The bar at Sandy Bell's Edinburgh

The day after Boxing Day saw the ladies go to see the Nutcracker Ballet while the men went to visit a few hostelries. We had coffee and a scone at the theatre cafe before setting off on our short tour.

The first stop was Sandy Bell's which was a pub I'd known about for while as one of THE places for traditional music in Scotland so as we were in the area it seemed a good idea to see the place in the flesh.

An afternoon in the quiet days after Christmas was not the best time to go. The place was quiet bar a lone fiddler scraping out a variety of laments and carols which didn't bring out any sense of jollity. At times the fiddler was accompanied by a morose singer, who although he had a good voice, matched his singing to the downbeat fiddling.

When Keith was singing "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" the barman remarked that the odd thing was that Keith was an atheist. What struck me about Sandy Bell's was how small it was, only a long corridor really. One a busy evening people must have to stand cheek by jowl to get in.

From Sandy's we went on to the Ensign Ewart on the Royal Mile where were sampled their whisky and other wares until it was time to return to the theatre. Unfortunately a mishap with the house keys meant that we were not able to return to Balerno for an hour or so before going out in the evening for a meal, so we were stuck in the theatre bar until it was time to go directly to the restaurant.