Edinburgh: Down The Rabbit Hole (Part 1)

Staring at the evening sky in Old Town Edinburgh, our eyes followed bright white seagulls navigating through narrow streets, purposefully peeking into windows of the upper-level flats. It made us wonder if these birds were the inspiration for the messenger owls of J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” books.

You’ll most likely catch a literary bug while wandering through the City’s streets. However, for us, exploring the city and writing about our Edinburgh adventure has turned out to be quite a challenge. Edinburgh — down the rabbit hole we go!

Visiting Scotland, and Edinburgh, in particular, was a dream come true. Its vast cultural, historical, and mystical heritage is what attracted us to the City, and also what we found overwhelming. How does one explore all the riches Edinburgh has to offer in such a limited time?! How does one put it into an article!? Well… We’ll start with Haggis and Camera Obscura & Museum of Illusions. 😊

Haggis

Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish, consisting of chopped heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep, along with other ingredients. It has found its place on multiple “weirdest dishes in the world” lists, simply because of what it’s made of. Because of this… we had to try it! And haggis was surprisingly delicious!

Cheating or just playing it safe – we ordered an appetizer version of haggis, as recommended by our server at The Castle Arms, a friendly pub close to Camera Obscura & World of Illusions. Our haggis appetizer was fried in a crispy dough, so it was like having a hush puppy with haggis inside. It was super flavorful, and in a way reminded us of a meat pie! So, if you are curious, we suggest ordering haggis as an appetizer first!

Camera Obscura & World of Illusions

When planning our trip to Edinburgh, Camera Obscura and World of Illusions was hands-down one of the must-see spots on our itinerary in Scotland. And we had a blast!

The Camera Obscura itself is a totally out-of-time, one-of-a-kind experience. This 166-year-old device is properly claimed to be the original virtual reality device of Victorian Times, even before the invention of cinematography. Nothing like we’ve ever seen!

In the beginning your group gathers in a pitch dark room atop of the tower. All of a sudden a round table illuminates with the live image of the Edinburgh streets down below. You can see tiny figures of actual people walking up and down in real-time, and you can build bridges for them or just swat at cars and people.

To our knowledge there are only 24 Camera Obscuras in the entire world that are open to the public. Two of them happen to be near our home in the San Francisco Bay Area (note to self: must explore soon 😊). However, the Camera Obscura in Edinburgh has its own unique technology! And, just imagine how many historical figures have visited before you, sharing the experience. Mind-blowing!

The top terrace of Camera Obscura & World of Illusions provides a 360-degree panoramic view of Edinburgh. We could see as far as the Firth of Forth and The Kingdom of Fife! 😊 Sounds pretty impressive, doesn’t it? It was! Most fantastic view of Fife and the Firth of Forth in all of Edinburgh. Whew! (That’s for you, Stuart!)

Here are a couple of other shots from our collection.

Besides the fascinating optics instrument and spectacular views, Camera Obscura & World of Illusions in Edinburgh is also an incredible interactive museum for all ages, kids AND adults who still keep their inner child alive.

It’s fun, sometimes bizarre, and unpredictable with hidden treasures and hands-on exhibits strewn throughout its five floors.

FIVE FLOORS OF FUN AND GOOFINESS!

If you’d like to see it for yourself, Camera Obscura and World of Illusions is located right in front of Edinburgh Castle, at the beginning of the Royal Mile.

Old Town & The Royal Mile

Nicknamed the Royal Mile, High Street is a wide boulevard lined with shops, restaurants, and museums. It runs from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Abbey. The Royal Mile is definitely worth exploring, and being the heart of Old Town Edinburgh, there is a lot to see. Although, on a warm weekend day, this area is particular popular.

The line-up of street performers on the Royal Mile was very intriguing.

Like this bedazzled audience, we too couldn’t figure out this magic trick. Pretty amazing, isn’t it?

And this musician was so enchanting!

The maze of alleys, wynds, and streets surrounding the Royal Mile will keep you enthralled with the Gothic romanticism of Edinburgh for hours, above and beneath the ground. One of our regrets is that due to the time constraints we did not get a chance to see Real Mary Kings Close below our feet. However, our friend Crystal has a fantastic blog post “Discovering The Truth Behind Mary Close” on her experience there, check it out!

The legendary restaurants, like The Witchery (reservations are a must, and we’ll have to dine there next time in Edinburgh), fabled Whisky Tours, museums, and the Elephant House Café of J.K.Rowling fame where she wrote some of the Harry Potter Books — The Royal Mile is a great way to spend some time.

Victoria Street

One of the most charming merchant streets in Old Town is Victoria street, the inspiration for the Diagon Alley of the Harry Potter books, and it is “muggle” accessible. (In the books, “muggle” is a person who is a member of the non-magical community.)

Even if you are not a Harry Potter fan, don’t miss the Museum Context shop on Victoria Street. This home of “Curiosities for the Curious” is excellently curated, and it’s tons of fun to look around!

Here is a close up of one of the exhibits:

Along with Harry Potter memorabilia, Museum Context has an array of unusual souvenirs, artisanal artifacts, and curiosities galore, as advertised. This gorgeous looking letter-writing kit definitely caught our attention. It looked like it was transported straight from Jane Austen’s novels.

Speaking of shops, you might find yourself in search of a cashmere store. A Scottish cashmere scarf would be a perfect wearable memory of your travels in Edinburgh. There will be racks of these scarves all along the Royal Mile and Old Town. But are they really cashmere, and are they really made in Scotland? That’s something to keep in mind while purchasing one.

The real ones will cost more, as expected, but worth every penny. Personally, we loved the collection at Balmoral Cashmere Factory Outlet on Johnston Terrace (by Edinburgh Castle). However, there are several boutiques scattered around, so you’re sure to find a great Scottish cashmere scarf to fit your budget and taste.

Practicalities

Edinburgh is pretty easy to navigate both on foot and by bus. Also, the fact that we stayed right by Old Town helped quite a bit. Speaking of hotels, we stayed at DoubleTree by Hilton Edinburgh City Center. The location is truly unbeatable, right in the heart of Edinburgh, a short walk from the Royal Mile, and a couple of minutes from bus stops and convenience stores. There are two adjoining restaurants to the hotel: Bread Street Brassiere, that serves full breakfast that can be included with your hotel room booking, and the Monboddo restaurant.

Monboddo was a great place to chill out after a day of sightseeing with a glass of wine or their signature cocktail and pick through an amazing menu of small plates to share. The finger-licking chicken wings with tangy dipping sauce were our favorite, and we ordered it more than once during our stay in Edinburgh.

If you are visiting Scotland for the pub and bar scene, Edinburgh won’t let you down. We loved the The Blue Blazer pub right across the street from our hotel. This traditional pub is where locals and tourists gather to chat over a pint of beer or favorite ale.

So on that note, cheers to you! And in Part 2 of this series, we’ll uncover the mysteries and secrets of Rosslyn Chapel, of “Da Vinci Code” fame.

And, for more of our adventures in Europe, check out our Ireland, Iceland, and Spain articles to start with.

PS: We’ve yet to read the Harry Potter books, or see all the movies from beginning to the end… No matter how many pictures we took, we wouldn’t be able to share them with our friend. She’d absolutely love them. She was the kindest, wisest soul we’ve ever met and the biggest “Potterhead” we know. Fly high, Athena. We miss you… Every. Single. Day.

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