I'll Have the Cullen Skink, Please: See It, Say It, Sorted, UK Visit 2025 Part Two

One of the many great views from Edinburgh Castle

Here I am in Scotland raving about the cuisine. I’ve had Cullen Skink twice now and I remain very much in love with this delectable fish stew. I’ve also dined on salmon, sea bass, haddock and macaroni and cheese. The latter is served most everywhere here and is part of a hearty meal. Every salad I’ve had so far has been excellent and the desserts are delicious. Who knew?

Yesterday I trekked up and I do mean trekked and I do mean up — way up — from out hotel to the Edinburgh Castle which has been around in one form or another for well over 1,000 years. Many such tourist sites one visits are ultimately kind of meh but with this castle you get a lot of bang for your buck — or pound. The views are spectacular in all directions. One can see why it was such a formidable fortress and safe haven for the royals. Why anyone would even dream of attacking it beggars belief. The castle is well-preserved maintaining a middle ages look and feel while being sturdy with modern convinces like gift shops, toilets, and mini-museums tucked inside. There’s much to see and I took in as much as I could. But it is the views I’ll remember.

Today the missus and I walked the Royal Mile which is surely longer than the name suggests. We popped into three small museums: children’s, peoples and Edinburgh’s. I was not disappointed by any of them and especially liked the people’s which celebrated the hard lives of common folk who in most of the world for most of history have not had it easy. It was a sobering exhibition.

There were shops and pubs aplenty along the Royal Mile. Plenty of cashmere and tweed being sold. Some places make kilts. Whiskey is also purveyed. You can stock up with scarves, shawls, gloves and hats. We stopped in one of the endless pub/restaurants for another in a series of long, leisurely meals. 

Then we went to Scotland’s National Gallery. This is a serious museum with four floors of great art. We only had enough energy to explore two of said floors but we saw plenty and it ranged from the beautiful to the magisterial, no surprise given the artists included some of the greatest from both Great Britain and other parts of Europe.

When you’re not seeing quaint shops and pubs in Edinburgh you’re taking in views and beautiful ones at that. Sadly the parts of the city we’re exploring are overrun by tourists (yeah, like us). We know how annoying they can be. I imagine it’s far worse in the summer.

I began the previous post with a rant about showers and I nearly repeated it today. This hotel has another overly complicated system to get you either water that is too hot, too cold, coming too fast or too slow, that is if you can figure it all out in the first place. Anyway the food around here makes up for it. Especially the Cullen Skink. Yum.