62 www.wigantoday.net Tuesday, July28, 2015 WIGANOBSERVERTRAVELEdinburgh is a hard place to leaveDid you know that pandas spend around 16 hours of every day sleeping? You are soon appraised of the fact when you visit Edinburgh Zoo in search of one. Onceyouhavepaidthe admission fee and turned up at the appointed time slot to gaze into what appears to be an empty bamboo plantation, zookeepers are remarkably informativeabouttheshy-ness and sluggishness of their charges.We got lucky, however. Just as one keeper was tell-ing us how fortunate we were to catch a glimpse of a male pandas right ear as he ad-justed his sleeping position in a patch of shade under a bush - some visitors dont even get that the female came out into the open next door and gave everyone a wave. She didnt really, it just felt a bit like that afer spending a good portion of the morning study-ing the somnolent posture of her partner.Tian Tian, as she is known, sat down more or less in front of us and tucked into a small forest of bamboo shoots. She kept her back to us through-out the entire meal, which was mildly annoying for pho-tographic purposes, but at least she counted as a panda sighting. We would have been disappointed to leave Edin-burgh with only an indistinct memory of her mates Andy Capp impression.Pandas apart, it is usually quite dicult to leave Edin-burgh disappointed. It packs a lot into a small area, has something for just about eve-ryone, and is easily reachable from this part of the world, especially by train. If leav-ing the car at home was our best decision of the weekend, staying at the Knights Resi-dence apartment complex was almost as inspired. Styl-ish apartments such as these are springing up in most city destinations now, rivalling high end hotels for cost and convenience. The advan-tage is that you eectively get a small suite instead of just a bedroom, with a well-equipped kitchen should you wish to prepare your own meals, plus space for dining, watching television or DVDs, and generally doing whatever you would be doing at home. Two-bedroom apartments byjanetwilsonjanet.wilson@jpres.co.uk@JWilsonWIGFeatureare available if desired, and for young families or groups of friends the arrangement can be far more exible, user-friendly and cost-eective than booking a hotel.The Knights Residence is roughly half way between the Haymarket and Waver-ley stations, which means it is as central as anyone could wish. There is a large, dedi-cated car park for anyone not taking the train, though as virtually all the citys atrac-tions are within easy walk-ing distance (and for those that arent, such as the zoo, Lothian buses charge just 1.50 for any single journey) the car can stay parked until it is time to return home. The Knights Residence is almost literally beneath the castle and its rock, with the eating and drinking options of the historic Grassmarket just a ve minute stroll away. If you actually prefer bagpipes, buskers and American tour parties then the Royal Mile is just a corner or two further, with Princes Street and its shops a few hundred yards beyond that, but Grassmarket is pleasingly lively without be-ing overwhelmed by the tour-ist trade. Should you prefer to eat in instead of at a restau-rant, there is a supermarket close by and several takeaway outlets at hand.On arrival at the residence you are given a 24 hour key and a thoroughly compre-hensive introduction to the accommodation and its facili-ties by an amazingly helpful and informative concierge, and then you are lef alone. Your room will be serviced once a day, but apart from that there is no interaction with sta unless you need their assistance. You can get up as late or as early as you wish, have breakfast in or out or skip it altogether, just as you might at home. You can make use of the wi to do a lit-tle work, or browse the collec-tions of CDs and lms if you feel like entertainment. Every angle seems to have been taken care of, you are encour-aged to treat the apartments just like home, and that is how it feels. Home but away. Home and away at the same time. A home from home in Edinburgh. In our experience modern apartments such as these tend to be situated on the outskirts of city centres, cosy and comfortable but geographically not quite as convenient as they might be. The Knights Residence is not like that. It has the castle on its doorstep. We werent there for the Tatoo but you would be able to hear it just by opening a window. You can get closer, but you would probably have to be royal.n For the eighth year in suc-cession, Edinburgh apart-hotel The Knight Residence has been named one of the best places to stay worldwide by global online travel agency ExpediaThe Knights ResidenceAddress:12 Lauriston, Edinburgh EH3 9DJTel No: 0131 622 7363Website: www.theknightsresidence.co.ukFact lewish, have breakfast in or out make use of the wi to do a lit-tle work, or browse the collec-feel like entertainment. Every taken care of, you are encour-Edinburgh. In our experience