I wake up on Saturday morning and look out of the window. In the far distance, a commercial airliner is cutting its way across the sky and the trick of perspective makes it look as if it's flying at the same height as Edinburgh Castle's steep escarpment. No, I'm not on drugs (yet!) but I am in that very special city.
Our relationship with Edinburgh goes right back through the Fringe where number 1 child had her first big theatre hit (going on eventually to the National in London), via a splendid 50th birthday weekend with a big team from our home village, through two children who had cumulatively seven brilliant years at university here to the dim and distant annual trips to the Scottish Schools Lacrosse Championships and a very dear and rather eccentric aunt and uncle. Yes, it's been a lifetime of fabulous weekends, short breaks and much more. Love it!
This time we are here to enjoy my beloved's Christmas present (from me so I'm enjoying it too) which is a night at the Castle with Deacon Blue, one of our favourite and very Scottish live bands. So... a great band playing with an iconic backdrop in one of our favourite cities.
Friday night and we are installed in our little flat near Grass Market which is excellent in all respects except for the three flights of steep, winding stairs required to reach it. I'm good with this despite the dodgy knee but my beloved less so. He's carrying heavier luggage, I guess.
We've already booked Dusit https://www.dusit.co.uk which is a superb Thai restaurant where the food and the service is off the scale. Delicious and at least we have three flights of stairs to help us walk it off! Also this is a good thing because we have planned breakfast early - we're outside the doors when it opens - at the belly-busting Southern Cross just off the Royal Mile. We have fed all our team there at one time or other and breakfast is always enough to keep you going till mid-afternoon. Plus I have a great photograph of us there with number 1 showing off her brand new diamond engagement ring with her brand new fiancé. Happy memories.
Because we've been here so many times it isn't easy to find somewhere within walking distance that we haven't already visited. At this stage I'm not counting out going to Holyrood Palace again because I love the stain on the floor where Mary Queen of Scots' secretary Rizzio was murdered before her very eyes. Actually she's one of my two favourite beheaded queens - the other being Anne Boleyn of course. There's very little doubt that the bloodstain on the floor is artificially enhanced but I just love the drama of it!
Anyway, not Holyrood this time but the Royal Botanic Gardens https://www.rbge.org.uk which are situated in Stockbridge and you can take the charming and shady Leith river walk to get there away from the city pavements and bustle. And on a beautiful sunny day the Gardens are perfect and peaceful. In various shady glades on our walk round there are chairs set up for weddings - I am so happy for the brides and grooms that they have this glorious weather and fabulous setting.
After a bit of a sit-down in front of Wimbledon on the telly as we are a bit longer in the tooth than we once were, we head out for a cheapo supper in Grass Market and to join the queue to go into the Castle. The staging and seating which are put up every year for the Tattoo (which we've also been lucky enough to attend courtesy of the Intrepid Granny) is amazing and this year a whole host of bands have been booked to ensure that the auditorium is full for plenty of nights before the Tattoo comes to town.
Deacon Blue is the musical equivalent of the Saltire - the only other band we have heard live which is so intrinsically Scots is The Proclaimers. This is our third Deacon Blue concert and we are instantly immersed by the glorious harmonies of Ricky Ross and the incomparable Lorraine McIntosh. These are anthems for the place and time and so filled with Scottishness (yes, a real word) that I have to subsume my Englishness for the duration of the concert. But this is exactly why we wanted to see the band in Scotland rather than south of the border. And very special it was.
Finally just before we head home, we visit another of our favourite breakfast spots, Victor Hugo in the Meadows. Sadly this has completely gone to pot and after an hour of waiting having ordered and paid for pastries and coffee we give up and get a refund. Such a shame that this once-lovely place is no longer a winner. But if that is Edinburgh's only disappointment it's a small blip in a very fine weekend. Now feeling jealous of folks going to the Fringe this year.
Postscript: My knee which has caused a fair amount of discomfort over the last year is finally going under the knife in a couple of weeks so no more gallivanting for a bit. But I plan to try to do some more proper writing whilst I supervise domestic matters from the sofa. We shall see...
