BACK LIST
within and outwith the city. No left luggage facilities; and Eastern Scottish who run buses in the city and operate an inter-city service all over Scotland. Fares are generally below those of the train. Tickets and information: St Andrew Bus Station. St Andrew Square, 556 8464. Express service to Glasgow and Glasgow Airport from here. in addition. there are a
number of minibuses mainly servicing outlying areas.
I Bicycling Central Cycle Hire, 13 Lochrin Place. Tollcross. 228 6333. The city centre is a bit hilly for bicycling but the outlying area is well worth exploring by bike. This is the first specialist cycle hire shop in Edinburgh for 5 years and it‘s very well equipped with a wide range of bikes. maps. cycling routes and general information. Hire prices start at £4 per day. Mon-Thurs 10am—5pm. F ri—Sun 9am-7pm (24 hour answerphone).
I Taxis Black cabs (both the old style London taxi and the new look Metrocabs) are moderately easy to find. and reasonably priced. Tipping is optional and less common than in London. Hail them in the street. from a taxi rank (at Waverley Station, South St David Street (outside St Andrew Square Bus Station), Caledonian Hotel at the West End of Princes Street and Nicolson Square) or order , by phone (extra 50p call out charge). Central Cabs 229 2468 (and others in yellow pages) offer 24 hour-service.
I By Air Edinburgh Airport. lngliston, 333 1000 is about 8 miles west of the city centre. Flight Enquiries 344 3136. Regular shuttle service to London. and flights to Europe . Eire and parts of the UK.
Getting to the airport: taxis cost roughly £7—10 and the trip can take up to 30 mins depending on the time of day. Cheaper but less convenient is the airport bus run by LRT (no. 100) which leaves Waverley Bridge roughly twice an hour Mon to Fri from 5.45am to 22.05pm (once an hour at weekends). Buses run from the airport at similar intervals between 6.05am and 22.35pm. Cost: single £1.75, £3 return.
Accommodation
I Tourist lnionnation and Accommodation Desk Waverley Market, 557 2727, Mon-Sat 8.30am—8pm, Sun llam-8pm (until 9pm
during Festival) and Edinburgh Airport. 333 2167 Mon-Sat 8.30am—9.30pm. Sun 9.30am-9.30pm. These offices will do their utmost to find you somewhere to stay. even if it is somewhere outside the city centre. The most difficult accommodation to find is a single room and the worst time to find it is during the Festival. so be prepared for some disappointment if you don’t book well in advance. Roughly 600 hotels. guest houses and private houses pay to be registered with the tourist office and prices are between approximately £10 and £60 per person per night. There is a £1 booking fee . plus a 10% deposit of the whole stay . payable in advance. The Book-a-Bed Ahead scheme (also available from the Scottish Travel Centre South St Andrew Street) offers a reservation service which covers most of Scotland and some places in England. Fee £1.75. plus a deposit of 10% of the price of the first night. The office also has details of camping and caravan sites.
I Youth Hostels l8 Eglinton Crescent. 337 1120 and 7 Bruntsfield Crescent , 447 2994. Members only. but membership is available to anyone over the age of 5 at the hostel (£6). Advance booking (by post) essential during the summer.
I Police Station Lothian and Borders HQ, Fettes Avenue. 3113131. Emergency Services: Dial 999 (free) and ask for the service you require - Fire. Police or Ambulance.
I tell Luggage Waverley Station. Waverley Bridge. 7 days 6am-10.45pm. Charges 50p-£1.50 per day, depending on size of locker.
I Casualty and Emergency (24 hours) Services Royal lnfirmary of Edinburgh. 1 Lauriston Place, 229 2477 and Western General Hospital, Crewe Road South. 332 2525.
I Emergency Dental Clinic Edinburgh Dental Hospital, 31 Chambers Street, 225 9511 (weekdays); Western General Hospital, Crewe Road South, 332 2525.
. every evening 7.30—10pm,
Sat and Sun 10am—noon. I Contraceptive Advice Family Planning and Well Woman Services, 18 Dean Terrace , 332 7941.
I Aids Helpline contact the City Hospital . Greenbank Drive (41 bus), 447 0411 or Scottish Aids Monitor.
23 Dublin Street. 558 1167.
VISITOR llST
I Samaritans 54 Frederick Street. 225 3333. I Banks Bank hours are
’ 9.30am-3.30pm. though
some shut at lunch time. All branches of the Royal Bank of Scotland open an extra hour on late closing day. Thursday. from 4.30—5.30pm. The Clydesdale Bank in Waverley Market. 556 7306 is unique in the centre of town in its extended hours: Mon—Sat 8.30am-7.30pm; Sun
1 lam—3pm.
Nearly all the Scottish and English banks have . reciprocal arrangements for using cash-dispensing machines. but beware the extra fee some of them impose for the service. It‘s well worth checking with your own bank before you find yourself with extra bank charges at the end of yourhohday.
Spons
I Meadowbank Stadium London Road. 661 5351 is the main sports centre in the city and offers a wide range of facilities.
I Swimming Pools There are several pools all over the city. some with saunas. The newest and largest is the Royal Commonwealth Pool. Dalkeith Road. For information on all pools ring 667 72]].
Museums and Art Galleries
I The National Gallery oi Scotland The Mound. 556 8921. Mon-Sat 10am-5pm. Sun 2—5pm. Free. Houses an impressive and well chosen collection from l4th—19th century. Fine works by Titian. Poussin and Turner. The gallery itselfhas recently been re-furbished at a cost of over£l million and the rooms downstairs restored to architect Playfair's original designs with claret-coloured walls and sage green carpets; upstairs the rooms are a less historical bright blue. bright pink and bright green.
I Gallery of Modern Art Belford Road. 556 8921 . Mon—Sat 10am—5pm. sun 2—5pm. Free. (The gallery is only on one bus route . Eastern Scottish bus C13. so your best bet is to walk (approx 20 mins from centre. or get a taxi). Another fine collection includes work by Picasso, Hepworth, Moore and Giacometti. Modern Scottish artists are also very well represented. Excellent cafe.
I Royal Museum of Scotland Chambers Street 225 7534. Mon-Sat lOam-Spm, Sun 2-5pm. Free. The building is notable for its beautiful
ON HIGH
Edinburgh’s architecture may be iamous for classical restraint not Victorian excess, but the Victorians were indetatiguable builders and all overthe city they raised monuments, statues and towers to those they admired. Admiral Lord Nelson, killed in 1805, was considered more than worthy oi the honour and the Nelson Monument built on Calton Hill at the east end of the city, is clearly visible along the length of Princes Street. It is designed, appropriately, to resemble a spy glass or telescope (though some, according to the official leailet on the monument, liken it less reverently to a butterchurn.) Whatever its form, the views irom the top are truly magnificent and more than reward the 55p and 170 steps it takes to get there. At the top oi the monument is a large time-ball which falls at noon GMT (1 pm in summer) on weekdays. It was originally installed as a time check ior
arching Victorian entrance hall and the collection is well recommended for its sections on science. technology and natural history. Regular programme oftalks and lectures. and an inexpensive family cafe. I Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre Heritage Centre. 358 Castlehill. Royal Mile. 220 044 l. 7 days 9am-7pm. Adults £2.50. kids under l6£1.25. Shopping
I Jenners. in Princes Street was one of the biggest department stores in Britain when it was built in the 18905 and. with its vast central mock Jacobean gallery. it is still acknowledged as Edinburgh’s premier store. Princes Street is the main place to find clothes. records. and the major chain stores. For antiques and good second hand shops browse round Stockbridge (on the north side ofthe city) and Victoria Street in the old town; for kitsch Scottish souvenirs try the Royal
Kinnes)
Mile and Rose Street; for books. Waterstones in George Street is well stocked and opens late: for food. Valvona and Crolia. a family run italian delicatessen at 19 Elm Row (top of Lcith Walk) is a must; for haggis. MacSweens 130 Bruntsfield Place. 229 1216 is generally considered to be the best and will export all over the world (local import licences on meat permitting).
Green Spots
Edinburgh has an abundance of green areas. but one of the most pleasant and least discovered is Dunbar's Close Garden in the Canongatc. lt's laid out in the manner of a 17th century Edinburgh garden and. untroubled by the hum of traffic and visitors outside. it is small. secluded and full of herbs and butterflies.
The Royal Botanic Garden lnverleith Row. (552 7171) is open seven days. dawn to dusk. The second oldest garden in Britain. it
the ships In Lelth, since the monument at its base is 456" above sea level and Is clearly visible irom the port. The practice ol lowering the ball continues even it its original iunction has gone and today coincides with the tiring oi the 1 o’clock gun at Edinburgh Castle. (Nelson Monument, Calton Hill, 556 2716. Mon 1-6pm; Tue-Sat loam-6pm; closed Sun. 55p.) Adjacent to the castle is another piece oi Victorian invention, and one oi which the city must have been very proud when itwas iirst built. It’s a large Camera Obscura (literally dark room) and works like a giant periscope, reilectlng views oi the whole city onto a large concave white table. On a clear day the ellect can be very impressive indeed. The small gallery round the outside oi the tower commands panoramic views stretching across the Forth to File in the north, and south across the Pentland Hills and on the way up there are small and interesting exhibitions on pinhole cameras (and how to make one) and holograms. A good trip iorchildren. (Camera Obscura, Castlehill, 226 3709. Open 7 days, Mon-Fri 9.30am—6pm; Sat 10am—6.30pm;Sun10am—7pm, adults £1.70, kids/OAPs 80p, students £1.25). The third monument well worth the climb tor the view it aiiords, is the Scott Monument in Princes Street, but here the climb is the hardest— 287 steps in all. A piece of romantic Gothic extravagance, it was built in the 1840. It commemorates the novelist Sir Walter Scott and his twice-lite sized statue is set beneath the mass oi masonry. (Scott Monument, East Princes Street Gardens, 225 2424 ext 6596. Mon—Sateam—Gpm, 45p). (Sally
is wilder and more woody than most. with a famous rhododendron walk and a splendid view of the city skyline from lnverleith House (which houses changing exhibitions. see Art List).
Edinburgh International Festival
I International Festival 21 Market Street. 225 5756. 14 Aug—5 Sept. Postal booking open now: personal booking and credit card booking (012107200 or03l-225 5756)0pens4Juiy. Asin previous years the focal point will be the world theatre season but there is also a strong programme of music and art. This year's theme is ltaly.
I Edinburgh Festival Fringe 170 High Street. 226 5259. Booking opens when the Fringe programme is published at the end ofJune. Booking for events at the Assembly Rooms 54 George Street opens 1 July. Box office. 226 2427/8.
The List 27 May - 9 June 1988 65