Thursday 31 January 2013

The Dome

The DOME is a place to consider when visiting Edinburgh, it has a mixture history, elegance and the modern. Located in the heart of Edinburgh's New Town, The Dome opened its doors in 1996 and is well known to many as a bar and restaurant. It has become established as a first choice venue to meet friends and colleagues for Coffee, Cocktails, Lunch and Dinner. 
 You just need to look at its outside and walk through its impressive huge bronze doors to realise this is a building that oozes  history, originally the site of the old Physicians’ hall (1775), built and designed by James Craig the celebrated planner of Edinburgh’s New Town.  Unfortunately for the College of Physicians they didn’t get their sums right!  leaving the College approximately £1,000 in debt, so the College looked for a purchaser and eventually some seventy years later The Commercial Bank of Scotland bought the building and it was to became the Head Office, the old Physicians’ Hall was demolished to the foundation stone in which were found the silver medals and other relics which are now in the possession of the College.  The old building material was removed and on the empty site the present classical structure gradually rose. An amalgamation of banks saw it become part of The Royal Bank of Scotland and losing the designation of head office.
In 1993 the Bank decided that the building was no longer viable and 14 George Street was put up for sale.  A local company called Caledonian Heritable Ltd bought the building and converted the bank to how you see it today The Dome today incorporates several bars and a Garden Café, it has a reputation for high standards in food, service & hospitality. I think that a visit to The Dome is a part of the Edinburgh experience.

Friday 18 January 2013

Edinburgh's Dean Village and Water of Leith




When visitors come to Edinburgh they generally go to the Castle and down the Royal Mile/Old Town, but few tourists know that only 15 minutes away from the city’s main thoroughfare Princes Street lies a silver thread in a ribbon of green. There you will find the secluded Dean Village on the Water of Leith which lies 30 meters below the rest of Edinburgh. This makes is quite unique and particularly tranquil considering it is virtually in the heart of Scotland's Capital.  Stroll through the historical Dean Village a successful grain milling hamlet for more than 800 years as it sits on the Water of Leith, although not a large river it has had 70 mills on it over the centuries and was a centre of industry. Walk east up river and take in the wild life then you come to the two Galleries of Modern Art, walk west down the river with a neo classical new town houses towering above you to find the old village of Stockbridge with its bohemian vibe.  The buildings and structures you encounter are a mixture of classic and of industrial heritage. This hidden gem will show you another side the Edinburgh

VisitScotland award for Saints and Sinners Walking Tours




Some good news arrived for Saints and Sinners Walking Tours today, which I wanted to share with you.
 

Last year I took the step of requesting VisitScotland to put Saints & Sinners through the rigours of their Quality Assurance audit/assessment. As you may be aware, they look at all aspects of your business and also send out a mystery customer. The outcome is Saints and Sinners were awarded 4 stars! To put this in perspective, there is only one company with a 5 star walking tour award in Scotland and they are a considerably larger business than mine.


Naturally I'm delighted to have received this accolade and am proud that VisitScotland have rated Saints and Sinners so highly. Please feel free to use this information when passing on information about my tours to your clients/friends.