Fisherman is safe and sound, even managing to catch a large salmon and many trout. Impressively navigated himself back to Edinburgh from far far north Scotland (Thurso). Me - I would have probably ended up in the North Sea. Now I am no longer a solo traveller there has been a return of ''half pint'' being my pseudonym largely for when we visit pubs. Stephen would be ''pint'' I guess but doesn't quite have the same ring about it. Anyway half pint and her partner have visited a few pubs as half pint does not like visiting them when a solo traveller. Suspect we will get to a few over the course of our stay.
The full marathon actually went straight past our place Sunday morning. Was good fun cheering on the runners, some dressed in weird and wonderful outfits. We were not sure how BuzzLightYear was going to be able to run a full marathon.
Having a car for now we decided on a day trip on a bright sunny and pretty warm day actually. We drove into the Kingdom of Fife which is on the east coast, a place we do not know. Very pretty fishing villages in an area called East Neuk (Neuk meaning ''corner'' apparently in old Scots). Essentially a little ring of towns facing the North Sea. We went to a little place called Elie and Anstruther. Both have lovely beaches and are very sea-sidy holiday places. Both part of old trading links with the Netherlands and Belgium so the architecture is sometimes a bit different - they have these crow step gables on their roofs and tiles made of clay not slate. This was pointed out to us by a visiting Edinburgh person who we got chatting to. Slightly more interesting than just dismissing them as Scottish sea-side holiday places. Back to a more mundane topic - Anstruthers is known for its fish and chips we read so we thought our main meal today would be fish and chips. Was very nice - not much dinner for us tonight. We wondered why the place was so busy though for a weekday, only to find ourselves face to face with Nicola Sturgeon the leader of the Scottish National Party. She was campaigning. Disappointingly she ignored us.
After our brush with the UK election, we drove onto St Andrews. Only really knew of it as being the place for golf and an old University. It is a very scenic place full of medieval buildings including a ruined cathedral overlooking the North Sea. The University is huge and occupies a huge number of the buildings in the town centre. There is even still west and east medieval city gates. Now lots of tourists (and golfers of course). Pretty wealthy place. The St Andrews Link is impressive looking. It overlooks a long sandy beach which is where the beach run scene in Chariots of Fire was filmed. Looked to be a great beach for a long walk. Watched a few people teeing off. Lots of Americans. Loved that there is a little burn (stream) running through it with a little stone bridge over the burn that was built some 700 years ago to allow shepherds to get livestock across the burn. Even for a non-golfer it had quite an atmosphere.
The University is old - founded in the 15th century. They say the 3rd oldest in the English speaking world. Of course being me I wonder why such a big Uni sprang up here and discover religion and Scottish independence (so intertwined here) caused its formation. Scottish students had to stop attending Uni in England because of wars with England; the Scots then went to Uni in Paris but the Scots decided they didn't like the French Pope and the students were left with no Uni to attend. So the enterprising Scots (when it was still largely catholic) got another Pope who they did like, to issue an edict for the formation of a Uni here. St Andrews was important in the Catholic world so St Andrews was a natural choice for the new Uni.
There were also a lot of running battles between the Catholics and Protestants here once the reformation got going. It is scattered with reminders of these. There are markings on cobblestones which indicate where executions took place (mainly the Protestants executed by the Catholics although I assume it ran both ways). John Knox delivered some fiery sermon here which kicked off the Scottish Reformation. I seem to run into this John Knox character a lot.
Tried to ascertain whether St Andrews really was the place where golf was invented given Leith Links allegedly is the place where golf was first played. St Andrews claims the first evidence of golf played there was in 1552 and Leith Links says it was in 1554 so I think St Andrews may win by a whisker but who really knows. I did read that the monarchy kept banning the game because it was distracting the men from their military training and given the Scots were perpetually fighting the English; this was an issue. Finally, and not soon enough, in 1502 the ban on golf was lifted when the "Treaty of Perpetual Peace" between England and Scotland was signed. What a relief.
Stephen is watching ""Hinterland"" - a BBC show we watch in Australia. Challengingly it is in Gaelic. OK there are sub-titles but made a good story.
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Sunday, 28 May 2017
26-27 May
As proof that I have not just been haunting galleries and bookshops, I did watch the FA Cup final this afternoon and I know Arsenal won. Was pretty tempting though to still be outside as weather has been glorious. Decided that their blue sky is not washed out - it is just a gentler blue than I am used to. It's a Bank holiday weekend so place is full of both overseas and Scottish tourists.
Found out why our bus has a destination of "restalrig" on it (aside from the obvious that this is an actual place). The Restalrigs were a family that had some hefty political connections at one stage. They were the lairds who controlled South Leith back in the 12th century and are called the Logans of restalrig - Logan being some sort of clan. However they fell out of favour in Leith when one of them sold his feudal rights to the borough of Edinburgh (Leith being a separate town) and noone liked the Restalrigs (in Leith at least) for some centuries. Then read somewhere else that the restalrigs owned Calton - large area in Edinburgh and one was tried for treason for trying to abduct James VI - their lands were forfeited as a result. History can be very confusing. In any event their end was ignominous it seems - a local sign tells me that the last logan of Restalrig was óne godless, drunkin and deboshit man'. He died a pauper in 1606. Enough of local history.
I seemed to have been tying bits of historical threads together the last couple of days. Visited Calton Hill which is unsurprisingly a hill overlooking Edinburgh that provides great views of Edinburgh. Could clearly see how Arthurs Seat and Castle Rock (on which now sits Edinburgh Castle) were once volcanoes and how the gullys below them were carved out a long long time ago by glaciers and the Ice Ages, which is what I read about in the Scottish Museum a few days ago. North Bridge, which straddles the Old Town and New Town now makes sense. It goes over a deep gully. Also found out that The Mound which also joins the Old Town and New Town was man made by dumping a bunch of rumble into a gully. And Princes Garden which is now a lovely garden in the centre of town between the old and new part (old being medieval and new being Georgian so old and very old as far as Sydney is concerned) was once a swampy bog where the old town dumped its sewerage. Think I am getting the topography down pat.
Dropped in on the Old Calton Burial Ground - there are graveyards everywhere in Edinburgh -on the way down from the Carlton hill. Took pictures of suitably grim skull and cross bones. They do impressive graveyards here. Made me think about how some people become famous or renown for no apparent reason while others who were highly regarded (or infamous) in their time become lost in the mists of time. The graveyard has a huge obelisk for the memory of some Scottish political reformers -its called the site of the "Political Martyrs" monument. They pushed for universal suffrage - voting rights for all - not just landowners and for their troubles were transported to Australia for 15 years. Now pretty much unknown. Another grave was for some Scottish actor who was friends with Robert Burns and his friends put up this impressive tombstone quoting Shakespeare and setting out in some detail how renown he was. Never heard of him but heard of Robbie Burns. There is a famous painting in the National Gallery called the Skating Minister. It is purportedly of a minister called the Rev Robert Walker. There are all sorts of books on him and his connection to the painter (although the painter is not certain), Henry Raeburn. But a book I skim read in a bookshop described the Rev as "part of the atmosphere rather than the substance"". Loved that description - he contributed little himself but has become a symbol of his time. Anyway not a new concept that history is very subjective and selective.
Was also a few days of connections and Ah Hah moments. Was sitting on old artillery mound in Leith Links enjoying reading a book in the sunshine and listening in to the lovely Scottish voices - such a lilt - when an ice cream van turned up playing the Hokey Pokey. I momentarily thought ''why the hokey pokey'' and then dismissed it until I visited another old old part called the GrassMarket where a sign told me this used to be Little Italy in the early 1900's and the Italians were known for selling ice cream from barrows where they would yell out ''Gelati, ecco un poco'' and became known as the Hokey Pokey men. There you go.
The Grassmarket is a funny area - old market area below the castle and adjourning the Cowgate and Candlemaker Row. Such evocative names. Also used to be where executions occurred. So has a grisly past too. There are a few signs dotted around where various people were murdered, where supposed witches were executed etc. Went into a shop there which had an oldish looking sign that said "'In 1673 nothing happened here."" I laughed.
Found myself in both the Central Library and Scottish National Library. Unsurprisingly I love libraries and they are often off the main tourist track with interesting exhibits. This proved to be the case. One had these journals written by some Brits travelling abroad - in the 1700's. Remindered me why you should check out what pages are left open to read in these types of exhibits. What was left open to read was a bit Pythonesque I think. ''Travels to Asia - Minor. Chap 1. We embarked at Gravesend on the 9th of June 1764.... our ship carrying 16 guns..... we had a fair wind; but our pilot, being in liquor, did not sail that evening."' You think you are reading this serious report of a boat sailing to Asia Minor and you are, but there is this deadpan comment about the pilot in there (and some others equally damning which I didn't record). I giggled when I read it. Someone in the library must have thought this was funny.
There was also a small exhibition on a journal called Blackwoods - a literary journal published between 1817-1980. It published also sorts of writings including John Buchanan's 39 Steps and works by Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle etc. There was a letter on display about RL Stevenson regarding some of his earlier writings: ""take a look at the enclosed... by young Stevenson, the engineer's son. It strikes me as rather nice."" The Stevensons were quite a talented family - engineers, builders of lighthouses and well known in Edinburgh. Didn't know - just heard of the author. Also an extract of some writings on what looked to be a skating society. Yes there was an official figure skating society in Edinburgh dating from the 1740's. The extract was again very funny recording people's poor skating skills but written in a deadpan serious style. Someone in that library surely thought it was pretty funny. And this then linked to the figure of the Skating Minister in the National Gallery who is known as the club's most famous member. Not exciting I know but was funny to me when things started to link up.
Did get back to the National Gallery for a Highlights Tour. Was worthwhile. The guide focused primarily on 3 different landscapes to show us how this type of painting developed. I know a very small taste of what is in the gallery but was interesting especially as 2 of the main paintings on display at present are a giant landscape by McTaggert and Constable. She started with a landscape by a French painter (The Scots and French seem to have a bit of a connection - think is a mixture of the Mary Queen of Scots Catholic Queen thing and the republic/freedom from monarchy thing - could be completely wrong but that's my take) called Claude from the 1600's. Quite a static landscape with nymphs and Greek temples in a woodland setting. She then moved to a Constable - also a woodland type setting but so much more alive (1700's) and finally to the McTaggert (1800's) which was almost if not impressionist in style. Apparently Constable admired Claude and McTaggert admired Constable so you could see the link in the paintings. And did not know, but landscapes were way down the pecking order when Claude painted them unless you included some noteworthy figures - like Biblical/mythological figures. By the time Constable came along, the figures could have been of every day people. Become a fan of Constable and McTaggert. Love this type of thing, as missed this entirely when I visited a few days ago. She also showed us a huge painting called the Monarch of the Glen - gorgeous stag staring you down, a sculpture of 2 Campbell sisters (of the Campbell clan) - again stunning and the famous skating Minister which we all agreed was quite comical. A formal looking Minister dressed head to toe in black skating on a Loch. Also got to see their impressionist collection after tour - small but good selection of Monets, Van Goghs, Sisley etc.
And the Edinburgh Marathon was on this weekend. Failed to enter. Not a surprise. It is apparently a 'flat and fast' course which I took to mean we do not run around the Old Town which is most definitely not flat. Saw some of the runners running around the base of Arthurs Seat near Holyrood Palace. Pretty scenic. Lots of people in running gear with large numbers on them staggering around afterwards - reminded me of Will.
The fisherman is back today. Suspect his week has been somewhat different to mine. Will not attempt to record all of the fishing tales in this blog.
Found out why our bus has a destination of "restalrig" on it (aside from the obvious that this is an actual place). The Restalrigs were a family that had some hefty political connections at one stage. They were the lairds who controlled South Leith back in the 12th century and are called the Logans of restalrig - Logan being some sort of clan. However they fell out of favour in Leith when one of them sold his feudal rights to the borough of Edinburgh (Leith being a separate town) and noone liked the Restalrigs (in Leith at least) for some centuries. Then read somewhere else that the restalrigs owned Calton - large area in Edinburgh and one was tried for treason for trying to abduct James VI - their lands were forfeited as a result. History can be very confusing. In any event their end was ignominous it seems - a local sign tells me that the last logan of Restalrig was óne godless, drunkin and deboshit man'. He died a pauper in 1606. Enough of local history.
I seemed to have been tying bits of historical threads together the last couple of days. Visited Calton Hill which is unsurprisingly a hill overlooking Edinburgh that provides great views of Edinburgh. Could clearly see how Arthurs Seat and Castle Rock (on which now sits Edinburgh Castle) were once volcanoes and how the gullys below them were carved out a long long time ago by glaciers and the Ice Ages, which is what I read about in the Scottish Museum a few days ago. North Bridge, which straddles the Old Town and New Town now makes sense. It goes over a deep gully. Also found out that The Mound which also joins the Old Town and New Town was man made by dumping a bunch of rumble into a gully. And Princes Garden which is now a lovely garden in the centre of town between the old and new part (old being medieval and new being Georgian so old and very old as far as Sydney is concerned) was once a swampy bog where the old town dumped its sewerage. Think I am getting the topography down pat.
Dropped in on the Old Calton Burial Ground - there are graveyards everywhere in Edinburgh -on the way down from the Carlton hill. Took pictures of suitably grim skull and cross bones. They do impressive graveyards here. Made me think about how some people become famous or renown for no apparent reason while others who were highly regarded (or infamous) in their time become lost in the mists of time. The graveyard has a huge obelisk for the memory of some Scottish political reformers -its called the site of the "Political Martyrs" monument. They pushed for universal suffrage - voting rights for all - not just landowners and for their troubles were transported to Australia for 15 years. Now pretty much unknown. Another grave was for some Scottish actor who was friends with Robert Burns and his friends put up this impressive tombstone quoting Shakespeare and setting out in some detail how renown he was. Never heard of him but heard of Robbie Burns. There is a famous painting in the National Gallery called the Skating Minister. It is purportedly of a minister called the Rev Robert Walker. There are all sorts of books on him and his connection to the painter (although the painter is not certain), Henry Raeburn. But a book I skim read in a bookshop described the Rev as "part of the atmosphere rather than the substance"". Loved that description - he contributed little himself but has become a symbol of his time. Anyway not a new concept that history is very subjective and selective.
Was also a few days of connections and Ah Hah moments. Was sitting on old artillery mound in Leith Links enjoying reading a book in the sunshine and listening in to the lovely Scottish voices - such a lilt - when an ice cream van turned up playing the Hokey Pokey. I momentarily thought ''why the hokey pokey'' and then dismissed it until I visited another old old part called the GrassMarket where a sign told me this used to be Little Italy in the early 1900's and the Italians were known for selling ice cream from barrows where they would yell out ''Gelati, ecco un poco'' and became known as the Hokey Pokey men. There you go.
The Grassmarket is a funny area - old market area below the castle and adjourning the Cowgate and Candlemaker Row. Such evocative names. Also used to be where executions occurred. So has a grisly past too. There are a few signs dotted around where various people were murdered, where supposed witches were executed etc. Went into a shop there which had an oldish looking sign that said "'In 1673 nothing happened here."" I laughed.
Found myself in both the Central Library and Scottish National Library. Unsurprisingly I love libraries and they are often off the main tourist track with interesting exhibits. This proved to be the case. One had these journals written by some Brits travelling abroad - in the 1700's. Remindered me why you should check out what pages are left open to read in these types of exhibits. What was left open to read was a bit Pythonesque I think. ''Travels to Asia - Minor. Chap 1. We embarked at Gravesend on the 9th of June 1764.... our ship carrying 16 guns..... we had a fair wind; but our pilot, being in liquor, did not sail that evening."' You think you are reading this serious report of a boat sailing to Asia Minor and you are, but there is this deadpan comment about the pilot in there (and some others equally damning which I didn't record). I giggled when I read it. Someone in the library must have thought this was funny.
There was also a small exhibition on a journal called Blackwoods - a literary journal published between 1817-1980. It published also sorts of writings including John Buchanan's 39 Steps and works by Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle etc. There was a letter on display about RL Stevenson regarding some of his earlier writings: ""take a look at the enclosed... by young Stevenson, the engineer's son. It strikes me as rather nice."" The Stevensons were quite a talented family - engineers, builders of lighthouses and well known in Edinburgh. Didn't know - just heard of the author. Also an extract of some writings on what looked to be a skating society. Yes there was an official figure skating society in Edinburgh dating from the 1740's. The extract was again very funny recording people's poor skating skills but written in a deadpan serious style. Someone in that library surely thought it was pretty funny. And this then linked to the figure of the Skating Minister in the National Gallery who is known as the club's most famous member. Not exciting I know but was funny to me when things started to link up.
Did get back to the National Gallery for a Highlights Tour. Was worthwhile. The guide focused primarily on 3 different landscapes to show us how this type of painting developed. I know a very small taste of what is in the gallery but was interesting especially as 2 of the main paintings on display at present are a giant landscape by McTaggert and Constable. She started with a landscape by a French painter (The Scots and French seem to have a bit of a connection - think is a mixture of the Mary Queen of Scots Catholic Queen thing and the republic/freedom from monarchy thing - could be completely wrong but that's my take) called Claude from the 1600's. Quite a static landscape with nymphs and Greek temples in a woodland setting. She then moved to a Constable - also a woodland type setting but so much more alive (1700's) and finally to the McTaggert (1800's) which was almost if not impressionist in style. Apparently Constable admired Claude and McTaggert admired Constable so you could see the link in the paintings. And did not know, but landscapes were way down the pecking order when Claude painted them unless you included some noteworthy figures - like Biblical/mythological figures. By the time Constable came along, the figures could have been of every day people. Become a fan of Constable and McTaggert. Love this type of thing, as missed this entirely when I visited a few days ago. She also showed us a huge painting called the Monarch of the Glen - gorgeous stag staring you down, a sculpture of 2 Campbell sisters (of the Campbell clan) - again stunning and the famous skating Minister which we all agreed was quite comical. A formal looking Minister dressed head to toe in black skating on a Loch. Also got to see their impressionist collection after tour - small but good selection of Monets, Van Goghs, Sisley etc.
And the Edinburgh Marathon was on this weekend. Failed to enter. Not a surprise. It is apparently a 'flat and fast' course which I took to mean we do not run around the Old Town which is most definitely not flat. Saw some of the runners running around the base of Arthurs Seat near Holyrood Palace. Pretty scenic. Lots of people in running gear with large numbers on them staggering around afterwards - reminded me of Will.
The fisherman is back today. Suspect his week has been somewhat different to mine. Will not attempt to record all of the fishing tales in this blog.
Thursday, 25 May 2017
23- 25 May
Am sipping on a wee dram in blazing sunshine -who'd have thought - and am definitely starting to feel at home in Leith (and that is not just the whisky talking) . Stephen is still way up north fishing. Some salmon has apparently been caught, including by him, so he is pleased. He is not pleased with the warm weather though (while I am ecstatic) - apparently this means dropping water levels and less fish. For me it means wearing light jeans and a t shirt, sitting in Leith Links enjoying the sun with my fellow Leith (ers?) Chatted with one of our 'landlords'' today (Emma - whose parents we met) and she said they moved here some 10 years ago and love the sense of community. I do understand what she means. As mentioned before, there are a wide variety of people here which is probably in part what makes it so interesting. Reminds me a wee bit of Naremburn when we first moved there.(notice the Scottish idiom)
Was the warmest day so far this year in Edinburgh I was told. Felt like a beautiful sunny Spring day to me. I love the way the Scots make the most of the sun shining. Leith Links was packed with people enjoying the weather. It had a holiday atmosphere. Suspect we are a bit more blase at home - given the amount of sun we see. I took a picture of their blue sky - it looks like it has first been washed with white. Loving the lack of humidity though.
I have been very proud of myself, as have gone to the Leith Victoria Swim Centre every day this week for either a swim or to use the gym. Definitely feel better for it. Feel like a local strolling down the street in the morning with my gym or pool gear on. The pool set up is so different from home but am loving swimming in an old Victorian bathing place. Discovered today that they do not always swim on the right. Not sure why but if you swim in the fast lane you swim on the right but if you swim in the slow lane you swim on the left. They have these signs at the end of each lane with arrows pointing in the direction you are to go and for the slow lane there is a direction as to how many seconds it is meant to take you to do one lap. Nearly caused a collision this morning when started in slow lane swimming confidently down the right side. Confused everyone. Problem is, without my glasses on the signs are all a blur. Also discovered why I look so youthful here; the Swim Centre offers free admission to anyone over 75. Also number of Eastern Europeans doing breaststroke and standing around gossiping in the pool. Would love to take a photo to show back home at my local pool but photos are unfortunately banned inside the complex. Drats.
Still loving the bird sounds all day - they really "'twitter'' and sing here plus decided I love the sound of the cars driving on cobblestones. It is such a soft sound and of course the Scottish lilt is lovely to hear. Still feel too self-conscious to say "'hiya'' to people but suspect I will get there soon .
Passed a terrace yesterday with a bottle of Irn Bru (look it up - a yellow coloured carbonated drink that Scots love), bottle of milk and can of coke on window sill - left here to cool I assume. Did double take, as of course you would not do this in Sydney.
Decided am glad we are out of tourist centre - much quieter and you feel more quickly that you are not just a tourist visiting for a few days. Am enjoying some more normal things that I do at home like swimming and am loving their TV shows. Good grief, the shows that we never see. So much more choice. Watched a series called ''Fleabag'' last night . It was based on a play at the Edinburgh Fringe and stars people like Olivia Coleman (one of my favourite actors) as an evil godmother basically. Got drawn into it and watched all 6 episodes at once. Also caught another adaptation of a play called Charles the III. Had heard of this one. It is based on Charles becoming King and causing mayhem by refusing to just sign off on the legislation Parliament has agreed to pass - particularly one about restricting Press freedom. Again was brilliant.
Also found a Waterstones bookshop down at the Leith Store. So...many...books.. at such reasonable prices. Restricted the temptation to buy another book.... for now. Also discovered there is a "FatFace'' store down at Leith - a favourite clothing store (partly because of its name) and have checked out some restaurants down on the water at Leith for future visits with Stephen. Lots of seafood - looks pretty nice.
Last couple of days have been somewhat stranger given the terrorist bomb in Manchester. Nothing much you can really say about it other than what an appalling act. Flags all at half mast. Increased security at all public buildings of course, with much bag searching and all tours at Parliament House cancelled. Like at home when similar incidents have occurred, don't really notice much change nearer to home, except everyone a bit more on edge.
Have been a bit of a tourist, visiting the National Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art and Portrait Gallery - all in the one day. Loved them all but favourite was Gallery of Modern Art. The National Gallery had some lovely Flemish art which is one of my favourites and a huge Constable which want to re-visit. I will go back there as only saw part of that gallery. The Modern Art Gallery had all sorts of works from surrealists to expressionists and some amazing artist called Nathan Coley who does these cardboard models. Sounds bizarre but one whole room was full of cardboard recreations of 286 places of worship in Edinburgh. Don''t know why but took my fancy. The Portrait Gallery is in this huge purpose built building dating from 1889 - grand neo-gothic in red standstone. Looks very traditional Scottish to me - quite austere. As well as some impressive pictures and sculptures it has this old library (I loved the smell of the old books) that contained phrenlogical heads of famous heads - basically death masks of people from Voltaire to the grave robbers - Burke and Hare and of anonymous people just labelled eg ''ídiot woman''. Pretty sure I saw some TV show in Australia on this collection before we left. Unusual. Favourite painting or at least most memorable was called the Three Oncologists by Ken Currie. It is a painting of 3 oncologists who are real-life doctors and they appear to have been disturbed in the middle of their work. One eg is holding a medical instrument. They have this luminous quality which makes all 3 look ghostly. Quite eerie.
Meant to get to 28 degrees tomorrow and then plummet on the weekend. Hard not to pay attention to the weather, as it changes so rapidly even in the one day. You find yourself listening carefully to the BBC weather report each night and checking the hourly movement in the cloud, sun and rain that they show, so you can plan your day. Time for dinner.
Was the warmest day so far this year in Edinburgh I was told. Felt like a beautiful sunny Spring day to me. I love the way the Scots make the most of the sun shining. Leith Links was packed with people enjoying the weather. It had a holiday atmosphere. Suspect we are a bit more blase at home - given the amount of sun we see. I took a picture of their blue sky - it looks like it has first been washed with white. Loving the lack of humidity though.
I have been very proud of myself, as have gone to the Leith Victoria Swim Centre every day this week for either a swim or to use the gym. Definitely feel better for it. Feel like a local strolling down the street in the morning with my gym or pool gear on. The pool set up is so different from home but am loving swimming in an old Victorian bathing place. Discovered today that they do not always swim on the right. Not sure why but if you swim in the fast lane you swim on the right but if you swim in the slow lane you swim on the left. They have these signs at the end of each lane with arrows pointing in the direction you are to go and for the slow lane there is a direction as to how many seconds it is meant to take you to do one lap. Nearly caused a collision this morning when started in slow lane swimming confidently down the right side. Confused everyone. Problem is, without my glasses on the signs are all a blur. Also discovered why I look so youthful here; the Swim Centre offers free admission to anyone over 75. Also number of Eastern Europeans doing breaststroke and standing around gossiping in the pool. Would love to take a photo to show back home at my local pool but photos are unfortunately banned inside the complex. Drats.
Still loving the bird sounds all day - they really "'twitter'' and sing here plus decided I love the sound of the cars driving on cobblestones. It is such a soft sound and of course the Scottish lilt is lovely to hear. Still feel too self-conscious to say "'hiya'' to people but suspect I will get there soon .
Passed a terrace yesterday with a bottle of Irn Bru (look it up - a yellow coloured carbonated drink that Scots love), bottle of milk and can of coke on window sill - left here to cool I assume. Did double take, as of course you would not do this in Sydney.
Decided am glad we are out of tourist centre - much quieter and you feel more quickly that you are not just a tourist visiting for a few days. Am enjoying some more normal things that I do at home like swimming and am loving their TV shows. Good grief, the shows that we never see. So much more choice. Watched a series called ''Fleabag'' last night . It was based on a play at the Edinburgh Fringe and stars people like Olivia Coleman (one of my favourite actors) as an evil godmother basically. Got drawn into it and watched all 6 episodes at once. Also caught another adaptation of a play called Charles the III. Had heard of this one. It is based on Charles becoming King and causing mayhem by refusing to just sign off on the legislation Parliament has agreed to pass - particularly one about restricting Press freedom. Again was brilliant.
Also found a Waterstones bookshop down at the Leith Store. So...many...books.. at such reasonable prices. Restricted the temptation to buy another book.... for now. Also discovered there is a "FatFace'' store down at Leith - a favourite clothing store (partly because of its name) and have checked out some restaurants down on the water at Leith for future visits with Stephen. Lots of seafood - looks pretty nice.
Last couple of days have been somewhat stranger given the terrorist bomb in Manchester. Nothing much you can really say about it other than what an appalling act. Flags all at half mast. Increased security at all public buildings of course, with much bag searching and all tours at Parliament House cancelled. Like at home when similar incidents have occurred, don't really notice much change nearer to home, except everyone a bit more on edge.
Have been a bit of a tourist, visiting the National Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art and Portrait Gallery - all in the one day. Loved them all but favourite was Gallery of Modern Art. The National Gallery had some lovely Flemish art which is one of my favourites and a huge Constable which want to re-visit. I will go back there as only saw part of that gallery. The Modern Art Gallery had all sorts of works from surrealists to expressionists and some amazing artist called Nathan Coley who does these cardboard models. Sounds bizarre but one whole room was full of cardboard recreations of 286 places of worship in Edinburgh. Don''t know why but took my fancy. The Portrait Gallery is in this huge purpose built building dating from 1889 - grand neo-gothic in red standstone. Looks very traditional Scottish to me - quite austere. As well as some impressive pictures and sculptures it has this old library (I loved the smell of the old books) that contained phrenlogical heads of famous heads - basically death masks of people from Voltaire to the grave robbers - Burke and Hare and of anonymous people just labelled eg ''ídiot woman''. Pretty sure I saw some TV show in Australia on this collection before we left. Unusual. Favourite painting or at least most memorable was called the Three Oncologists by Ken Currie. It is a painting of 3 oncologists who are real-life doctors and they appear to have been disturbed in the middle of their work. One eg is holding a medical instrument. They have this luminous quality which makes all 3 look ghostly. Quite eerie.
Meant to get to 28 degrees tomorrow and then plummet on the weekend. Hard not to pay attention to the weather, as it changes so rapidly even in the one day. You find yourself listening carefully to the BBC weather report each night and checking the hourly movement in the cloud, sun and rain that they show, so you can plan your day. Time for dinner.
Monday, 22 May 2017
Arrival date (16 May) to Monday 22 May
We are ensconced in our apartment in Edinburgh or in Leith to be more exact. The apartment is very large for a one bedroom being a basement flat which runs essentially the length of the main terrace house above us. Have been invited upstairs for drinks with the owners parents (it's complicated) soon after we arrived and based on the sitting room and the huge staircase we saw, this was not once a poor part of Leith. Not a massively grand place but not a workman's cottage. Flat is across the road from 'Leith Links' which apparently is where golf was invénted and played and at various other times there were horse races on it. There is a plague pit down one end and there are these grassy raised mounds that some historians believe were artillery mounds created by the British in 1560 fór the 'Siege of Leith'. This apparently was some battle between the Brits, aided by Protestant Scots and the French' (who supported the Catholic Queen). So there are probably some French bones under the park as well. Bit like Naremburn oval. Now it is just a lovely big park to walk in.
Initial impressions of Leith - very diverse population. It seems to have quite a community feel about it - bit like a little village. Don't know how the various parts get on. There are a number of people who I assume have lived here all their life and would be ...mmm.. from a lower socio economic part of society. Basically there are still some pretty poor people living here. Still a fair amount of social housing. We blundered into the middle of one of these areas on our first night. Did feel a bit like Trainspotting. Leith however has become popular with the wealthier inhabitants of Edinburgh (like our landlords) and there are lots of young families here. There are also a lot of men in their 20's and 30's with carefully coiffured bushranger beards so yes the hipsters are here which does mean there are some very good cafes and restaurants. There are Michelin star restaurants in Leith and nowhere else in Edinburgh. Then again there is a pub called The Foot of the Walk and have been told that it gets very ''çolourful'' around there in the evening. Overlaying that - a number of Eastern Europeans live here -mainly Poles. A suburb in 'transition' I assume.
The owners of our flat are a couple in their 40's I'd say with 2 young children and a gigantic dog called Nero that resembles a draught horse. Fortunately he just seems to slobber a lot so not expecting to be attacked anytime soon.
I guess I should get the weather report out of the way. After being lulled at day 1 into thinking that we could experience warmer weather with some sunshine it of course resumed normal transmission and I have become quite used to experiencing sun, wind, cold, hail and rain all in one day. Never go out without a coat with hood. Umbrellas totally useless with that wind. I am making like a local and just ignoring the weather. Half the time they do not seem to even bother with a hood - just carry on as if they are not being pounded by driving rain. Explains the stoic look on their faces sometimes.
Have stocked up on essential supplies including a visit to Stephen's favourite whisky shop - Cadenheads and purchased 2 bottles. One is with me for sipping on while Stephen is away up north chasing the salmon. Yes Stephen has departed for his week of fishing way up north. I have been playing solo tourist for a couple of days and will do so for the rest of the week.
I have joined the Leith 'Leisure Centre'' aka gym and pool. It is all housed in a 19th century swimming baths. It is quite stunning looking inside with a little lace balcony surrounding the pool. The pool is pretty small though and when I had a look today I fortunately noticed everyone swims down the right, not left. That could have been interesting.
I have been playing tourist a bit as I figure it is only going to get more crowded as 'summer' progresses. I visited the National Museum of Scotland which is an interesting amalgam of Victorian índustry exhibits - trains and the like; stuffed animals (again sort of Victorian museumy) and archaeology of Scotland exhibits which I found interesting. Who knew Scotland was once on the equator and had a tropical climate. Lots of stuff on ancient scottish tribes, invaders etc etc. So much on the Picts, the Scots, the Angles, the Vikings, Scandinavians generally and.. stuff on Scottish kings, modern day issues like independence... I was exhausted by the end. Terrific museum. Should probably go back.
I thought I should see the relatively new Scottish Parliament that was designed by a .. Spaniard. Very modern - stark contrast to rest of inner Edinburgh. Think I missed most of the symbolism. - lots of wooden stakes and bits of rock sticking out of the wall outside. I also visited something called John Knox House. It is in the old town part i.e. medieval part. Only thing is it seems John Knox only lived there for a few months and (possibly) died there. Is a great house though as it dates back to the late 1400s - massive stone walls, winding stone staircase and huge fireplaces. The top floor has an oak panelled room with a strange wooden painted ceiling with bacchanalian scenes. Bizarre but apparently that was the fashion. Strange given how austere the Scots seem to have been then (or so I thought). The main owner was actually a wealthy jeweller/goldsmith called James Mossman who was actually on the wrong side in the end (he supported Mary Queen of Scots) and ended up executed as a traitor. John Knox is quite revered here - strikes me he was a 'fire and brimstone' Presbyterian minister but as he ended up on the winning side religion wise he is pretty popular as a tourist attraction. I suspect he was one impressive politician. Then I find out after I return to the flat and do some reading, that Daniel Defoe (aka Robinson Crusoe) also stayed at John Knox House. Essentially he was an English spy sent to persuade the Scots to agree to union with the English. That house must have got pretty crowded at times. Finally on the John Knox theme, visited St Giles which is a large Kirk (church) in the old town where John Knox preached. Old - mostly dates from the 1300's-1500's but as per usual in Europe there has been some place of worship there for some 900 years and bits and pieces been added to, burnt down etc over time. Has this very ornate chapel called the Thistle Chapel which is where the knights of the order of the Thistle sit. Some order of chivalry founded in the 1600's that is still in existence. Lots of dark carved wood and the kirk is large but fairly plain inside. Very different to some English and French etc cathedrals.
I have also visited an area called Stockbridge. An area I know well from previous visits as one of our friends lives there. It is more upmarket than Leith. Very genteel these days. Wasn't always though and the housing consists in part of a number of old tenements. Very pretty area. Visited great bookshop called 'Golden Hare Books' and of course had to buy something. Found a book called The Sewing Machine -set in Glasgow and Edinburgh so most appropriate. From there I went to the Royal Botanical Gardens. Initially not excited but then saw a beautiful weeping willow tree, a huge hedge that is 8 metres high and over a 100 years old plus a manicured garden dedicated to the Queen Mother and decided it was alright. The Queen Mother Garden has this pavilion completely covered inside with large shells -not sure why. Maybe she had a little known fetish for sea shells.
A lot of the news here concerns the upcoming election. There seems to be a greater difference between the 2 major parties - Conservatives and Labor than at home although Theresa May has been accused of stealing some of Labor's ideas. I can't see a lot of similarity. They also do the same idiotic 2 word slogans. Theresa May's is 'strong and stable'' and she chants this continually including when she went on a chat show with her husband and was asked to describe her marriage. Yep it was '...strong and stable''. Yawn. Jeremy Corban seems to be largely dismissed as a bit of a loony. Not sure what Labor were thinking putting him in as leader. Meanwhile in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon is obsessed with re-opening the Scottish independence issue. (It is called indyref2. Good grief). I don't get the impression though that people here are interested in independence even with the issue of Brexit. Just too unrealistic from an economic point of view but who knows. In general people seem just as irritated and cynical about their politicians as at home.
And lastly they do greet you here with '"Hiya'' and the place is full of twittering little birds, very plump looking bigger birds and squirrels rushing around busily now the weather is warming up. It is the bird sounds in particular that I notice are so different from home. And it is 7pm and the sun is now shining. So different.
Initial impressions of Leith - very diverse population. It seems to have quite a community feel about it - bit like a little village. Don't know how the various parts get on. There are a number of people who I assume have lived here all their life and would be ...mmm.. from a lower socio economic part of society. Basically there are still some pretty poor people living here. Still a fair amount of social housing. We blundered into the middle of one of these areas on our first night. Did feel a bit like Trainspotting. Leith however has become popular with the wealthier inhabitants of Edinburgh (like our landlords) and there are lots of young families here. There are also a lot of men in their 20's and 30's with carefully coiffured bushranger beards so yes the hipsters are here which does mean there are some very good cafes and restaurants. There are Michelin star restaurants in Leith and nowhere else in Edinburgh. Then again there is a pub called The Foot of the Walk and have been told that it gets very ''çolourful'' around there in the evening. Overlaying that - a number of Eastern Europeans live here -mainly Poles. A suburb in 'transition' I assume.
The owners of our flat are a couple in their 40's I'd say with 2 young children and a gigantic dog called Nero that resembles a draught horse. Fortunately he just seems to slobber a lot so not expecting to be attacked anytime soon.
I guess I should get the weather report out of the way. After being lulled at day 1 into thinking that we could experience warmer weather with some sunshine it of course resumed normal transmission and I have become quite used to experiencing sun, wind, cold, hail and rain all in one day. Never go out without a coat with hood. Umbrellas totally useless with that wind. I am making like a local and just ignoring the weather. Half the time they do not seem to even bother with a hood - just carry on as if they are not being pounded by driving rain. Explains the stoic look on their faces sometimes.
Have stocked up on essential supplies including a visit to Stephen's favourite whisky shop - Cadenheads and purchased 2 bottles. One is with me for sipping on while Stephen is away up north chasing the salmon. Yes Stephen has departed for his week of fishing way up north. I have been playing solo tourist for a couple of days and will do so for the rest of the week.
I have joined the Leith 'Leisure Centre'' aka gym and pool. It is all housed in a 19th century swimming baths. It is quite stunning looking inside with a little lace balcony surrounding the pool. The pool is pretty small though and when I had a look today I fortunately noticed everyone swims down the right, not left. That could have been interesting.
I have been playing tourist a bit as I figure it is only going to get more crowded as 'summer' progresses. I visited the National Museum of Scotland which is an interesting amalgam of Victorian índustry exhibits - trains and the like; stuffed animals (again sort of Victorian museumy) and archaeology of Scotland exhibits which I found interesting. Who knew Scotland was once on the equator and had a tropical climate. Lots of stuff on ancient scottish tribes, invaders etc etc. So much on the Picts, the Scots, the Angles, the Vikings, Scandinavians generally and.. stuff on Scottish kings, modern day issues like independence... I was exhausted by the end. Terrific museum. Should probably go back.
I thought I should see the relatively new Scottish Parliament that was designed by a .. Spaniard. Very modern - stark contrast to rest of inner Edinburgh. Think I missed most of the symbolism. - lots of wooden stakes and bits of rock sticking out of the wall outside. I also visited something called John Knox House. It is in the old town part i.e. medieval part. Only thing is it seems John Knox only lived there for a few months and (possibly) died there. Is a great house though as it dates back to the late 1400s - massive stone walls, winding stone staircase and huge fireplaces. The top floor has an oak panelled room with a strange wooden painted ceiling with bacchanalian scenes. Bizarre but apparently that was the fashion. Strange given how austere the Scots seem to have been then (or so I thought). The main owner was actually a wealthy jeweller/goldsmith called James Mossman who was actually on the wrong side in the end (he supported Mary Queen of Scots) and ended up executed as a traitor. John Knox is quite revered here - strikes me he was a 'fire and brimstone' Presbyterian minister but as he ended up on the winning side religion wise he is pretty popular as a tourist attraction. I suspect he was one impressive politician. Then I find out after I return to the flat and do some reading, that Daniel Defoe (aka Robinson Crusoe) also stayed at John Knox House. Essentially he was an English spy sent to persuade the Scots to agree to union with the English. That house must have got pretty crowded at times. Finally on the John Knox theme, visited St Giles which is a large Kirk (church) in the old town where John Knox preached. Old - mostly dates from the 1300's-1500's but as per usual in Europe there has been some place of worship there for some 900 years and bits and pieces been added to, burnt down etc over time. Has this very ornate chapel called the Thistle Chapel which is where the knights of the order of the Thistle sit. Some order of chivalry founded in the 1600's that is still in existence. Lots of dark carved wood and the kirk is large but fairly plain inside. Very different to some English and French etc cathedrals.
I have also visited an area called Stockbridge. An area I know well from previous visits as one of our friends lives there. It is more upmarket than Leith. Very genteel these days. Wasn't always though and the housing consists in part of a number of old tenements. Very pretty area. Visited great bookshop called 'Golden Hare Books' and of course had to buy something. Found a book called The Sewing Machine -set in Glasgow and Edinburgh so most appropriate. From there I went to the Royal Botanical Gardens. Initially not excited but then saw a beautiful weeping willow tree, a huge hedge that is 8 metres high and over a 100 years old plus a manicured garden dedicated to the Queen Mother and decided it was alright. The Queen Mother Garden has this pavilion completely covered inside with large shells -not sure why. Maybe she had a little known fetish for sea shells.
A lot of the news here concerns the upcoming election. There seems to be a greater difference between the 2 major parties - Conservatives and Labor than at home although Theresa May has been accused of stealing some of Labor's ideas. I can't see a lot of similarity. They also do the same idiotic 2 word slogans. Theresa May's is 'strong and stable'' and she chants this continually including when she went on a chat show with her husband and was asked to describe her marriage. Yep it was '...strong and stable''. Yawn. Jeremy Corban seems to be largely dismissed as a bit of a loony. Not sure what Labor were thinking putting him in as leader. Meanwhile in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon is obsessed with re-opening the Scottish independence issue. (It is called indyref2. Good grief). I don't get the impression though that people here are interested in independence even with the issue of Brexit. Just too unrealistic from an economic point of view but who knows. In general people seem just as irritated and cynical about their politicians as at home.
And lastly they do greet you here with '"Hiya'' and the place is full of twittering little birds, very plump looking bigger birds and squirrels rushing around busily now the weather is warming up. It is the bird sounds in particular that I notice are so different from home. And it is 7pm and the sun is now shining. So different.
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