Roadtrip to Edinburgh - April 2025
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| Roadtrip to Edinburgh - April 2025 | |
| Today we drove from Manchester to Edinburgh via Perth. We drove 483 km in 5 hours and 25 minutes. Our average driving speed was 89 km/h. Much faster driving today as most of the trip was on motorway from Manchester up the M6 into Scotland and then the M74 and various other numbers to Perth, then back down the M90 over the Queensferry bridge to just outside Edinburgh where we are tonight. | |
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| On the M6 we were held up a bit by a wide load taking almost two lanes. This turned to be a very literal "house-move"! | |
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| There were a few hills and dales, but no spectacular views form the motorway. There were plenty of sheep though, with a lot of new lambs getting used to eating grass. A real sign of spring on a day that looked a lot warmer than it turned out to be once out of the car! | |
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| Hild found a nice beach on Strathclyde loch outside Motherwell. It was a great spot to have lunch at the back of Percy. There were plenty of ducks and geese on the grass as well as lots of people and a few dogs. | |
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After lunch it was mostly motorway again to Perth, Scotland.
As there are many cities called Perth around the world
(and we have spent time in a few of them!) we feel it is
important to point out which one we are referring to, but
this is probably the original. We tried to find a good spot
with the name so we could send a picture to our Aussie friends
(from that Perth), but it seems like all the old buildings have
been renamed or something, so we were stuck with the station!
Our friend Patty said that the photo looks like we were standing in front of the old Perth Airport (the Australian one)! | |
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| There were some nice interesting bits in Perth: a sneaky passage between two buildings turned out to have flood gates and a small stream flowing under it! | |
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| We spotted this old Morris Traveller in Perth. It brought back many memories for Rob from when they were kids. They loved riding in the back "Where the dogs sits". | |
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Along the River Tay we saw several sculptures but we're not sure
that the significance of the pineapple was. Surprisingly, pineapple
was grown for the first time in 1731 - championed by Earl of Dunmore.
We saw this funny sign outside a restaurant near the Town Hall: "Eat here or we both starve"! | |
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And finally we crossed the Firth of Forth to get to Queensferry
over the new bridge. We thought this would be a good option so
that we could see the original Forth Bridge and the Forth Road bridge.
Both of these were very special when they were built:
In 1890 it was the world's first major steel structure and is
the major train route north from Edinburgh. The Forth Road Bridge was
opened in 1964 and is still one of the longest suspension bridges.
However, as you can see from the picture above, the engineers who built the
Queensferry Crossing decided to put barriers in the way of getting a good view!
Humph. But by then we were at our hotel so we weren't too disappointed.
The next day we drove through Queensferry and got a better view of the two bridges. | |
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| In the morning we went for a "wild goose chase" in the southern parts of Edinburgh. We were looking for the house where Janet did her 2 years of nursing training. In the 50s this was an orphanage. We don't know the exact address other than it was close to the Steiner School and on the road to the army base. Some discussion with Janet lead us to Colinton Road. There were many nursing homes on the road and in this neighbourhood. Some research online lead us to 22 Colinton Road - option number one. | |
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| Another option is what is now known as "Colinton Care Home" at 69 Spylaw Road. | |
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| Another option is 30 Colinton Road which used to have "Edinburgh Home for Babies and School of Mothercraft". In 1979 the residential home closed and the organisation was converted to the Avenel Trust awarding grants to children. At 30 Colinton Road we now find The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We can't find photos of the original building online. | |
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Across the road we also found George Watson's College, which looks like it would have been
there in the 50s too.
Even if we don't know the answer, it was a fun day investigating the neighbourhood. | |
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| After exploring this suburb, we drove to downtown Edinburgh to do some sightseeing and meet up with JR during his tour of Scotland. We parked at a very handy car park on the Castle Terrace. We immediately got a good view of the castle and how very steep it is - sitting on its high volcanic rock. | |
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In Princess Street Gardens we visited the statue of "Bum" the dog from San Diego,
Edinburgh's twin city. In San Diego there is a statue of "Greyfriars Bobby".
According to the well-loved legend, when Bobby's owner died, he refused to leave
his master’s grave, pining there for 14 years until he too died.
Later we did have dinner at "Greyfriars Bobby" restaurant - because we wanted genuine "Haggis, neeps and tatties" and "Haggis sausage and Mash". | |
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| We also visited the memorial for Wojtek the bear. Similar to the story of the real Winnie the Bear (Winnie the Pooh), Wojtek was adopted by soldiers. Wojtek worked during the war and then lived out his life in Edinburgh Zoo. | |
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| There was also a cute elephant that served both as climbing structure for visiting children and as a memorial for 250 babies. Over a period of 40 years parents were told that there were no ashes to scatter after the cremation of their babies. However, remains were being secretly buried in the garden of remembrance at Mortonhall Crematorium. | |
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| Hild wanted to visit the famous floral clock at the edge of Princess Park, but it had not been planted yet this year, so we had to enjoy other flowers in the park in stead. | |
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| During our walk around town, we also admired the Scott Monument. The writer Sir Walter Scott sitting comfortably at the base. Hild being not well-versed in poetry had to look up what Scott has written. Other than poems, he also wrote Ivanhoe, which even Hild knows about. We did not climb the 287 steps to the top of the monument. Hild remember climbing it some time in the 80s - it was very narrow staircases then and probably just as narrow now! | |
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A block away from Scott we found Paddington! Yeah! He is so cute with his marmalade
sandwich, and he was willing to have our photo taken with him. He would not share
his sandwich and gave Rob a hard Paddington stare when he suggested it.
JR had told us that Paddington was sitting in St Andrew Square Garden.
We automatically assumed that the bloke at the top of the monument would be "St. Andrew". We were wrong. It is a statue of Henry Dundas (1742-1811). Reading up on his life and legacy one can possibly expect that he will be cancelled one day - together with most others who lived back then. | |
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| Edinburgh is perfect for Rob's love of stairs. Wherever we went, there were stairs. Navigation is a challenge because the third dimension is crucial for figuring out how to get from A to B. We frequently found ourselves on a road several metres below where we wanted to be. At Warriston's Close stairs Rob started sprightly on step 1 of 100, then feeling a bit concerned, and knackered near the top. | |
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| Walking along Victoria Street we caught a photo of all the colourful storefronts. There was a very long lineup of people waiting to get into the Harry Potter store. | |
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| We had no time for shopping because we wanted to get to the top of Calton Hill. The climb was good cardio. The weather was perfect with sun and blue sky. This is not typical for Edinburgh. We could clearly see all the way to the castle. | |
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| In the other direction we could see Arthur's Seat in the distance and the Palace of Holyrood House, where we were heading next. It was a wonderful time to catch up with JR. | |
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On Calton Hill stands the National memorial to soldiers and
sailors from Scotland who perished in the Napoleonic Wars.
We also found the monument for Dugald Stewart (1753-1824) who was a Scottish philosopher and mathematician. | |
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Also on Calton Hill stands Observatory house, which looks like a museum but is actually for rent.
One part accommodates 4 people and there is also a 2-person apartment for short-term rent.
It is not in our price range.
Also on the site, the City Observatory was built in 1818. In recent years it had fallen into disrepair and since 2013 it has been renovated and is used now by the Collective art gallery. | |
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| It was a day for monuments, and on our way down the hill to Holyrood we walked by the Burns Monument in honour of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns (1759-96). The garden has his favourite flowers, but it was the wrong time of year to spot them: hare-bell, foxglove and roses. We did see daisies, but we're not sure if Burns liked gorse. | |
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| We got to the Palace at Holyrood and did not feel like paying the entry fee for such a short visit. | |
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In stead we enjoyed a cup of tea at their cafe -
resting our feet before the hike along the Royal Mile back to the Castle.
... and in true Robert Burns spirit: we enjoyed haggis, neeps and tatties for dinner at Greyfriars Bobby Bar. | |
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The next day, JR had to return to Canada while we decided to climb up Arthur's Seat.
We chose a short-cut by climbing up past St Anthony's Chapel Ruins. The height of the
steps leading up the stairs was something else altogether!
Supposedly, the Chapel is from the 15th century and belonged to Kelso Abbey. Apart from that, most sources don't seem to know much about the ruins. We liked the photogenic windows in the ruins. | |
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| We climbed to the top of Arthur’s Seat during our honeymoon in 1995. Now we were back 30 years later in 2025. From grassy slopes... to the ... | |
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| ...very rocky top of the volcanic outcropping. | |
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| With such a wonderful sunny day we got a great view over Edinburgh and surrounding areas. | |
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| On the way up and down Arthur's Seat we got nice close-up photos of flowering gorse bushes. So beautiful against the bright blue sky. | |
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| Back down at the car park we snapped some photos of these swans in St Margaret's Loch. Never mind having all your ducks in a row - we had all these swans in a row! | |
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| A couple of fun sightings in Edinburgh: a lone piper - as can be expected, and a fun shopfront: "Och Aye The Moo"!! | |
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Postscript: It was time to turn our noses southward. Next stop: Gary and Vanessa's in Bishopthorpe outside York. | |
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April 2025