Castle traipsin'

The week, it is over. Or, at least, my whirlwind week in which my youngest sister flew across the pond to visit me here in Edinburgh before we popped down to London for all of about 48 hours. It was maaarvelous! Exhausting, of course, but time simply disappeared and we had so much fun checking out my regular haunts and new places too.

One of the things we did, that I had been meaning to do for some time, was catch the bus to see Craigmillar Castle. It's within the city limits of Edinburgh so there's hardly an excuse to not go, and we were not disappointed! It was a veeeerrry windy day so on a couple of occasions we were feeling a little... precarious on the parapet. It was difficult to hold cameras straight, let along keep hair whipping in front of the lenses! But it was so fun to climb around seemingly endless stairwells and along countless levels -- it's amazing to imagine what the place must have been like when it had its original floors... a veritable maze.

Hope you're all enjoying a happy weekend. I'll get a few more photos up from the rest of our trip (I didn't take too many photos, so the posts are brief, but it's something!)... Soon! :D

Cheers!
Kate xx

 P.S. Check out that jet stream Saltire-in-the-sky in the first photo! Couldn't have coordinated my sister's welcome to Scotland any better than that... ;)

And your father smelt of elderberries!

Just to get this good and out of the way:



DOUNE CASTLE. Leave it to me to be intrigued only because of its place in my current architecture texts, but of course when I was told this was the famed Monty Python and the Holy Grail filming site, it  became even more awesomer. Apparently also a filming location for the Game of Thrones series, in segments taking place at Winterfell. So they say... I have no idea because none of it seemed recognizable after all of the CGI they do in GoT.

Anyway. Enough babble about filming. But it is pretty cool!

 

Being a rather glaring mid-morning (autumn, I blame you, but... it's okay) the light was kind of terrible for getting a good non-silhouette image of the castle from the front. Either way, it was a joy to walk around, as it sits on the scenic River Teith. Again, I played the cheap-o student card and didn't pay to go inside (partly because I was there with a huge group and prefer, if I'm going to pay to see something, that I have all the time I want). The outside was nice enough. ;)




We really had the best kind of day for traipsing around grassy hills and castles. It had been sunny all weekend so the ground was also dry, save for a bit of morning dew.

Getting out of the city for the day, albeit on an organized tour which was go-go-go, was really wonderful. The thing is, Edinburgh isn't really a tall city, or even a massively packed one. We're obviously not talking Manhattan here, but still: living in the center of the center (aside: I'm starting to type "centre" and have to correct myself back to American -- we'll stick with American for the time being) of tourist-angled Edinburgh really wears on a person. I'm not at all cynical about this (yet, anyway), but being in the middle of it all makes me want to hop out to the country more often. Particularly because I can see the country from my kitchen window and it's like those green hills are taunting me. Ha!

I've been here a month already and I can hardly believe it. I've met so many amazing people, visited some wonderful places, gotten a good start in my program, taken the beginning steps of my internship (with the National Trust for Scotland!!), and continued to just settle in and have a good time. One thing about being in a city is that there is always a ton to do. Too much, really. And part of the fun is finding the good shows, the best eats, the best visits--and the best coffee! Of course!

And by the way, I went to see Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit last night at the Pleasance Theatre, and wowwa. Wow. I haven't seen a show that great in a lonnnggg time. Bolstered by one of his openers (who was incidentally also part of the band), Cosmo Sheldrake, it was an absolute wonder of a show. Apart from having to sit down the entire time -- when one wants to dance! -- it could hardly have been better. I strongly recommend both Johnny and Cosmo if you're in need of some new tunes; Johnny Flynn just released his latest album a couple weeks ago, titled Country Mile, and it's super good.

Just another Sunday in Edinburgh! ;) Hope everyone is enjoying a great weekend.

Cheers,
Kate x

A good ceiling is hard to find

Doors Open Days Edinburgh (part of a Scotland-wide program of opening historic and noteworthy buildings to the public was this past weekend. I didn't go in as many open doors as I had originally intended, but I did make a point to stop into one of the major historic houses set just off the Royal Mile, Riddle's Court, which is managed by the Scottish Historic Building Trust. By city standards, especially in its 400-year history, it's a mansion. Big enough to have its own courtyard, which in Edinburgh's Old Town, is pretty much unheard of unless you're just rolling in ££!

Although I took a few more photos, only a couple of rooms were open and particularly interesting, and both of their showcase features were their ceilings. I'm a ceiling person. I like decoration, and I especially like when it's borderline ridiculous.



And just in case you're interested in what the view from the window is:



I've been out and about quite a bit lately, and, of course, sincerely trying to do a lot of reading. A real lot. I had to switch bags because I was lugging so many books home from the library. But I've made time to walk around the city, too, of course, checking out new coffee shops, pubs and cafes, and stepping inside places I've passed before but never took a look in.

The weekend was ab.so.lute.ly gorgeous. Both days; it was practically a miracle.

I even touched the Highlands yesterday! I've now been out of the city twice, one for a school field trip to a beautiful contemporary art installation garden called Little Sparta (more on that soon), and then a full day trip, all touristy-like up toward Loch Katrine and the eastern edge of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. Heeland Coos coming right up!

In the meantime, here's a different cow!



Cheers,
Kate x