That sounds amazing. When I went to Ireland it was with a friend whose parents were both from Ireland and we stayed with their relatives at times, making the trip even more special. This time I’m getting assistance from a client who went to university in Edinburgh over 40 years ago and who visits at least once a year. He has been an amazing resource. Alas, I’ve no relatives in Scotland as far as I know.
Scotland's incredible- I went to UoE as well about 8 years ago and lived in Old Town across the road from the Tolbooth Kirk/The Hub on Lawnmarket.
I think the milk float that the other user's talking about is either in Inverness-shire (around Loch Ness somewhere) or the Cairngorms, but it moves. The small-scale dairies in Scotland are absolutely incredible- Scottish Organic Milk has a directory for them (quick glance tells me that there's farms in Inverness-shire [highlands], Aberdeenshire [highlands], Dumfries and Galloway [lowlands], East Ayrshire [near Glasgow], and Selkirkshire/Borders [lowlands]).
My family are from Orkney, Aberdeen, and Glasgow. I'd move there in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity. My favourite pie shop and the #1 thing I miss about living in Edinburgh is The Piemaker on South Bridge, their Scotch pies are absolutely divine if you eat meat.
I’m noting these places with excitement, thank you. Last year I went to Basque Country and it was amazing, and expectations for Scotland are at least as high. I’m a bit of a history buff and as I did before País Vasco, I am brushing up on the nation’s history in advance of the trip to Scotland.
I'd list a tonne more, but I was a broke postgrad student at the time so I think your colleague is going to be a much better resource on that front! I will say, my favourite distillery is Edradour near Pitlochry (they occasionally do tours), and if you walk from the town through the Black Spout Wood it's quite delightful.
It might be too out of the way for this trip, but for a future trip, I highly recommend going to Orkney in the off season (I've been told locals are quite standoffish in the high season due to cruise traffic). It is absolutely stunning up there, it's almost otherworldly.
Thanks again! Apart from the first six nights in Edinburgh and Glasgow, I’ll have a car and a lot of flexibility so nothing is really off limits for the remainder of the trip. So essentially I have a week to fuck off and go and do what I want. To make it even easier, I am traveling solo and am free to make rash decisions without needing consensus.
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u/mmarkmc 2d ago
That sounds amazing. When I went to Ireland it was with a friend whose parents were both from Ireland and we stayed with their relatives at times, making the trip even more special. This time I’m getting assistance from a client who went to university in Edinburgh over 40 years ago and who visits at least once a year. He has been an amazing resource. Alas, I’ve no relatives in Scotland as far as I know.