When you only have a few hours to visit a city, you have to choose your strategy carefully. Trying to see everything at full speed? Focus on one neighborhood? Visit a landmark museum thoroughly?
Towards the end of a Hurtigruten cruise to the Northern Isles of the UK, our ship, the Maud, stops in Edinburgh for a few hours. I choose to take a guided tour of the historic district of the Scottish capital, the Royal Mile. If what I see interests me, I can always plan a more substantial visit.
The first part of the tour is a bus ride from Rosyth Harbor in the northwest of the town, with near-continuous narration from local guide Ed.
First observation, Edinburghers are very proud of the three bridges which cross the River Forth, built successively in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. The oldest is the second largest cantilever railway bridge in the world by length (regarding its clear span). We won’t tell the nice local guide, but the longest is the Quebec Bridge.
Ed tells us about the rivalry between Edinburgh, a pretty little capital, and Glasgow, a much more populous city. Once again, we think a little about Quebec.
Our bus also passes next to the new Scottish Parliament, a cool postmodern building with improbable angles completed in 2004. However, its architecture was not unanimous.
Finally, we set foot in the old town of Edinburgh, built astride a ridge of volcanic origin. At the very top, a large castle sits on a rocky outcrop. We head there leisurely along the Royal Mile, a street which successively takes the names Canongate and High Street. The guide recommends that we look left and right for the tiny lanes, the closes, that wind down the steep crest of the Royal Mile. They hide between the souvenir, cashmere and whiskey shops which follow one another.
Our guide takes us into the heart of the Old Town to visit St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh’s main church, founded in 1124. The current building dates back to the 15th century. “Our neighbors to the south liked to play with matches and burned them twice,” says our guide.
The interior of the church is interesting, but not enough to hold me for the 40 minutes planned for the tour. I sneak away to retrace my steps and explore some of the enclosures we only glimpsed along the way. Excellent decision. I find myself in a medieval world of stairs and narrow passages that lead here and there to nice restaurants.
I rejoin my group to continue the visit in peace, particularly at Greyfriars cemetery. Old Scottish cemeteries certainly have a special atmosphere. Part of it is closed to the public because the local ghosts there are said to be particularly mischievous…
Just outside, a statue commemorates Bobby, a police dog who spent the last 14 years of his life next to his master’s grave, tirelessly waiting for his return. The Scots are sentimental, it seems.
After admiring this important monument, we head down to Victoria Street and Grassmarket Street, which offer a nice variety of pubs and restaurants for thirsty and hungry tourists.
We go back up towards High Street and the castle esplanade by taking a narrow stone staircase. The visit is now over, we will not have time to take a stroll in the New Town, created in the 18th century to relieve congestion in the old town.
But the guide takes advantage of the return journey to tell us about Edinburgh’s worst serial killers, William Burke and William Hare, who in 1828 killed 16 people staying with them as lodgers to sell their bodies to a professor of anatomy not too careful. It’s an interesting anecdote, but it only covers a fraction of everything Edinburgh has to offer. Yes, we’ll have to come back!
