Tag Archives: Union of the Crowns

Scones, weird

Queen Anne Tearoom

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Although we have lived in or near to Edinburgh for most of our lives up until now we have never been inside the Castle. We have done the Military Tattoo in the past and been up at the castle many times but not actually inside. A bit strange really but we just didn’t feel the need.  Also, of course, in the summer it’s extremely busy with tourists and, as it turns out, it’s extremely busy in the winter as well. Had we not already had tickets for a book reading we would have had to wait in a queue for about 30 minutes to get a ticket. Hundreds of Japanese, Chinese, French, Americans, Germans … amazing, all in temperatures no higher than 2ºC!

Our book reading was by Sara Sheridan to publicise her latest novel On Starlit Seas and it just so happened that there was an afternoon tea thrown in as well as a tour of the castle. How could we refuse?

External view of tearoom at Edinburgh Castle
The Queen Anne tearoom

There are a two tearooms but ours  was the Queen Anne Tearoom up at the top of the castle. So we were able to explore everything on the way up. We stood waiting for the one o’clock gun to go off. Watching our watches. Watching the gun. And got the fright of our lives when it did go off … bang on one o’clock! Lots of exhibits about Scotland’s history culminating in the room housing the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny.

Scottish aristocrats

Here you are warned within an inch of your life that you must not take ph

The tearoom for afternoon tea at Edinburgh Castle
part of the tearoom

otographs or make any sort of recording. People answering  their phones were pounced on and told to put them away. What on earth is that all about? Anyway we looked dutifully at everything. Although there was a lot about the 1707 Act of Union, we could not see much mention of the fact that it was forced on the people of Scotland against their will. That the Scottish aristocrats (the only people allowed to influence proceedings) had to be bribed with £20,000 each in order to get it passed. Maybe we missed that bit? Afternoon tea menu at Edinburgh Castle
The afternoon tea was very imaginative. The whole menu was based around ‘Book Week Scotland’ and book titles.  Outlander sandwiches, Alice in Wonderland “Eat Me” sponge cakes and Mrs Weasley’s chocolate fudge tart. The afternoon tea at Edinburgh Castle

Secret Mandarin scones

You will see from the menu that there were ‘mandarin’ scones inspired by Sara’s book The Secret Mandarin. Although this was all very nice, for dedicated sconeys, this was taking things a bit too far. They were very tangy and sweet, more like cakes, and covered in an orange drizzle that made them even sweeter. With strawberry jam?? At the end of the day they weren’t toooo bad – just ‘weird’. Don’t let our experience put you off visiting. We don’t think the scones are normally like this.

Kings of Scotland display at Edinburgh Castle
Kings of Scotland
On Starlit Seas

It was a really enjoyable day. The castle was interesting though the information was a bit sanitised for our taste. The reading from On Starlit Seas was really interesting. Sara is a lovely lady who managed to spend time with everyone individually. We wish her well with the book. The afternoon tea was great as well in spite of our reservations about the scones.

Looking east from Edinburgh Castle
Looking east from the Castle towards dusk

EH1 2NG     tel: 0131 225 9846     Edinburgh Castle

Ordinary, Scones

Howies Bistro

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Our first venture out into the big bad world of 2016 was to the Fair City where we like to shop occasionally in McEwens of Perth department store.

a poster in McEwens
a poster in McEwens

It is a long established shop and this poster made us think that it might be interesting (just to get the brain cells operating after all the indulgences of the festive season) to see how many of you can convert these prices into modern day currency, e.g how much is a pure silk tie? Answers please in the comments box but beware, you may be giving your age away! Today we had breakfast in their Upstairs restaurant and discovered that they actually have another restaurant that we were totally unaware of. It’s that kind of shop, you discover another part of it every time you go. We did visit this new discovery later on in the afternoon but since the same bakery serves both restaurants and we had already reviewed Upstairs, we decided, in the interests of variety and sconology to brave the elements and find somewhere new. Howies 05

Voila .. Howies Bistro, a mere stone’s throw from McEwens, just outside St John’s Kirk. This is a nice wee cozy restaurant which seems to do everything and be very popular with the locals. Most folk were having lunch but, as ever, we just wanted to try the scones with a coffee. We ensconced ourselves in a nice area with big comfy sofas, set aside for just that.

Good management

Our fruit scones were great, served with plenty jam and cream, but there was a problem with the coffee .. it looked strong but tasted weak. It was such that we thought we should at least mention it to the management. Probably Mr Howie himself who was buzzing about making sure everything was in order. Howies 07He responded initially by offering another coffee, which of course we did not want. Later, however, he came and thanked us. He had tested the coffee and realised that the machine needed to be recalibrated and was mortified to find that he had, unknowingly, been  serving such inferior coffee. In fact, he was so grateful that he refused to take any money at all from us. This is good management; taking on feedback and acting on it immediately! stjohnskirk-450

The nearby St John’s Kirk is dedicated to John the Baptist and dates back to 1126. Perth was the capital of Scotland for over 600 years and as a result King Alexander III’s heart was buried here after his premature death (fell off a cliff) in 1286. An event which left Scotland without a king and propelled it into two long Wars of Independence with England. Although Scotland prevailed in both wars it threw it all away in 1707 with the Union of the Crowns. Most Scots of sound mind were against it at the time and goodness sake, 308 years later nothing has changed!

Lost deposit

For those with a footballing interest and who have wondered why Perth’s local football team (currently 4th in the Scottish Premiership) is called St Johnstone. It’s because of this church. It became so important that for much of the 16th century Perth was called ‘St Johnstoun’ .. might be a good trivia question. Another trivia question. When was the last date that an Irn Bru bottle could be returned for a deposit .. Dec 31st 2015. End of an era. What is not in question is Howies Bistro. Definitely worth a visit, if only to retest the coffee.

PH1 5SZ       tel: 01738 440777      Howies Bistro

Useful link: things to do in Perth