EDINBURGH is by far my favourite city in Scotland but, until now, the majority of the time I have spent there has involved wrapping up in at least six layers, enjoying a flask of hot tea (or something slightly stronger) while shivering violently in the stands at Murrayfield Stadium.
The only romance usually involves me swooning over members of our national rugby team, much to my other half’s disgust.
So this time, we decided to do things properly and enjoy a romantic break in the capital, just the two of us.
We travelled down by train from a very snowy Aberdeen, joyous to disembark on a crispy, sunny winter morning in Edinburgh.
We were staying at the George Hotel, on George Street, a short walk from Waverley station and only one street back from the hustle and bustle of Princes Street. We arrived a good few hours before our check-in time of 3pm, but had plans to fill the time.
The staff stored our bags for us and arranged for a taxi to take us to our first event of the weekend – a wine tasting.
We were greeted by Margaret D. Smith, of the Edinburgh Wine School. Margaret has the enviable job title of wine educator and provides wine tastings to industry professionals, private groups and tourists. During the festival, she runs extremely popular Wine in the City classes, and it was this which we were having a preview of.
I was slightly nervous before the tasting. Prior to the class, I had tasted many, many wines, though I had never been to an actual tasting. My knowledge went as far as the three main wine groups – red, white and rose. Oh, dear.
My partner and I settled down at our stations and, in front of us, there were six glasses of different sizes and shapes, each filled with a different poison.
We were taught how to nose a wine, and why it is important. The scent reaches an area of your brain which brings back memories, suggesting places where you may have smelled that scent previously. Once you have taken a teaspoon amount of the wine into your mouth and swished it around, some of the scent again travels up the back of your throat, matching up with the scent you nosed previously.
If anyone had told me that before I went, I would have probably scoffed, but here I was nodding in agreement.
The first glass, a sweet Madeira wine, brought back memories of liquorice. Louis Roederer Champagne (also known as Cristal’s mum) left my mouth watering with the taste of strawberries, and an Albarino-based white wine was full of fruity pineapple punch. Eat your heart out Jilly Goulding.
I was amazed to see my partner, who isn’t normally the biggest fan of wine, engrossed in conversation with Margaret, soaking in every piece of information. Great, I thought, he’s going to be a nightmare at dinner.
The class really was fantastic, though, both educational and entertaining, and we left on a high – whether natural or alcohol-induced I’m not sure. I blame the liqueur Muscat (with aromas of Christmas cake, ginger, cinnamon ... oh, goodness, away I go again).
We returned to the George Hotel and went to change in our room. When we opened the door, however, I thought we might have come to the wrong room. Champagne on ice? Chocolate-covered strawberries? This couldn’t be the doing of my other half, could it? Then I noticed a bottle of massage oil. Definitely not him.
There was a knock at the door and we were presented with two more glasses of champagne. I could get used to this, I thought. We had actually been booked for the Love Your Partner stay at the George, which included all of the previous titbits as well as an upgrade to a premier deluxe room with stunning views over Edinburgh, breakfast in bed (with even more champagne) and the best bit – complimentary Harvey Nichols vouchers.
Once we had scoffed the chocolate strawberries and dragged ourselves away from the champagne, we made our way to our dinner destination, the Rutland Hotel.
Here, we found ourselves surrounded by even more romantic propositions. Tucked away in a quiet corner of the room, which featured circular booths draped with black tassles and mirrored walls, we chose our fancies from the menu.
My langoustine and crab cocktail, which came beautifully presented in a cone-shaped dish nestled on a bed of crushed ice inside a small goldfish bowl, was light and fresh. My partner opted for more hearty fare, quickly demolishing his portion of roast breast of Perthshire partridge with onion tart, spinach and tomato jus.
For mains, we both plumped for loin of Highland venison with braised red cabbage, a delicious celeriac and potato gratin and red-wine sauce. Perhaps fittingly, my partner managed to make room for passion-fruit cheesecake, but I managed only a few delicious mouthfuls of fruit sorbet.
We got back to the George and, as I was getting ready for bed, I heard my partner exclaiming his joy – at 6ft 5in, his first test for a hotel is the length of the bed. By the time I got back through, he was dead to the world, so I think it’s safe to say the bed passed his test.
The next morning, we woke up feeling slightly groggy after the previous day’s wine-fuelled antics.
Thankfully, we were booked in for the afternoon at the One Spa at the Sheraton Grand Hotel. I told my partner I was excited to be spending an afternoon with him at the spa, and he seemed to buy it. Secretly, I was hoping to spot a rugby player or two as they are known to often relax at the hotel after a game.
Sadly, I just had to put up with the sight of my partner as we sampled the 10 treatments in the spa’s thermal spa. With everything from a thermal shower, a lanconium, an aroma room and a searingly hot rock spa, there really is something to cater to your every relaxation requirement. I particularly enjoyed lying on the toasty ceramic couches in the tepidarium following a very humid 10 minutes in the bio-spa.
However, the definite highlight of our time at the One Spa had to be the hydropool. Heated to a welcoming 37C, the pool features green buttons around the edge which activate jets, bubbling the mineral-rich water.
Swim through some plastic panels and you find yourself outside. Yes, we went swimming outdoors. In Edinburgh. In February. And it was lovely. Underwater loungers allow you to relax with your body warm under the water and with a crisp breeze invigorating your senses.
Completely relaxed and pampered, we made our way back to Waverley station and, feeling contented and happy, said goodbye to our romantic weekend in Edinburgh.
I’ll be back down in Edinburgh again next month, shivering in the stands at Murrayfield, but while my nose turns blue and my toes drop off, in my mind I’ll be lying on a heated lounger in the spa, glass of wine in hand. Bliss.