Part 2- Edinburgh 15-19 January
For those who have been following along, Edinburgh was our destination, but we arrived via a 48 hour stay in London to help us acclimate with our little one and well as avoid a connector issue we had in the past.
To go to Edinburgh we booked seats on the LNER train out of King’s Cross. Full disclosure- the train can take up to 5 hours. However we took the 7:00 which had less stops and also no one was on it, so we were able to arrive at Edinburgh, Waverly Station about 11:30. Travel tip- if able book 1st Class. In 2025 that term doesn’t mean what it once did, but you’ll have reserved seats and some meal service. We also had more room for our luggage as well. Use the LNER app and you can accumulate some points as well.
While the length of the journey can seem daunting, especially with a wee one, it’s one of the most beautiful rides you’ll ever take in your entire in life. Heading north through England, you’ll stop at places like York and get to see the English and Scottish countryside as the sun comes up (8/8:30 in January BTW).
Once at Waverley, you can call a cab on the bridge side or arrange a ride in advance that can pick you up on Market, OR you can WALK! Edinburgh is the most walkable city I’ve ever visited.
Either way when you reach street level, you’ll see it- the most wonderful city in the entire world. You’ll see the Scott monument, behind you Calton Hill and its monuments towering above. A look up Bridge Street is one of the best views you’ll ever see. Global, yet provincial. Historical and true to its original design, you won’t find some beautiful historic building overshadowed by some monstrous modern building like in London. Edinburgh is the stuff of dark academia dreams. Even on sunny days there’s a beautiful darkness because of its buildings and the days it rains, it seems like the most synergistic pairing possible. The moment I arrive in that city, I feel a transformation in myself that is hard to explain. I feel at home in a way that I don’t even feel in my native home.
In the future for research related stays we agreed an AirBnb would probably best meet our needs. Give us more space to hang and work, do some laundry ( I’m working, def not a fashion show) and cook a little to break up eating out. However last two times we’ve stayed at the Caledonian on Princes Street next to Edinburgh Castle and Princes Gardens. This location requires a walk to the mile but it’s a great location as you can take Princes straight to Calton Hill, or can check out beautiful little Dean Village. We found out this time as well that Princes Street has a great playground right under the castle so it was great for the little one. There’s also a Waterstones nearby for her to run around in as well.
We unpacked and spent the second half of the first day just walking around and getting our bearings. We walked to the NLS so I knew where I was going and plotted the way to the University of Edinburgh. We grabbed lunch at little burger place on the mile aptly titled “Burgers and Beer” with “American” burgers. Honestly it was just what we needed. We had a great beer and some Haggis bon bons which for people squeamish about Haggis- it’s a good way to try! We just relaxed the rest of the day trying to rest up since we were at 5 for our train ride.
The next day was work day 1! We had breakfast at the hotel (included- major perk, check with your CC and points) and then I was nervously on my way. I made my way up to mile as the NLS is right off of it, very close to St.Giles. Walking to work that day I couldn’t believe how fortunate I was. My morning commute took me past pretty much every major landmark in Edinburgh and it felt like a dream. When I got to the NLS I had to get my researchers card. To do so, you need to fill out an online registration and create an account. When you come in person to finish your registration you’ll need a utility bill, or bank statement to go along with your passport. Once they approve it, you snap a picture like you’re at the DMV and you’re active.
From here it was time to go to the special collections room upstairs. In order to view the materials you also must request them ahead of time and max out at 6 items. 6 can be a little or a lot as you never know what you’re going to get in terms of bulk, readability, usability. There are opportunities to get more material mid day, but I had scoured the catalogue for a month and had pretty much requested everything I needed and broke it up over the various days. When I got upstairs it all felt so real, so worth it. It was a beautiful room with an incredible view of Edinburgh and Arthur’s Seat and for the first time I felt like a proper historian, actually getting to handle little known documents and use them to create something new. By about 2:00 I had photographed everything I had requested.
Note: I use ScannerPro and pretty much scan it all. I can transcribe and pull stuff apart later. As long as what I’m seeing is what I need, I’ll take it with me. However I take notes on all sources including background context just so I know what I’m looking at when I get home. I actually breezed through my documents and realized I had reserved three days when I was going to need two. So rather than come back Saturday, I asked them to hold further documents until Monday. I also was able to find one of the manuscripts I needed digitally in their catalogues once I was signed in and a member and that alone probably saved me about 5 hours of scanning and reading! So that was HUGE for me!
When I finished I was able to meet the family next door at a family friendly pub George IV where we went a few times whilst there. The street itself was great as you were directly off the mile and if you kept going, you’d end up passing Greyfriars. It was also direct access to the top of Victoria Street. After lunch we decided to make the most of our day and we visited St.Giles which is free entry. St. Giles is a beautiful church on the mile with a lot of history PLUS fire and brimstone reformer John Knox, is buried out back, in the parking lot!!! But seriously, it’s an incredible church with a lot of history on display. The Thistle Chapel, purposed for their Order of the Thistle ceremonies, is particularly beautiful and impressive. Sadly, this time it was closed when we were there.
The next day I had to head to the Univeristy of Edinburgh to get settled in and get all of my credentials there (I went and back and forth between NLS and UoE based on who was open when). This was the only time I used an Uber because it was farther and I wasn’t 100% sure on its location. As soon as we pulled up I realized it was an incredibly straightforward walk, I actually could just use the same street the NLS was on but keep walking.
At Edinburgh you have to make an appointment and they will assign you a desk for the duration of your appointments. Edinburgh had a lot of paperwork to fill out to get a reader card and a few extras because I’m a student in the Scottish university system. Of course, I missed one and naturally it was one of the key ones so when I got to Edinburgh’s Main Campus Library, I thought I was ready to roll. Nope! Fortunately the people were lovely, I got the university piece filled out and was given a day pass whilst I waited for the library at Aberdeen to approve my application. Once I settled in I started working through three days of material I had requested- similar rules to NLS.
Note: if you’re short on time, you can tell them you’re traveling internationally and they’ll give you some slack with how many docs you can request in one day.
For this day I had requested multiple student notebooks from the eighteenth century and decided to scan them in completion- by 1:30, my arm was dead and my shoulder was sore and I was done lol. I left UoE, now easily finding my way back which took me past the Greyfriar Bobby and the graveyard and met the family at Howie’s on Victoria Street for a late lunch and it was awesome! After I talked them into walking through the graveyard at Greyfriars so we could find Tom Riddle’s grave (Potter Heads know the significance of this haha) as well as some figures from my research. The graveyard is hauntingly beautiful and also boasts a beautiful view of the city. Next door is the Pub, which is a bit strict with kiddos so we didn’t attempt to go. Maybe another time.
Trying to kill time until dinner, we went to the National Museum directly across the street. It’s a great museum. It has everything from Scottish history, ancient history, natural history (big dinaousaur for the little one) and even fashion. It’s also FREE! We just gave a donation and had a great walkthrough and the baby loved it. Afterwards we found a little Italian place for dinner and headed back to the hotel.
Given that I didn’t need to go to the NLS Saturday University archives closed until Tuesday- this was tough too when it came to scheduling), we decided to head to the bottom of the mile and see Holyrood. We had gone in the summer, but we were low on time and had to run though. Like Buckingham palace, there were a handful of people and we largely had the palace to ourselves. Holyrood is really beautiful and has an amazing history that’s still very much alive. The King will use Holyrood for his events when in Scotland. However it has some incredible galleries featuring the Stuart family dynasty almost exclusively as well as a lot of artifacts including jewelry for the Mary Queen of Scots fan. A lot of Mary’s things are preserved throughout. Make sure to grab the audio tour as it is well done and to the point. The gallery room is particularly impressive. It is also a lot of weird steps though so be prepped! Onsite is also the King’s galleries (separate from the gallery room) as well as a little cafe for tea and so forth so there’s plenty to keep busy.
After we walked the Mile back to the top, stopped for a little lunch at a little pub and stopped in the some little shops. We attempted to hit the National Galleries on the way back and that’s when I noticed the kiddo was fading a bit and getting sick. We grabbed dinner at the hotel and unfortunately she got sick overnight. Sunday then became a bit of a down day for us while she recovered but given that we still had 3 days left it was probabaly a good rest for all of us. It gave me a day to go through all my scans and start cleaning them up as well as starting to transcribe so it was a day we all needed.
Coming next- Edinburgh 21-23 January
Links for places visited/mentioned:
https://www.stgilescathedral.org.uk
https://www.rct.uk/visit/palace-of-holyroodhouse
https://greyfriarskirk.com/visit/kirkyard/
https://www.nms.ac.uk/national-museum-of-scotland/
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