think it would be difficult to learn so much of that on your own – especially since misidentifying something could make you really sick. There was a botanist also who seemed to know the Botanics really well; he also knew the latin names for most everything which was slightly intimidating but I felt like we were in good hands.

I don’t think I’d want to forage for all of my meals, but you can see that there are some definite health benefits to such a lifestyle. I find it very easy to recognize that foragers consume a far greater variety of nutrients and have a more protein rich diet than the average person.

A lot of that local plant knowledge is a mystery, and its refreshing to see a few people trying to reintroduce us to those foods that were a dietary staple for such a long time but had been largely forgotten since we all started going to Tesco’s.

Probably the most memorable thing was the birch tree which had been tapped a couple days before the event. Apparently, there is only a few weeks out of the year when you can tap one (usually end of March, early April) but during that time they can produce huge quantities of sap. I can’t remember exactly what they planned to make with it, but I think they said the plan was to make syrup or honey or something like that.  I remember a couple Maple Syrup commercials that showed them tapping the Maple trees in Quebec, but I never realized there was such a small window of time for this to happen.

The breakfast that followed was really nice but Aarti and I felt a little bit jipped because they ran out of muffins before we got to the buffet. They had these venison sausages from a butcher in Portobello that were incredible and there was also porridge served with wild berries, an egg pot with mushrooms and some special potato cake with herbs. All made at least partially with foraged ingredients.

 

 

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Feb 24 2012
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edinburgh

Bus fares are going up again in Edinburgh

Having lived in Edinburgh for less than two years, I have now witnessed two separate fare increases on Lothian Buses.

Lothian buses is publicly owned, and they are taking some serious heat for the latest round of fare hikes. They claim increased costs and cuts to government subsidies. Even though bus service is generally quite good, I see no apparent improvement in service hours or frequency as a result of the second annual fare increase.

Lothian buses are the primary operator for municipal buses in Edinburgh, but First Bus company (which is private) also operates in the city.  In Canada, municipal bus service is almost always operated by local governments or crown corporations.

That doesn’t always mean affordability, but in the UK there is a long nasty history of privatization in the transport sector. In most cases, service levels dropped and fares increased when train and bus routes were contracted out to private companies. Those companies slashed wages and cut staff levels, and several still couldn’t stay in business. Political pressure forced the government to intervene.

I’m told that bus drivers actually do quite well here in terms of salary, but I don’t really see users getting as much value here as they should be. The bus routing is not well done. Part of that can be attributed to the poor Edinburgh road system, and the current tram works on Princes street. However, even before that, there was always a logjam of buses on Princes Street and in the rural areas outside of Edinburgh, its common to see those big double decker buses with fewer than ten people on them.

There is only one express bus (to the airport) and you pay a premium to use that. You also have to pay a premium fare to travel on the night buses (even if you have a monthly pass).

Its difficult to make a direct comparison in service levels, but I was curious about just how those fares compared to my own country. I tried to focus on cities that were similar to Edinburgh, didn’t have metros or LRT systems, and were the central city for their region (not a suburb of a larger metro).

When I did the currency conversions, I found that single journey tickets and day passes in Edinburgh are still quite cheap compared to Canada, but you can often spend less in Canada on monthly passes, particularly when you factor in the public transit tax credit. There are concessions in Edinburgh as well, mainly the Scottish National Entitlement Card, which allows some young people and anyone over 6o or disabled to travel on the bus for free.

City Transit Operator Single Cash Fare DayPass Monthly Pass
Edinburgh, Scotland (pop. 486,000) Lothian Buses £1.40 £3.50 £51.00
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (pop. 345,000) BC Transit £1.58 £4.91 £53.94
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (pop. 516,000) Reseau de transport de la Capitale £1.62 £4.34 £47.40
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (pop. 663,000) Winnipeg Transit £1.62 N/A £48.82
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (pop. 692,000) City of Hamilton £1.62 N/A £55.11
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada(pop. 403,000) MetroTransit £1.42 N/A £44.33
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Feb 08 2012
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edinburgh, Film

Trainspotting at The Scotsman Hotel Cinema

For the longest time I didn’t know that there was a cinema in the basement of the Scotsman Hotel. When Aarti told me about it, I was very excited to check it out.

I had a picture in my head of one of those private screening rooms that people used to put in their houses, but was pleased to find out that it felt like a proper movie theatre… except with bigger comfier seats.

It was the two year anniversary of the Edinburgh Cinema Meetup Group and the film Trainspotting was chosen by popular vote.

I’d seen it before, but plenty of time had passed so I was a little hazy on some of the details.

It stars Ewan McGregor, Johnny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, and introduced Scottish actress Kelly MacDonald (who is now becoming famous for her role in Boardwalk Empire). It was directed by Danny Boyle and is based on a novel by Irvine Welsh (who has a small cameo in the film).

Welsh is from Leith (where I live), so even though the film is fifteen years old there are plenty of recognizable locations including the worst toilet in Scotland.

This is the Port O Leith Bar, which is out by the shore. Its a little better than it was in Welsh’s day, but I’m told it can still be a pretty rough place.

There is also a scene where the main characters are being chased down Princes street for shoplifting, and I was amazed at how remarkably similar the street looked compared to today.

There are plenty of memorable scenes from the movie, many of them disgusting. One that always freaked me out was Ewan McGregor coming off Heroin after having an overdose. He has some pretty disturbing hallucinations including one where he is being attacked by a dead baby crawling on the ceiling.

However, probably my favourite was the scene where after getting off at one of the most remote train stations in Scotland at Corrour near Loch Ossian, Ewan McGregor’s character gives an awesome speech about what it means to be Scottish.

When I saw the whole rant on a T-shirt, I very nearly bought it.

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Dec 16 2011
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edinburgh

Opening of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery

I’d been waiting for this gallery to re-open since I arrived in Scotland, and managed to go in early December. It has been undergoing renovations for the whole time I have been in Edinburgh as it expands into the entire building of its traditional Queen Street location. Finally getting inside is more than just idle curiousity.  More than just the artwork, the building is exceptional for many reasons. It is done in this red sandstone which is rare in Edinburgh and the statues placed overlooking the surrounding streets represent key figures in Scottish history and are all of amazing quality even though they are still shielded behind the protective black netting.

This is quite common in old Scottish buildings under restoration. Its my understanding that it keeps birds off the delicate areas and protects the public should a piece break off and fall.

Because I have been many times to the National Gallery on Princes Street some of the paintings and sculptures were a little familiar but most of it was entirely new for me. In the main hall, there was a huge Christmas tree and about 8 marble busts of important figures in Scottish history like Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, James Watt and others. When you look up, you see these murals between the different levels, with an even larger collection of historical figures. It was meant to be a kind of incomplete encyclopedia.

The Portrait Gallery is also home to a massive collection of photographs. An abstract painting of a young Billy Connolly guards the elevator a short distance from photographs of Sean Connery, James McEvoy, and other Scottish celebrities. Famous paintings of Robert Burns by Alexander Nasmyth and Sir Walter Scott by Henry Raeburn hang in the gallery. Henry Raeburn was one of the most famous Scottish artists and achieved remarkable success in his day, and the gallery includes many of his finer works. He painted many in the Scottish aristocracy, but has become best known for his portrait of the skating priest on Duddingston Loch which now hangs in the Princes Street Gallery.

The Skating Minister by Henry Raeburn

I liked the library very much. It had old copies of Treasure Island and busts of Burns and Stevenson, and a rather bizare portrait of JK Rowling. Old Victorian libraries are not the most functional of places but they did know their furnishing and how to study in fine surroundings.  

I found the murals on the 1st level to be very educational. You’d expect to see the Battle of Bannockburn, but you also see a lot of other events in Scottish history that are not frequently portrayed in the present day. Its a disadvantage of getting so much history knowledge from television programs and Neil Oliver from the BBC. Before widespread literacy, this is how people would visualize their history.

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Dec 16 2011
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Scotland

The Mysterious Rosslyn Chapel

Despite numerous recommendations, I admit that I never bothered to read the Davinci Code.  Even when they made it into a movie, I waited until it came out on dvd before finally seeing what all the fuss was about.

One of the scenes I remember well is when Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou discover the waiting members of the Priory of Scion at Rosslyn Chapel.

Before coming to Scotland, I was not surprised to learn that Rosslyn Chapel was attracting plenty of tourists long before getting Davinci Code publicity. Not only was it was a key stop among wealthy Victorians who were exploring the rich architecture of the Borders, but it was also an important pilgrimmage site for its connection to the Knights Templar, Free Masons, and the Holy Grail.

I’m not the type to believe in conspiracy theories, but after visiting it in person I can tell why so many people believe there is more of a story to this beautiful building.  The number of carvings and their beauty and precision is incredible for such a small church in a small village. It’s about a 40 minute bus ride from Edinburgh City Centre.

The 15th Century Rosslyn Chapel was initially intended to be much larger, but its founder, William St. Clair died before it could be completed.

Inside the chapel, there are 110 green men carvings. The exact meaning of them is not very clear, but they usually appear as a face with greenery around them and roots protruding from the mouth. They’re thought to be a symbol of fertility and renewal, and are believed to be pre-Christian in origin. It might seem odd to find pagan symbols in a Christian church, but these green men can be found in many other UK churches. There are many other Christian rituals and symbolism that can be traced back to pagan traditions.

The chapel itself is filled with images of animals and nature. There is a carving that many believe to be corn / maize from many years before North America was discovered.  Some take this as proof that William’s ancestor Henry had visited North America – some suspect that Henry was a member of the Knights Templar.

photo taken November 19, 2011

There is also a legend about the carved pillars in Rosslyn. St. Clair wanted one of the pillars to be based on a design that he had seen in Rome. Before beginning the work, the master mason wanted to study the pillar for himself so he journeyed to Rome. Travelling was far more difficult in those days, and such a trip would have taken him years. While he was away, his apprentice wanted to carve the pillar himself and when the master mason returned, he saw a pillar that overshadowed his own and flew into a rage. He struck his apprentice on the head with a mallet, killing him. The mason was convicted of the murder and executed, and a carving was produced so he would be forced to look down on his apprentice’s pillar for all eternity.

The crypt below the chapel has been sealed for centuries, which has fueled rumours of what might be buried there. It could be the remains of Mary Magdalene, the treasure of the Knights Templar, or even the Holy Grail itself. No one really knows.

An extensive search for an entrance was made in the 19th century, but none was found.

I don’t really believe in these myths of the Knights Templar or Free Masons, but Rosslyn Chapel is an architectural marvel and more than a fine example of medieval masonry. Its amazing how much of it has been preserved considering it was left empty for so many years.

Due to a problem with the damp, a protective cover (recently removed) was placed over it for nearly ten years while restoration work was done. Conservation work is still in progress, but most areas were accessible.

A new cafe, gift shoppe, and ticket center was also built to accommodate the tens of thousands of tourists visiting the chapel.

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Nov 06 2011
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edinburgh, Sport

Hockey in Edinburgh

Hockey is not a big sport in Britain. However, as a stereotypical Canadian, I had to find me some hockey.

I’ve been following some of the developments in the NHL, but it’s quite tough to watch games because of the 8 hour time difference between me and my Vancouver Canucks.

The local team is the Edinburgh Capitals, and they play in the top division of the British League. Unfortunately, the British League is not really on par with other European hockey countries like Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Germany. I’ve been out to watch a couple games, and the Capitals are the equivalent of a division 3 men’s league back in Vancouver.

Last year, they were bottom of the league, but they’ve been a little better the last few weeks.

To get back into it, I’ve started playing with a rec team, and have been borrowing the team equipment for the last couple weeks. I think I’d like to stay in Scotland a while longer, so I’ll have to see about getting my equipment over here.

As for watching NHL games, I’m curiously watching what happens in Winnipeg and have been pleasantly surprised by the performance of the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs. I’ll have to try to watch a couple more games instead of just the highlights.

I’ve got another training session this week to help me get back into shape, and then a game in a couple weeks.

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Aug 05 2011
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edinburgh

Edinburgh Tattoo

Last night, I finally went to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

I’d seen video from past years online and on TV, but being there was something else entirely.  Before now, I don’t think I was able to appreciate the scale and coordination that an event like this demands.

And these people have to do this twice a day for three weeks.

I was expecting that there would be pipe bands and highland dancing but was presently surprised by the Dutch Bicycle Band, Bavarian Music, the Field Gun Run, and the Brazilian Marine marching band.

The field gun run was probably one of my favourites.

There were a large number of props used over the course of the show, which was a pleasant surprise. To represent the current work of the navy and royal marines, they rolled out some masts, metal pipes, etc to represent a ship that was under attack by pirates.

I know its all meant to be family friendly, but I  still love pirates.  I even reread Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island a few months back to honour a favourite scottish author. I just wish they would stop making Jack Sparrow movies and let pirates be scary again.

The tattoo is really about the whole visual experience. Images are projected onto to Edinburgh Castle and fireworks and sound effects reinforce the stories they’re telling.

They said that the stands were new, but the seating was incredibly uncomfortable which was probably the only downside to the evening. Also, the little extras seemed highly overpriced. People had to pay £1 to hire a cushion, £7 for a programme, £14 for a dvd, etc.  I chalk it up to the tourist factor.

One thought I had when I was going in – and again when I was going out – was that the reason the castle was good for defense is also a reason that its a bad place for a stadium. There is only one way in.

On the other hand, it makes for a pretty unique  backdrop and was incorporated very well into the show. At the end, a loan piper played the farewell hymn from the top of the ramparts before everyone marched out.

Overall, the show was very high quality and I would definitely recommend seeing it.

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Mar 10 2011
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Food, Scotland, Thoughts and Musings

Pie

There are many truly amazing things about Scotland. Of course, there is the rich and often bloody history, the beautiful natural landscapes, and obviously the whiskey. One that often escapes mention is that you can get all you meat dishes in pastry form.

  • Sausage rolls
  • Cornish pasties
  • Steak pies
  • Scotch pies
  • Chicken/Steak bake

Some would say that this diet is not in your long term interest and those people would probably be right. However, it is essential to eat like a local as much as possible. In Scotland, that means takeaway shops. Pies and pasties have fuelled the Scottish working man for generations…who am I complain.

As you’d expect, there are some takeaway places that are just disgusting. Though the good ones call you back with their close proximity to home (or the pub) and the alluring and dominating scent of grease.  Gregg’s are a chain of bakeries, by far the biggest in the Edinburgh area. If you haven’t eaten in a while or don’t expect to, their steak and chicken bakes are a nice snack to get you through the next hour or two. The best thing about them is that they are warm and you can easily eat them while walking.  They’re not gross, but are definitely fast food. The Piemaker is on north bridge, and tastes much better than Gregg’s. It is just around the corner from the Jazz Bar, and is open late. Very convenient for a late night sausage roll.  Rose Street is another good one if I’m in the new town. For most other things, I tend to stop at the Tailend or Eatalia’s on Leith Walk. I’m sure there are better places to eat, but you can’t beat the convenience. A scotch pie is better enjoyed at home, where there are metal forks and warm chairs to sit in. I really can’t be bothered to walk 30 minutes to 1 hour for takeaway – it’s usually a cold walk and it really defeats the purpose. But in summary, meat and pastry is mmm….mmm…good

 

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