Dining at the Tower Restaurant

Frequenty I am asked by many guests what restaurants I would recommend.  Although I have eaten in quite a few restaurants over the years, tastes do vary, and it seems a difficult question.  I try to describe the different restaurants, and do my best to differentiate one from another.

Two of the more popular restaurants for our guests are the Witchery, and The Tower Restaurant.  Until last Friday, I had eaten at neither, so I could only say that I had heard they were good restaurants - expensive but highly recommended (albeit by others).

Well Friday night past I was taken to the Tower Restaurant by a very kind friend.  We didn't sit in the restaurant bit, we had a private room.  The private room was big, and a bit bare, but that is the only negative thing I could say about the entire experience.  The service, food  (and company), were excellent, and a magical evening was had by all.  

We were greeted by very friendly staff with a glass of champagne - I suppose that got us all into a very good mood despite our economic doom and gloom.

Our starter was pear stuffed with Stilton Cheese, which I thought was excellent, both in presentation and taste.  The main course was a filet with potato croquets and vegetables.  Again, another outstanding presentation and flavour.  The desert was a fruit salad, which is a personal favourite of mine after having such a rich meal.

On our departure, we walked through the restaurant and the Balcony which holds spectacular views onto Edinburgh Castle.  The restaurant held more atmoshpere than our private room, so I would have to imagine, had I eaten there I would have struggled to find any problems.  I will be back, and I would most certainly recommend it to guests (if in future they ask).  I also noted that this restaurant was so close to many of our 

Self Catering Edinburgh Apartments.

 

Christmas time in Edinburgh

Tonight the Christmas Fun is about to begin in Edinburgh city centre.  The fair opens this evening, and it generally starts the Christmas Buzz in the city.  Will this happen tonight?  The mood of the city is grim - big financial centre, and the money squeeze is most certainly about.  Our self catering market still seems busy, but we do await the future and what it will bring.

Just yesterday I let in a visiting researcher from Oxford University into the self catering apartment on Rose Street.  They seemed excited to be in Edinburgh.  And I suppose the cost of the holiday break is quite inexpensive- train to Edinburgh, split the cost of sharing the self catering apartment - so maybe that is the way of the future for awhile.  Maybe people will stay more in the UK, and not fly abroad.  If only we had the nice weather we would never want to leave this country but that's another story.

Back tomorrow with some photos of the lights in the city centre - hopefully the weather will clear up a bit by this evening.

Col, windy and a good pub

Today was cold. My daughter loves snow and there were rumours of snow. So we went off to the Pentlands with the dog looking for snow. There was very little - but some on a walk up from Flotterstone. This walk is well recommended if you are well wrapped up and feeling fit - it is steep in parts. We found small patches of snow, much to the delight of my daughter and the dog.

The best bit was ending up at theFlotterstone Inn for steak and ale pie and chips. This is one of my fabourite pubs, because of it's position in this great area for walking, good food, good service, and they are happy to have well behaved dogs. Do try it.

Janet

Gerhard Richter on at the National Galleries

Beautiful Tuesday - cold, fresh and sunny - one of my favourite types of weather.  Edinburgh's weather can be very windy, which I hate - but today had none of it.  Crisp Blue Sky, I love this weather, wish that winter could be like this every day.

I walked by the Rose Street Self Catering Edinburgh Apartment ,  cleared up for the next guests, and then headed to the National Galleries (on Hanover St and Princes St), to view the Gerhard Richter exhibition.  Having seen the Tracey Enim exhibition earlier this year, I was wondering what would be on display in this exhibition.  The paintings were very modern, and each room exhibited a completely different style.  Definitely an artist to be discussed, and my 'mathie' background did not understand it all, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.  He is a modern artist, born in Dresden, Germany 1932, and I am guessing that his experience of having a childhood in Germany during the second world war were part of the make-up of some of the more disturbing paintings.  

This exhibition is certainly worth a visit, and I would imagine that it would keep many art students busy in discussions.  

Wet November Day

The rugby week-end has past, and you could feel the buzz in the city centre -unfortunately, I don't think that is was the Scottish that were on a high.  Still, there was much to be heartened for the Scottish Rugby fan, as the game was exciting, and showed marked improvement from last weeks performance.

Today certainly felt like the 'day after'.  The weather is cold, and a bit wet - at least it is not windy.  The city centre, this morning certainly felt like the buzz has gone.

What to do in Edinburgh at this time of year while visiting?  Believe it or note, there is still plenty on, and plenty of people are still here to see the city.  Holyrood Palace is a firm favourite in our family.  A nice stroll from the centre of city, and down to the end of the Royal Mile.  You will pass by some lovely shops - don't miss out on the Christmas shop, where you can finally allow yourself to start feeling the Christmas spirit.  Down at the end of the Royal Mile is the Palace of Holyrood, The Queen's Galleries and the Holyrood Parliament.  All 3 are worth a visit, and as I noted above, our family love the Palace of Holyrood.  Maybe it doesn't glow the way it does in the summer months, but there is a charm that the Palace has is this overcast damp weather, that helps you envisage life back hundreds of years ago in the Queen's Residence.

Edinburgh Self Catering

Having worked in the long-term property rental market for many years, I was somehow persuaded to move into the Self-Catering market. Many people may not be aware ,but Edinburgh has a very high proportion of 'Buy-To-Let' investors. Over the recent past few years, the 'Buy-To-Let' return on investment in Edinburgh was not high, so many owners considered turning their properties into self-catering accommodation. And I too was one of those people. Perhaps a bit misguided, I jumped into the market last year (whilst still keeping many of our properties in the long-term market), we have converted 2 into self-catering. Then we decided to turn this small offerings into a website business where there are are over 60 properties advertised on www.edinburgh-flats.com.


Little did I realise how much more work a short-term accommodation entailed, and although it is enjoyable, it certainly keeps me busy.

Our websites aim is not only to advertise Edinburgh self catering accommodation, but to help with advice for landlords on pros and cons of the self catering accommodation versus long-term.


Today,Edinburgh was sunny, beautiful and warm - it is hard to believe that we are experiencing a very warm autumn, yet just left a wet and miserable summer. Maybe, September, October is the time to visit Edinburgh- who knows? The city still seems to be filled with visitors or travellers. it is very common to hear people speaking with American or Canadian accents. I wonder how long the North Americans will continue to visit Edinburgh bearing in mind the credit crunch, and many people are cutting back on their holidays.

On the other hand, I imagine that many people will spend their holidays in the UK rather than spending money to fly abroad - that seems to be our plans at the moments. Self-catering is definitely the holiday type that we always look for - whether it be in the countryside OR the cities - you seem to have more of a feel for a city when you stay in self catering apartments. The apartment shown above can also be seen in 3 Bedroom Edinburgh City Centre Self Catering Apartment