Edinburgh, with a capital E! (Edinburgh in General)

Member Name: SweetTooth93

Product:	Edinburgh in General
Date:	05/07/09 (9 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots to do,great for tourits, shopping, eating out.

Disadvantages: Gets very busy in Summer months, weather can be dreadful

I remember when I was a little girl. My Grandma and I would plan days out to Edinburgh and I used to get so excited. She'd pick me up very early in the morning just after Breakfast and we'd take the train through. We'd arrive at Waverly train station and go for a drink and doughnut or cake before we hit the shops. Then we'd go onto Princes street and shop untill we dropped until lunchtime. Then, we'd go for lunch in either John Lewis Cafe, or another department store cafe, or we'd find a nice little italian restaurant to dine in! Then we'd hit the shops again untill 5 o'clock or so, then we'd go to a little newsagents, get a drink and some sweets and head off to the theatre to go and see a show, normally a musical. After the show we'd dine out in a restaurant, before getting the last train home. I always loved those days, and too this day we still try to make it happen around three times a year. I look forward to these outings very much and I don't think I'll ever grow out of them.

**

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, and is the second largest City in Scotland. Edinburgh is situated in the South-East of Scotland, and lies along the Firth Of Forth. Edinburgh has been the capital of Scotland since 1437.
Edinburgh is not only home to the Scottish Parliament, but also to 448,624 people. Edinburgh is also extremely popular with tourists, and every year thousands among thousands of tourists come to visit the city. Edinburgh is famous for many things, including the Edinburgh Festival which comes ever year in the Summer. Another thing Edinburgh is most obviously famous for is its Castle which is the base of many tourists journeys.

_EDINBURGH FESTIVAL_
The Edinburgh festival comes every year, from mid-end july til the beggining of September. The Festival first came to Edinburgh in 1947 and has proved to be extremely popular ever since. The festival is very popular with everybody, of all ages and all nationalitys. People come from all over the world just to experience the festival. The festival is jam packed full of things, from street entertainers, theatre, music performances workshops and such like.
I have been to the Festival every year for the past five or six years ago, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. The festival is best on a hot day, as you can stand in the streets watching the entertainers without worrying about keeping dry or keeping cosy. Street entertainers include, magic acts, comedy acts, music performances among others. Theatre ranges from different things, including interactive shows, comedy perfomances, one man shows, musicals and many more. The musicals and such are usually performed my schools from all over the world, and although not proffesional, they are noramally of a very high standard. There are also things such as circuses, dance performances and acrobat/gymnast shows.

_EDINBURGH CASTLE_
Edinburgh is well known for its castle. The castle is situated upon Edinburgh Rock, and attracts millions of visitors yearly.Aswell as being a beautiful peice of scenery for tourists, it is also host to many concerts and live performances.
The gun/cannon which sits on the outside of the castle is fired every day at 1pm, and at hogmany is fired on midnight!
Hogmany celebrations also take place in and around the castle and this is broadcast on Television. The castle is a great day out for all the family, there is things for all ages to do, and a cafe for when you feel peckish. Although it is a great day out I wouldnt reccomend staying a whole day as it doesnt take that long to experience everything and it can end up being slightly boring for the children.

_SHOPPING_
Shopping is something I go to Edinburgh to do quite often. Perhaps once every 4 months or so. There is a huge range of shops, from fashionable and modern shops, to furnature and house shops, to more cultural stalls and kiosks selling traditional scottish things.
One of the main places to shop is Princes street, often mistaken as Princess street. Princes Street is a shoppers paradise, featuring many well known shops. There are clothes shops, such as, Zara, Monsoon, Accessorize, Wallis and much more. There are also the beauty shops such as Lush! The more common shops, including Boots, Marks and Spencers etc and then there are various book shops, gift shops and so on! Princes street can get extremely busy on weekends, however I think this adds to the whole experience and atmosphere.
The Princes Mall, is an Indoor shopping centre, a 30 second walk from Waverly station. This is home to various fast food outlets down stairs, and many shops, such as the Body Shop, New Look, Kookai, and very many more. This is in the middle of getting re-furbished and there are rooms for various different shops!
The St, James shopping centre is just off Princess Street and again is home to many more shops, this time such as Next, River Island, Quiz, Early Learning Centre and many more. There is also a Thorntons at the front door, which on hot days is heaving with people buying delicious ice creams! Edinburgh is also home to various other big shops, such as Toys R Us, Ikea etc.


_THEATRE_
One of my favourite theatres in Edinburgh is the Edinburgh Playhouse. The 'Playhouse is always hosting shows. These vary but they are normally musicals. In recent years shows such as Joseph and Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Mama Mia, High School Musical and Cats have been shown here. The theatre is an old building yet very comfortable.
The Kings theatre is another theatre in Edinburgh, famous for its annual pantomimes.


_EATING OUT_
Edinburgh is home to some wonderful restaurants and cafes. I am partial to eating in an Italian restaurant and they are usually of very high standards. I can thoroughly reccomend Al Fresco, as the service was fabulous and the food was to die for. They do a brillaint mushroom, pepperoni and ham pizza! There are Chinese restaurants, to name but one; Jimmy Chungs in Edinburgh- Chinese buffet restaurants where you can eat as much as you like for about £7. When out with my friends, we usually go here as its a friendly environment and its usually quite noisy, but not 'headachingly' so. I have also been to a beautiful Thai place, just off the street in which the Edinburgh Playhouse is on. Its a relaxed atmosphere and they do delicious stir frys and such like. I had the sweet and sour stir fry and it was very delicious. There are also various pubs and hotels which cater for everyones needs. The food ranges from very posh food, things like posh seafood cocktails and such, to the more tempting, burgers and chips, and maccaroni cheese.
If your not looking for a meal, but rather just a snack, there are some beautiful little cafes spread all over Edinburgh. There are the regulars such as Starbucks, Costa Coffee etc, but there are also some dinky little cafes serving homemade warm homemade apple pie and yummy hot chocolates. In short, if in Edinburgh you feel peckish, you are in no danger of going hungry as there are plenty to chose from.

It would take too long to list _EVERYTHING_ in Edinburgh, but all I can say is, if you're thinking about visiting it would definitly be worth the journey. It can get very busy in Summer so if you dont like crowds Id reccomend coming in October/November time. Edinburgh is also famous for its fireworks, I cant exactly remember WHEN these are but they get very good reviews,and are apparantly worth the late night!!

***

The weather in Edinburgh can vary. In the height of summer temperatures can soar, however you can never be too sure and so its probably best to take a jacket with you just in case. In winter/autum time, it can be extremely cold and windy, with a high risk of showers, or downpours!

Edinburgh is very good when it comes to transport. There are trainstations dotted around so its never to hard to get in! Buses are very regular aswell, and go all over the city. You can also go on a city tour, on a tour bus for quite alow price. This is usually very popular with tourists. Taxi's can be found whereever you are so your never a far cry from a lift!
Edinburgh is also home to an Airport, the Airport in which we usually use.

***

All round, I love Edinburgh. Sometimes I do find it too busy, espescially in the summer, however Im not going to stop visiting as I find the atmostphere is electric.

SweetTooth 93.
Also on ciao under the same name!

Summary: x