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Why everyone should visit Scotland |
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Page 2 of 4
 The Royal Mile, Edinburgh
The high-life can definitely be found on the doorstep on The George – with the Royal Mile and Princes Street, the gardens, designer shops and Edinburgh Waverley Station a stone’s throw away.
After a quick wash and brush up in our suite, we set off for Princes Street. Passing all the major designer labels on the way, my travelling partner propelled me on towards the fabulous Princes Street Gardens nestled below the castle in the centre of the city. The sun was high in the sky above the Castle and tourists and city-dwellers mingled on the slopes of the gardens.
Edinburgh is a fantastic city; it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, rich in history containing the medieval Old Town and the Georgian New Town. The city is a favourite for weekenders and for overseas tourists who come to marvel at the Festival and the Tattoo which pack the streets of both the old and new towns in August.
After a trip along the Royal Mile and a whistle-stop tour around the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen’s official residence in Scotland, situated at the end of the Royal Mile, we returned to our swanky abode on George Street. We booked a table at the hotel restaurant and then crossed the street to take in some of the old-world splendour of The Dome, a fantastic bar on George Street. If living the high-life is sipping cocktails, delivered by uniformed waiters, then I could definitely get used to it!
With a warm-feeling in our bellies, we adjourned to EH2 Tempus Bar & Restaurant, a renowned place in Edinburgh for fashionable socialites, and situated, rather conveniently, on the ground floor of our hotel.
Fully refurbished as part of the £20 million investment programme, EH2 Tempus Restaurant & Bar is both stylish and comfortable with Rococo-style cornices, mouldings and chandeliers.
The beautiful setting complemented the dishes on the menu, which included a Sennockian flavour: Loch Fyne Oysters served with shallot, vinegar and Tabasco. Despite the reminder of the famous Loch Fyne restaurant in Sevenoaks, neither my travelling partner nor I went for the oysters, but instead plumped for the Tempus paté served with toast and chutney. We followed the paté with beef Wellington for my partner and grilled yellow fin tuna and spiced lentil salsa for myself. Dom Perignon, Brut and Verve Cliquot were on the menu but we chose to sample the house wine: ‘The riddle’ from Australia, a Chardonnay which left us in no doubt that we’d solved the riddle of where to find the high-life in Scotland.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 07 July 2008 )
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