"A city of hidden beauty (very well hidden)" Edinburgh by NiceLife

The royal city of Edinburgh is caked in the grime of centuries, blackened grey stone, gothic landmarks and suprising vistas poking through the city walls.

Seen here through the archway, the two hundred foot high rocket shaped gothic Scott Monument pokes up into the grey sky. Climb its narrow internal spiral staircase and get to know fellow tourists rather better than you might like, as you try to pass each other on the stairs, one going up, the other down, stomachs held in. "Pardon. Sorry. Ooops, pardon" As a reward, you are treated to splendid views over the city and castle.

As well as being a major tourist and cultural centre, Edinburgh is headquarters to banks which print their own Scottish banknotes - treated with great suspicion in England despite being legal tender.

Financial services call centres are one of its newer industries, as apparently the English associate a Scottish burr with being "careful with money" - a mistake that has lead them to elect numerous Edinburgh-trained barristers to the British Government. An easy mistake to make, but the trait of carefulness applies only to their own money and not other peoples, which they waste with abandon.

Edinburgh is rivalled by Glasgow, whose tourist board came up wth the slogan: "Glasgow. It' s miles better". Both are great cities. Both enjoy rubbish weather. But which is better? To help you decide, take a wee dram down Rose Street.

Take the Rose Street Challenge

Not so much a drive thru as a drink thru, the tradition of Rose Street is alive and well. The recipe is simple. Start one end and fall down at the the other, after taking a drink at each and every pub along its length. To ease your journey the price of drinks is very reasonable. But don't linger. Down the hatch, steady up and onward, only another nineteen to go.

Scottish drink measures are larger than English. This is because the Scots are more generous a people. And as for Scottish Whisky - to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin - "Scotch Whisky is proof, if proof were required, that God exists, that he loves man, and that he wants him to be happy".

I'll drink to that.