Are you a true Scotsman?

At buyakilt.com you’ll find a range of good quality traditional Scottish attire at affordable prices. So why not get into the Scottish Spirit and purchase one today and make your stay in Edinburgh that bit more authentic.

http://buyakilt.com/

 

Savour Edinburgh

Looking for a quick weekend away in Edinburgh? Love food?

SAVOUR

Foodies delight as Edinburgh’s top wine merchants, chefs and food and drink producers come together for an afternoon of tasty exploration at Edinburgh’s Summerhall. Following on from 2014’s sell out eent, Savour Festival welcomes a mix of artisan producers, local restaurants, craft beers, puddings purveyors, gins, mixologists and wine sellers.

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If you’re staying at our apartments already over this weekend why not check out this great event here. Just a short walk from our Southside Apartments.

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Yum!

Hogmanay in Edinburgh, Scotland

A round-up of the biggest New Years Eve celebrations in the World

The Hogmanay festival is a Scottish tradition famous throughout the world. It is when Scots joyously come together to celebrate the previous year and the new, upcoming year. Unlike many parts of the world the celebration is not solely a party for one evening on the 31st December instead the festivities last for days.

Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is famous for holding the best Hogmanay celebrations in Scotland. Edinburgh hosts the biggest New Year’s Eve party in the world with its Hogmanay Street Party, shutting down the city centre so that thousands of people from all over the world can listen to top musicians, join together in a ceilidh dance, watch the most spectacular of fireworks displays and sing the world’s biggest rendition of Auld Lang Syne.

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The Edinburgh Hogmanay festival actually begins on the 30th December with a torchlight process starting at George IV Bridge and proceeding up to Carlton Hill to watch another magnificent firework display. With many celebrations happening on New Year’s Eve during the day, a real highlight is the Candlelit Concert in St Giles Cathedral, a must-do event.

To shift those hangovers in the morning of January 1st hundreds of people gather in South Queensferry to take part in the Loony Dook which involves diving into the River Forth, in the shadow of the famous Forth Rail Bridge, in a skimpy outfit to raise money for charity, proving that Scots are perhaps the barmiest nation of all.

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This year we totally sold out all our Hogmanay packages, so book early to avoid disappointment. Book from January 5th 2015, to reserve your 2015/16 Hogmanay packages with Glory Days and Destination Edinburgh.

 

 

For further information and other Scottish Hogmanay destination ideas look at:

http://www.visitscotland.com/holidays/seasonal-breaks/hogmanay-breaks

 

New dedicated Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo website

“We are proud to be an Official Travel Trade partner for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and over 10,000 clients have been with us to this wonderful event and breathtaking City! Always a sell-out event, book your package now to avoid disappointment!”

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Glory Days Ltd have just launched our new dedicated Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Travel Packages website.

20 York Place Edinburgh “House History”

Did you know the history behind our Luxury York Place Apartments?  They lie at the heart of a unique and magnificent World Heritage Site – Edinburgh, a site recognized by UNESCO as having outstanding universal value.  Number 20 York Place is listed by Historic Scotland as a category A building, and who describe it as:

‘Part of the Edinburgh New Town A Group, one of the most important and best preserved examples of urban planning in Britain’

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Until 1811 the house was numbered as 10 York Place, North Side.  In 1811, when it was decided to begin the practice of applying odd and even numbers to the opposite sides of streets, the house became renumbered as 20.  As one of the largest three storey classical houses in the block (with 4 bays of windows), the property became, in its early decades, the Edinburgh townhouse of several wealthy landowing families with country estates in other parts of Scotland.

Some of the residents include:

  • 1801 – James Christie of Durie Esq, a landowner and a coal mine owner
  • 1811 – James Johnstone of Alva, whom inherited his fortune from his father, John Johnstone, a successful member of the East India Company in Bengal.
  • 1815 – Sir Alexander Muir, 1st Baronet of Delvine whose estates were in Perthshire
  • 1825 – George Mercer of Gorthy Esq, another Perthshire landowner.  Mercer was a former trader and agent of the East India Company in Calcutta.
  • Mid 1830’s – The Christie family briefly take up residence again when Charles Maitland Christie Durie is recorded as being in residence
  • Late 1830’s – Sir James Montgomery, 2nd Baronet of Stanhope took up residence.  Sir James was a member of parliament for Peebleshire and served as Lord Advocate in the second ministry of Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger.
  • 1840’s – 1850’s – John Burn Murdoch Esq, an advocate in the Scottish Courts

 

In 1858 the house ceases to be a private residence, and for the next three decades the house operates a a private school known as Hunter’s School of English.  The school was headed by John M Hunter, teacher of English, who lived nearby at 25 Albany Street

In 1889, the Governors of the George Heriot’s Trust converted the premises into offices for the trust.The original 1890 and 1905 plans of the Trust’s adaptations of the interior to offices are held today by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland

George Heriot’s School was founded as a result of a bequest from George Heriot, jeweller and goldsmith to King James VI.  After the accession in 1603 of James to the English throne, Heriot moved to London, where he resided as Jeweller and Goldsmith at the Court of St James.  Heriot died childless and bequeathed £23,625 for the purpose of founding in his native city a hospital for the upbringing and education of poor fatherless children who were the sons of Edinburgh ‘freeman’.

In the late 1930’s the trust continued at number 20 but sub-let some of the offices to the offices to the Scottish Travel Association, which was renamed in the 1950’s as the Scottish Tourist Board

Did you know as well that a little East of York Place, at 11 Picardy Place was the birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, the writer of the Sherlock Holmes detective stories.

Facts researched by Edinburgh World Heritage.

 

 

Trams tested in Edinburgh

Tram testing is now taking place in Edinburgh prior to the planned start date of May 2014. This is exciting news for our York Place apartments as they are just moments away from the first tram stop, making it far easier to get around the city and also from the airport.

Check out this image taken from York Place

Tram Photo

Details of the tram route can be found via this link: http://www.edinburghtrams.com/

Homecoming Scotland 2014

Homecoming Scotland 2014 will add to an already impressive holiday and stay-cation location that is Edinburgh (and the rest of Scotland!).
Huge amount of events planned with some fantastic highlights including the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and Bannockburn Live as part of Stirling’s big weekend.

The Visit Scotland article will help you plan a great Scottish trip!

http://www.visitscotland.com/see-do/homecoming-scotland-2014/

Where will you be coming home from this year?

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Lonely Planet names Scotland 3rd best country to visit

Lonely Planet has named Scotland the third best country to visit just behind Brazil and Antarctica. There is so much to see and do and Edinburgh is one of the worlds most beautiful cities

What are your experiences of Scotland as a tourist destination?