There was one night in Edinburgh where Kristen and I failed spectacularly on our quest to find food.  You might be thinking ‘but how can you fail to find food in Europe? Europe is surely the land of nomnomy-goodness’.  Well, if there’s a way to fail I will find it. 

Also, this story takes place on a Sunday.  Always be prepared for Sundays – when sites/restaurants/bars close early.  (Or, if you’re in Vienna, be prepared for early closures every damn day.)

This was also the day of our tour of Loch Lomond & Stirling Castle.  When we got back to the city we immediately went to the hotel to lie down, since our need for a rest was greater than our need for food.  When we decided to leave the hotel it was after 7pm.

We headed to The Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books (female write power-up obtained!).  We glanced at the menu to see what they served, but nothing struck our fancy so we walked past it.  Nothing else on the street caught our eye, so we walked all the way up to the Royal Mile.  We went to Deacon Brodie’s Tavern, but the place was packed.  We were too hungry to wait so we left. 

We walked to a few more places – even to Cafe Nero – but they were closed.  We walked down Grassmarket but the pubs were either slammed with customers or didn’t serve food.  Finally we found a place that served food and had a free table, but when we enquired about eating we were told that the kitchen closed at 9pm.  It was currently 9:01pm.  Damn.

So what did we do?  Well, we went to Sainsbury’s.  It wasn’t the meal we were looking for, but it was food and we were hungry.  Also, they had sliced coconut.

I’d like to think that if we’d found a place we’d have sat down for a good nosh of haggis and other crazy Scottish foods, but alas… 

Maybe next time, Scottish food, maybe next time.