September 2022

We are very lucky to have friends (Laura and Colin) living in Edinburgh. It means that we always have an ‘excuse’ to visit this fantastic city. This would be Cillian’s first trip to Auld Reekie, so we would need to sprinkle it with child friendly activities. Starting with a visit to Edinburgh Zoo with Gran and Papa.

Corstorphine Hill

To the west of the city is a steep hill with fantastic views of Edinburgh. That’s the bonus prize one gets by making it through the zoo, Edinbugh Zoo, which has delighted locals and tourists alike since 1913. Unlike the steel cage menageries that were the ‘style at that time’ in Victorian England, the zoo was modelled on the ‘open design’ of Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg, Germany.

There are a number of sections – the Budongo Trail (chimpanzees) and Monkey House, the Giant Pandas (until December 2023), Giraffe House and the Magic Forest were some of Cillian’s favourites. We also saw some Queensland Koala’s – the only ones outside of Australia.

Penguins Rock is another popular exhibition – houses colonies of Gentoo, King and Northern Rockhopper penguins. The first group of three King Penguins arrived in January 1914 and the Zoo was the first to introduce a penguin breeding programme and have it’s first hatchling in captivity 5 years later. Those first three arrived as part of whaling expedition which docked in nearby Leith.

Today the most celebrated penguin at the zoo is Major General Sit Nils Olav III, Baron of the Bouvet Islands. He is the third generation of the original King penguin to be adopted by the Norwgian’s Kings Guard – a military unit that was visiting Edinburgh for the Military Tattoo in 1972. With each visit of the regiment back to Edinburgh over the years the penguin has been promoted. In 2008 the latest incumbent was made a Knight and it culminated with a ceremony presided over by the King of Norway – King Harald V and 130 of his guard.

During our visit to the zoo we noticed a number of brightly painted Giraffe statues, part of an art project called Giraffe About Town. There were 40 all up, each sponsored by a charity or community initiative and used to celebrate the city’s rich heritage and cultural diversity. After spending time ‘about town’ they were gathered back at the zoo to be auctioned off for charity.

When we reached the summit of ‘Zoo Hill’ we were treated to that fine view of the city as Cillian was treated to some fantastic ‘dinosaur’ statues. Moving, roaring animatronic dinos – practically the real thing for a 2 year old.

To the Castle and back

After spending the day at the Zoo we were dropped off to Laura and Colin’s place in Leith. As usual they were the ultimate hosts and had put on an early birthday party for Cillian, who would turn two a couple of weeks later on.

The next day we spend some time on national politics (watching the Queen’s funeral on tv) and local politics – exploring the opposition to the (then) under construction Tram Line. Rebel Bear, aka the Scottish Banksy, summed up the mood with a piece on Casselbank Street.

After walking up Leith Walk and past Edinburgh Rail Station we started the ascent to the Edinburgh Castle, the traffic giving way to pedestrians as we walked up the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is a collection of streets along the main thoroughfare from the Castle and contains a number of landmarks and important buildings such as the Old Parliament House of Scotland, Edinburgh City Chambers, the Court of Sessions, part of Edinburgh University and others.

As we made our way up to the Castle we stopped into St. Giles Cathedral, something that we could not have done easily just a week before as it was here that the body of HRH Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest for 24 hours to allow the people of Scotland to pay their respects, and the Queen’s children performed the Vigil of the Princes. On the day we visited you could still see it was set-up for crowd control but it was fairly empty so we were able to spend some time exploring.

Outside by the West Door of the cathedral is a heart-shaped pattern is built into the road. This is called the ‘Heart of Midlothian’ and marks the site of the now demolished Old Tolbooth building. A municipal building used as a parliament, tax collection house and most famously as a prison. It’s legacy lives on in the work of Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott, in the same titled novel The Heart of Midlothian. The writer attended the demolition and obtained the iron entrance door and key to incorporate into his mansion near Melrose down in the Scottish Borders. It also inspired the name of one of Edinburgh’s football teams – Hearts of Midlothian.

There is another statue, dedicated to another Scottish writer Adam Smith, the author of The Wealth of Nations – a very famous treatise and manual for economics. It was Smith who coined the phrase ‘the invisible hand’ to describe the effects of self-interest and competition on society.

We continued up the Royal Mile and at the top of the hill we arrived at the entrance to the Esplanade, a large parade ground in front of the castle itself – which was…. closed! Being the Queen’s funeral we forgot that all public buildings would be shut! Oh dear. That’s the 2nd time John had made it all the way up the Royal Mile in his life and not gotten into the Castle. Hopefully it would be third times the charm on our next visit

After getting knocked back we walked down the hill but this time we turned right, walking over George IV Bridge and headed towards Candlemaker Row to visit it’s most famous resident – Greyfriars Bobby. This statue is of a Skye Terrier dog who for fourteen years stood guard over the grave of his owner. His loyalty and dedication to his deceased owner has become legend – with many books, poems and even a movie made about it starring James Cosmo and Christopher Lee of all people. A year after his death the statue was erected and it is now a very popular tourist attraction and a pub with the same name is located just across the road. It is said that if you rub the dog’s nose that you will have good luck but not the case for Edinburgh City Council who have to spend a considerable amount of money to fix the statue when it gets too shiny and worn. After all that walking we ducked into the George IV bar for a drink and some pub grub.

Water World

The next morning we went walking around the Leith foreshore – starting with some breakfast and some decent coffee at the Victor Hugo Deli. There is a rich history among the cobblestones and piers in Leith. A bust dedicated to Admiral John Hunter – a British Royal Navy officer who became only the second governor general of New South Wales in 1795. The Hunter Valley and Hunter Street in Sydney are named after this local boy from Leith. There is also a harpoon gun statue to acknowledge the impact that Norwegian whaling and cargo shipping company Christian Salvesen has had on the city. It was one of expeditions in 1913 that brought those first penguins to Edinburgh Zoo. The entire area is fascinating – there is even a signal tower and battlement built after Napoleon’s victory at Austerlitz in 1805.

For those interested in learning more about the area – you can check out the below link.

Leith Eurowalk

We then walked along the Leith River and on old railway lines that have been converted into walkways and cycle paths that take you on a woodland adventure through the heart of this part of the city. After a good while we connected to another path – the Victoria Path and looped back towards the Newhaven Harbour and it’s lighthouse. This former village on the Firth of Forth has some of the best fish and chips in the city – so we stayed for some dinner here at The Fishmarket. The harbour itself was built by King James IV who wanted to build a strong Scottish navy. The lighthouse was added much later in 1869.

And that was another fantastic trip to Edinburgh in the books!