We timed our visit to Edinburgh well, escaping Toronto’s heat just as it exceeded 30C for the first time this year. The much cooler and windier Scottish weather is a bit of a shock, though.
One of our first stops after securing our bags at the bus station (on the advice of the very friendly “left luggage” man at Waverly Station who gave us detailed directions that saved us about $20) was to wander south to Cockburn Street, where my maternal grandfather was born. Josie took this photo of me in a similar pose to a photo of my cousin Mike taken when he visited Edinburgh.
A short walk north into Edinburgh’s New Town is St. Andrew Square, featuring the pillar honoring Henry Dundas, the first Viscount of Melville.
The town of Dundas in Ontario, and Dundas Street in Toronto are both named after him — Dundas was also friends with John Graves Simcoe. Canadian connections are not hard to find in Scotland.
Just off St. Andrew Square we found the Edinburgh outpost of Dishoom, a restaurant we enjoyed a few years ago when we visited London. They had a very nice breakfast, including granola with fruit, a delicious bacon naan roll, and some much-needed caffeine.
Feeling a bit more energized, we wandered at random, heading down past the castle to the Grassmarket area. Along the way we popped into some of the many closes, tiny alleyway streets that jut off from the main roads.
In the area we passed by Castle Rock Hostel, the first place I stayed when I began my five-month backpacking tour of Europe back in 2003. A lot has changed so it was nice to see this place intact and looking exactly as I remembered.
