edinburgh

After an eight hour trip to Edinburgh including three hours on a broken down train with no open windows and having to change trains in Peterborough (the wine certainly helped for the last leg of the journey), Gretta, Sam and I arrived to our little youth hostel off Princess Street. We wound up some colourful backstairs filled with the smells of smoke and dope, to a clean and cute youth hostel... not the best nights sleep we've ever had, but changing rooms after the first night helped. the hen party sharing our abode the next night didn't help.
I haven't returned to Edinburgh for six years and yet it felt so familiar. I loved going back and being able to share a little of my four years there with Sam.
The first day we set off through the beautiful wide Victorian streets of New Town, past my old flat (in the photos below), along the way stumbling across, much to Gretta's delight, Scotland Street and the Cumberland Bar, of Alexander McCall Smith fame. We trolled the charity shops in Stockbridge to find hats, gloves and coats, having underdressed in light of the bright sunshine streaming through our window in the morning. Edinburgh hasn't lost its chill wind. And on along the beautiful Waters of Leith to the Modern Art and Dean Galleries. We visited favourite old cafes - Elephant House, Patisserie Florentin, old Police Boxes and the joys of huge baked potatoes nestled in the corner of Banns. We went to a lovely morning service on Sunday at St Giles cathedral, the talk launching off with some Burns poetry read by the portly Scottish Minister. We returned to the Cathedral in the evening for a concert of new music by students from a local music college. it filled the cathedral beautifully. though we did get the giggles at the fleece jacket of the woman sitting near us - covered in large fleece puffins. who would have thought?

We explored the gorgeous pubs and restaurants (delicious meal in Bleu - now a fancy restaurant that used to be a cafe and is where Matt first wooed Anna over a large Cafetiere), boutique and vintage shops winding down Victoria Street and on the Grassmarket and took a tour of the old vaults under the city and the dark history lying within. For the Ian Rankin fans among us (I have some catching up to do on my Edinburgh novelists!), the threat of danger lay lurking in every corner of this mysterious city with all its layers.
I took Sam to the university - George Square, Teviot and a glimpse of the meadows, before coffee with an old school friend of mine from St Louis, Liz, her husband and baby bump, who happened to have just arrived on holiday in Scotland!
Our last morning Gretta and I visited Valvona and Corolla (again hot-spot for McCall Smith fans) for an early morning tea before we all climbed up Salisbury Craggs followed by a pub lunch involving Haggis, Neeps & Tatties - a new love born.
Unfortunately our camera battery died after about four photos on the first day so we have little pictorial record of all of this. Gretta will no doubt have some good pics of our very lovely weekend together.