Week in Review: Week 24
This week we started our time in Edinburgh. We are visiting Edinburgh on an 11 day house sit, and are loving the city so far! This is the longest we have stayed in one city, which allows us to have a slower pace as we see the sights. Our house sit has been going great, and we have an adorable Jack Russell/Pug named Cookie to keep us company. We are still in Edinburgh for another 5 days, so we have plenty of time to see more of this beautiful city.
Highlight of the week
Sharleen: Downtime. As mentioned above, we will be in Edinburgh for 11 days, which means we can relax a little bit and not cram all of our activities into 1-3 days. Our first few days in Edinburgh were a bit rainy and cool, so we stayed inside being lazy and watching Netflix. It was awesome! We have only had 4 of these days in almost 6 months, so it was a real treat! We are also staying in a cozy home with great amenities, so we were able to make some homemade soup, Sheppard’s pie, and other tasty meals to keep us warm on the cooler rainy days.
Darrell: Location in Edinburgh. Our house sit is right in the heart of Edinburgh. We are in a prime location for seeing all of the popular sights, going on great walks, and less then a block away from grocery stores and restaurants. We are only a 15 minute walk from the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle, so we’ve enjoyed walking into the city to do a little bit of sight seeing each day. Most of the time we stay in suburbs or outside of major cities to keep the costs of accommodations down. But here we are in a great neighbourhood and our accommodations were free because we are house sitting! It’s the best situation really.
Least favourite part of the week
Sharleen: Bruised my thumbs. We’ve been super fortunate to not have any serious injuries, sickness, or medical issues while we’ve been away. Just a couple bumps and bruises. For some reason, my nails have caused me the most issues. My two big toenails were completely bruised after our Trolltunga hike in Norway, and I’m shocked they didn’t fall off (they were 100% black and blue and healing slowly). Now this week I injured both of my thumbs while doing laundry….of all things! I was trying to fold up a drying rack, and pinched both of my thumbs on the sides of the rack. My right thumb bruised up right away, and both thumbs have been quite sore. Hopefully they heal up fast, and hopefully we continue with our good health as we head into the cooler months of winter.
Darrell: The British Pound exchange rate. We knew the UK was going to be more expensive than other places we have visited, especially since we have spent the last few months in the cheaper Balkan countries. However, it has taken us a little while to fully adjust to how expensive it is! The issue is that when we see the price tags in stores or restaurants, we think the prices are reasonable – ie: entrée dishes for £12 – that seems like a reasonable price, but when the pound is converted to Canadian dollars, it is 80% more! This is the first time our Canadian dollar exchange seems to be really bad, and is giving us flashbacks to Scandinavia. The costs wouldn’t be bad if we could find a way to earn some British pounds, hmm maybe the lottery, but that isn’t likely to happen.
Favourite city/town/village visited
Sharleen and Darrell: Edinburgh. Since arriving in Edinburgh last Thursday, we haven’t even driven our car! It’s been great to plant ourselves in one place, and as mentioned above, we are in a great location to explore the city. This week we’ve really just taken some time to walk the beautiful streets. We’ve loved the Royal Mile, taking in the views of Edinburgh Castle and the beautiful gothic architecture of the city, walking through Dean Village and seeing some beautiful old houses, exploring the nearby parks with Cookie, and shopping along Princes Street. We feel really comfortable in this city, and are looking forward to doing more touristy things over our last few days here.
Favourite meal
Sharleen: Our full meal at Whiski. Since we are staying in a house, we’ve actually done most of our cooking at home. But we splurged one night and had a great meal at Whiski on the Royal Mile. We did the whole 9 yards – shared a haggis appetizer (our first haggis experience!), had delicious entrees (I had a steak and ale pie, and Darrell had a burger), enjoyed some Scottish beers, shared two amazing desserts (sticky toffee pudding and cranachan), and shared a 4 dram flight of Speyside whiskies. We were quite full afterwards, but the meal was amazing. Hands down, the best parts were the haggis and desserts. The desserts paired so well with the whiskies, and we took our time savouring every mouthful.
Darrell: Curry bowl at Ting Thai Caravan. We are staying right near the University of Edinburgh, which means we are close to some amazing cheap eat restaurants. We walked by Ting Thai Caravan during one of our days out, and noticed a huge line up outside the restaurant. A few days later we read about how great the food is there, so we decided to check it out for lunch one day. It was amazing! We both love spicy Asian food, and the Thai selection here is great. I had a red curry bowl with coconut rice, and it was super tasty! Fortunately it wasn’t too busy when we visited, but it quickly filled up as the lunch rush came in. I can definitely understand why people wait to get a seat – the food was outstanding! We will likely visit at least one more time while we are in town.
We are in Edinburgh until Tuesday, so we are looking forward to seeing even more of this awesome city! We are planning to hike to Arthur’s seat, see the Real Mary King’s Close, and visit a few museums. After Edinburgh we head north through the Highlands up near Inverness. Edinburgh is our last major city for the next 3 weeks, so we will enjoy the comforts of city living while we are here!
