Just passing through

Wow, I've been here nearly a week. On one hand it feels as though it has been one of the longest weeks ever, and on the other, I can hardly believe it's gone so fast. I was so busy getting things situated (including myself, just generally speaking) and attending meetings and events that my attention has often been elsewhere when it comes to photography--or my hands were full with shopping bags. ;) Admittedly, I've had a hard time just being here, because it's felt as though there is so much to be done, and things I need and people to meet and places to be. BLAH.

Now that the majority of the crazy is out of the way, though, I want to be able to slow down and start to really take the place in. It was good to get up to Calton Hill the other day, and while there's so much to explore, I want to be able to get acquainted with the small cafes, pubs, and shops around here as well. It means putting aside the sort of thinking that goes "What do I have to do? This, this, that, and that other thing" and instead think: "Where can I go? What can I see? How much time can I take?" More about the "can" than the "must."

This afternoon I made a point to walk through an area I hadn't before, even though I was still on the hunt for a few basic things like toothpaste, laundry hamper, drawing pencils, etc. Very close to me is a famously beautiful little street, Victoria Street, which curves downward to become West Bow before it meets up with Grassmarket, a pleasant row of shops and cafes with a pedestrian median in the center.



There are a number of little cafes, boutiques and at least one secondhand and antique bookshop. The street is actually two-tiered, with a walkway that goes above most of the shops on one side with a whole second level of cafes and so on.

Needless to say, the architecture here is stunning. I certainly haven't gotten tired of looking up as I walk around, peering up at old paned windows, turrets, gables and spires. There so just so much to discover.




Past Grassmarket, I walked around the base of the Castle into West Princes Street Gardens, but I'll save a couple of those smashing views for the next post. ;)




Cheers,
Kate x