Artsy Abroad: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

... but it doesn't feel like it!

Well, okay. I take that back. But physically speaking, in the weather-and-temperature sense... very much not like any Christmas I've ever had. It's been around 50F and sunny here for the last three days, even though we were graced with a bit of icy chill last weekend. It's the middle of December and people are out in light jackets and biking in t-shirts! Consider me thoroughly schooled on the unpredictability of Scottish weather, not to mention Edinburgh's own peculiar little weather bubble. But I'm not complaining -- not at all. It has been marvelous.

Today I went out antiquing with a friend, as my mom and nana used to call it, when we would occasionally hop from antique store to antique store. I always thought of 'antiquing' as something only really grown-up people do. In Wisconsin there are more often than not antique malls, filled with booths of various dealers' wares. The shops in Edinburgh are independent and more often than not... piled from floor to ceiling and in some cases hardly big enough to fit more than one person in. Literally. But aside from the antique shops I stopped into a couple of used bookstores I hadn't been in before, and then some artsy gift shops and an art book and zine shop (art zines!! gahh)... we made a stop at the surprisingly wonderful Earthy Foods & Goods which on first sight looked like an old mechanics garage / garden center and turned out instead to be an extremely cool cafe and food shop! And they employ some of the friendliest people I've encountered in the city so far (and that is saying a LOT).

It was down to the Grassmarket for a stop into the pretty rad Avalanche Records store, which is, very sadly, looking about to close its doors next month. I hate to see these places go. I can't imagine a lease on the Grassmarket is the cheapest thing, but man... It's so sad that this is the fate of brick and mortar record stores these days.

But back on the upside, we found some mulled wine (yes, for real -- I know in Wisconsin this seems like an affectation, but I've had more mulled wine in the last few weeks than I have ever had in my entire life... which is to say never, and it's totally acceptable) !!!

And now I'm back in my flat, since the sun sets at 3:30pm or thereabouts, and I'm happily enjoying a tea with biscuits. This is the life.