In Edinburgh with m'eudail

Or ‘my darling’ to me and you. But you have to get down with the local lingo when in rome (or Scotland). I cannot believe it’s now been 2 years since me and Ollie first got together. 2 years since that famous night in my bright orange blazer dress when my life changed forever. And now here I am, 2 years later, putting my relationship status as ‘co-habiting’ on my new car insurance policy. It’s been quite a journey for me and Ollie from colleagues to friends to SO much more, especially with 3 lockdowns thrown in for good measure. And since we were celebrating our first anniversary in the midst of the first lockdown, it was only fitting that we jetted off for our second to celebrate properly!

Having risked going abroad a few weeks ago (a risk that definitely paid off), we decided to play it safer this time with somewhere we knew we’d definitely be allowed to go; the UK. Neither of us had ever been to Scotland and the flights to Edinburgh were really reasonable so off we flew on Tuesday morning! Having had that lovely heat-hitting-you-as-you-get-off-the-plane vibe with Gibraltar, we had a very similar experience with Edinburgh. Except that instead of heat hitting you in the face, it was rain. Naturally. Never one to let the weather dampen the mood though, we headed off to find a cute pub to have a drink in before our first booked activity. We had a little wander down the royal mile before ending up in a pub that served over 200 different kinds of whisky! I felt like I should have one while I was there (Scotch while in Scotland) and it wasn’t half bad.

It was essentially a day of drinking alcohol, because our next stop was the Edinburgh Gin Distillery for their tour and tasting (which we’d pre-booked). I’ve done a few of these gin experiences now but feel like I learn something new on all of them, and the gins were amazing too (the seaside one in particular). You also got a little goodie bag of cocktail cans to take away with you and a 10% discount in their shop if you wanted to buy any bottles to take home!

The Edinburgh Gin Distillery was perfectly located too, as it was right next door to our hotel (handy for minimising walking in the rain). I’ve always wanted to stay in a Waldorf Astoria and our anniversary felt like the perfect occasion to finally do it! Edinburgh also felt like a good place to do it, as I normally opt for more modern hotels but it’s a historic city that feels like it requires something more traditional. Our room was gorgeous, the bathroom was even better (amazing bubble bath) and the hotel had organised a cute little anniversary treat!

I normally always know exactly what, where and when I want to eat but I was really struggling with figuring it out on this occasion. After way too long spent looking for places, we just ended up choosing somewhere and when I checked where it was on Google Maps, I noticed that Edinburgh have a Tattu! I’ve always wanted to go there and couldn’t get in when I went to Leeds recently, so we booked a table and got ready to go out. I went with this coral mesh bodysuit (I saw it first), blue cropped jeans (new look), orange heels and fluffy pink clutch bag. I added a longline white blazer and off we went!

Tattu have the most gorgeous decor in all their venues with pink flowers flooding the ceilings and I was excited to try their upmarket take on Chinese food. We shared everything; duck spring rolls, crispy pork belly, surf and turf dim sum, scallops, butterflied seabass and ‘angry bird’ chicken. Everything was amazing (my favourite was the surf and turf dim sum) and we rounded the whole lot off with cocktails, prosecco, and an anniversary treat from the restaurant complete with sparkler.

We had a nice lazy start the next day, after waking up in the lap of luxury! We’d booked a slot in the hotel pool (annoying side effect of covid; not being able to go when you want) so we had a duvet morning with posh coffee and hotel dressing gowns before heading down for a swim.

After getting ready and checking out of the hotel, we were off to explore! I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of traipsing round in the pouring rain so thankfully, the Edinburgh weather gods were smiling down on me and it stayed dry all day with blue skies to boot! Having not eaten yet, our first mission was to find a spot for lunch and we ended up at the loveliest Italian restaurant with the most amazing decor (and amazing food too).

Feeling fuelled, we went on a mini walking tour of the city, hitting all the main spots. We wandered down George street, traipsed up to the castle, enjoyed the views from the top, strolled along the royal mile, admired the churches and cathedrals, found a road named after us (!!!), and listened to the bagpipes being played before stopping off for a (totally well deserved) drink at another cute pub.

Map in hand, I figured there were only a few more places to tick off; Calton hill and Leith. So Ollie and I climbed Jacob’s ladder to what I believe was the halfway point up Calton hill, and we were both already so exhausted and out of breath that we figured the view from the very top couldn’t be that much different and ticked it off the list. Possibly a poor effort from us but with 4.7 miles under our belt for the day, I think we'd walked enough!

After getting a cab down to the Leith area, we found a really cute outdoor drinking spot just along the side of the water. Edinburgh seem to have loads of nice outdoor areas set up and I think that’s in part due to their covid rules still currently being stricter than ours and heavily centred around being outdoors. Either way, it made for a great cocktail spot and they had the most gorgeous toilets (something my mum will certainly appreciate when she reads this)! Look at that tap!

Another cab ride later and we were back on George street for some dinner. We’d spotted this tapas restaurant earlier in the day and we enjoyed a proper feast as our last port of call, before it was time to head to the airport and catch our flight home. They say you should take nothing but memories and leave nothing but footprints. We certainly took some fabulous memories home with us and it was the perfect way to celebrate our anniversary. I’m also proud to say we left Edinburgh exactly as we found it; totally pissing it down with rain!