Hogmanay in Edinburgh

We had gone to Canada for Christmas and decided to go to Scotland on the way

back to Australia. For no other reason than to experience Hogmanay in the land

of my distant ancestors

We arrived in Edinburgh on the first day of Hogmanay.
It was to be a three-day party.

The weather was cold and night came very early. Our hotel, The Scotsman,
was a fabulous old building that had been the headquarters of The Scotsman,
a major daily newspaper. It still had all the stained glass and wooden panels

of its original manifestation.

We looked down on Princes Street with its festival feeling of rides and lights.

The Scots are a hardy bunch to venture out in the cold.

The main event of the first night of Hogmanay was a torch parade through

the main street up to Calton Hill lead by a band of Scottish soldiers and a

band of Vikings. The Vikings hauled a longship behind them. At the top of the

hill there was a mock battle to the sounds of bagpipes and was it was meant to

end with the longship being thrown on a bonfire. The longship got bogged and

the cart broke an axle so the bonfire proceeded without it.

The snow was flurrying and there was something really primitive about the fire,

the torchbearers and the pipes in the night.

There were the inevitable street mimes trying to look scary in the dark.

And during the day there were plenty of Bravehearts to be photograph with

For a fee of course.

The next day we just meandered around the central shopping area and went into

Jenners, one of the oldest department stores in the United Kingdom.

We walked the Royal Mile, taking in Edinburgh castle and visited a weaving museum.

We arrived at St Giles Cathedral just as a wedding party was coming out.

Everyone looked so cold.

St Giles Cathedral dates mainly from the 14th and 15th centuries. There has been

a church on this site since the 9th century. It was here that John Knox struggled

to establish Presbyterianism.

 At the bottom of the Royal Mile we found a shop selling wonderful clothes from

young designers from all over Scotland. Omar encouraged me to over spend.

And how could I resist a label called ‘Angels Don’t Trudge’.

 

The bars were welcoming havens of warmth with Omar delighted to find that

fresh salmon and vegetables were a fixture of all bar menus. I tried all sorts of

Haggis. The wine was mainly Australian and the beer came by the pint.

The second night of Hogmanay involved a giant street party in George Street.

They were trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records with the most

people performing a Scottish reel at the same time. There were a couple of

training runs and I even got Omar dancing.

As part of the celebrations we came upon a Belgium street performance group

who were just setting out. The troupe consisted of a ringmaster, a diva, a clown

and a herd of three-story high red giraffes. The music was ethereal and the entire
effect was spectacular although a little odd.

To get down town we passed through the wonderful Waverley Station and wistfully watched all the trains leaving on other adventures.

The next day we walked through the New Town mainly looking at the architecture.

The area comprises a great example of Georgian Town Planning. In 1767 James Craig

won a competition to design a New Town. Robert Adam was responsible for many of  

the wonderful facades. The area was remained residential and has been lovingly

cared for. A wonderful place for meandering.

 We also visited the gallery at Holyrood Palace where there was a fabulous exhibition

of the Queen Elizabeth collection of Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawings, mainly characters

and caricatures. We took a tour of the Palace and were surprised at the thickness of the walls and the smallness of the rooms in the original section of the Palace. We visited

the room that Mary Queen of Scots slept in and where her Italian lover was executed.

The third night of Hogmanay was New Years Eve. We over-indulged in the hotel

and didn’t go out until quite late to catch the fire-works that exploded from the

hills of Edinburgh.

The next day was another long walk to Stockbridge. We had been told that there

were a lot of antique shops and cosy little eateries there. It is not a tourist location.

 Because of the time of year there weren’t many tourists in Scotland anyway.

We found a great shop that was run by a flamboyant gay couple who were
shutting their shop down and we bought a couple of 1950’s broaches designed
by Jacque Cocteau in Bakelite.

We also walked down to the docks to see the Royal Yacht Britannia.
Unfortunately because it was the off-season it was closed.

This was a pattern that we would find all across Scotland. We need to come back
when the weather is warmer.