Food Tour – Edinburgh

On Tuesday, August 19, we met at the Paddington Bear statue in St. Andrew Square to meet Luana our guide and six others to go on a food tour. Paddington had already started.

This was the best designed food tour we’ve gone on. It started with soup, then appetizers, main course, cheese and dessert. At the Cafe Royal, we began with Cullen Skink, a thick Scottish soup made of smoked haddock, potatoes, and onions.

Inside the Cafe Royal

The Edinburgh skyline

Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle here. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age.

Arcade Haggis and Whiskey House was our second stop, where we had appetizers of fried haggis balls.

Our main dish was served here at the Royal Mile Tavern. The Royal Mile runs between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace, and has a total length of one mile, 107 yards.

Our dinner: steak and ale pie and a half pint of beer

Walter Francis Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch, was a prominent Scottish nobleman, landowner and politician.

Victoria Street, the most photographed street in Edinburgh

Somewhere along here, we had our cheese course, consisting of 3 different cheeses

Gail on Victoria Street

Edinburgh Castle

The Kilted Donut, site of our last course. We were so full, we took it home to eat later.

Grassmarket was, from 1477, one of Edinburgh’s main market places, a part of which was given over to the sale of horses and cattle (the name apparently deriving from livestock grazing in pens).

Edinburgh Castle

Gail and I at the end of the tour

St John’s Scottish Episcopal church, dedicated in 1818

Our bus ride home was difficult. After barely missing our first bus, the second bus simply didn’t show up. Then workers came by and set up a construction zone. The third bus was late and, of course, very crowded. Despite this the day was a great one.

Tomorrow we’ll see our first Fringe show with the Oxford Imps.