Oh my god it's March!

I cannot believe it's March! I thought February would never end! Ahh!!

I've been a little off ball lately, still getting over my mystery illness (I'm about 98% back on track) and starting to work quite diligently on essays which are due (at last!!) starting this month.

There are a lot of exciting things going on! It might be a combination of many factors, but I feel as though I was in a major slump ever since the new year, and maybe a little before without really knowing it at the time. It was only after I got back from visiting Wisconsin that I felt really down in the dumps, and for reasons ranging from internship woes to academic stress to emotional weirdness about stuff at home and how I felt about being in Scotland and so on and so forth forever and ever -- for all of those and whatever other reasons, I just couldn't shake the blues. Apparently it took a pneumonia-like sickness, way too much time by myself and a creative outlet to get my spirits back up.

I had a moment of awakening one day for no apparent reason other than that perhaps the sun was out or I had felt cooped up for too long, but I literally made the decision to stop moping. Because wow, dwelling on the past or on things one can't have or stressful bits of school or work or whatever -- MOPING IS SO BORING!!

So I decided to finally utilize my art society membership and drop in to a life drawing workshop on Wednesday. What a brilliant decision -- it's been ages since I put my drawing skills to any sort of practice and I was pleased to find that I still have an eye (that's not a boast, I promise). It was so wonderful to surround myself with an entirely different group of people who had a similar interest in art and drawing. Even if it was only for an hour and a half, it was perfect. Being able to make something, even just a few sketches, made a world of difference in my attitude.

I bought some new clothes to freshen up my wardrobe, reunited with some friends after what seemed like ages, sought out some new music and realized that there is so much happening during the day that I need to remember to take a moment and appreciate. The daily routine can become so business-like and all the work can seem tiresome if I let it. But if I don't let it, I remember the work is actually in art history and is a subject that I love. And I don't have to go to the same coffee shop every day or walk the same route to class every time. I can choose to notice the details in buildings and smile at strangers (not creepily). I also realize just how lucky I am to live in the city centre (I may complain, but let's be serious) where I can walk down the street and listen to different kinds of live music every day from musicians and performers from all over the world, and meet people who both live here and are just passing through on holiday. There are so many stories.

The duo above is named Acid Tuna (which I find kind of hilarious) and are primarily a cover band, but when I walked by them they were performing a top-notch rendition of 'Hey Hey, My My' by Neil Young. I talked to them for a moment between songs and bought a copy of their awesome homemade CD and may check them out at one of their pub gigs... really nice guys.

Anyway!

Also -- my sister is coming to visit later this month and I couldn't be more excited to have a visitor! She's staying with me in Edinburgh for most of the week and then we plan to hop down to London for the weekend before she returns to the States.

So, it's March, and for all intents and purposes, I'm considering it to be spring.

Happy spring!!

Cheers,
Kate xx

Snap: Work in progress

Royal Mile, 5 February 2014, 11:30am

More and more scaffolding goes up along here in these less-trafficky months.

Cheers!

Kate xx

Snap: Lawnmarket

Lawnmarket, 01 February 2014, noonish.

Cheers,

Kate xx

Just off the Mile

There's a court outside my window that tour guides like to take their groups through because it's quiet, but also because it's a little bit off the beaten path. That sounds weird when you think about it being in the center of the city, mere steps from the Royal Mile, which is apparently the most-visited part of Scotland annually. But what the tour guides say is true: people don't step off the Royal Mile very often. There are numerous closes (narrow walkways) with winding, zig-zaggy steps, steep walks, cobbled alleys, courtyards and historic houses and museums back there -- and most people walk right on by! All the souvenir shops don't do any favors: their signs often out-shine the smaller ones that denote the passageways or historic plaques, but that's all the more reason to, as a visitor, keep an eye out for the less obvious things. It's what's not in-your-face all the time that is often the most interesting.

So, case in point, a couple of courtyards just off Lawnmarket and literally feet from my flat. In one of these photos you can actually see my flat window, but I'll be secretive and let you guess which one it might be. ;) I was spurred to take these photos because I've noticed recently that a popular photo was going around on Pinterest that someone had captioned 'hidden alleyways of London' or something general like that. It was clearly Edinburgh, and I know because I can see it out my window. So I decided to use that as the inspiration for this blog post, which is just pretty pictures of this wonderful courtyard pair of connecting courtyards and the stunning, very Scottish architecture. So... enjoy!





Cheers,
Kate xx

Springtime in December

The weather has been so strange this week. It is so mild today that it feels very much like spring, and the weather, in true Edinburgh style, could be considered much the same. But I think the weather, changeable as it is, is a year-round thing here ;) Today there's a little sun behind heavy clouds that sometimes drip a little bit, but it's 55F!

I've been trying to narrow down a dissertation topic (the paper that I'm responsible for writing over the summer, a third of my assessed work for my degree), and after taking a brief hike to the art school library this morning (and passing a pretty high-falutin' fashion shoot on the way) to return a book and check out another, I popped over to Starbucks for a coffee and some good old-fashioned reading time. View from my seat, above... Starbucks is not necessarily my favorite place to get coffee, but for studying purposes I'm much more likely to find a table in their relatively large seating area, even when it's busy. And the odds of getting a table by the window are also usually pretty good, because they're almost all window seats.

I've been narrowing down my field of interest to Celtic art, or more correctly in scholarly circles (oooh), Insular art. A couple of faculty members at Edinburgh specialize in medieval illuminated manuscripts, but I'm thinking potentially more along the lines of Irish and Northern British metalwork, or perhaps a focus on the stone carvings and symbols of the Picts. No matter what, we're talking about some pretty old art here... well over 1000 years old. And it's so exciting! I think that officially makes me a nerd?

There are so many periods and movements and eras of art history that I'm interested in, but it seems to always come back to the old stuff. For some reason, the older and more mysterious, and the less information available, the more I want to study it. I'm only three months into this program and I can already tell that it's going to be of great value to have a well-rounded look at many periods of art, and all the better to narrow down what I really want to research. There's a difference between things I like, and those I actually want to devote hundreds of hours to studying!

I'd better get back to it. ;)

Cheers!
Kate x

St. Giles High Kirk

    


The past week has just spun by! It's almost unbelievable that it's already Wednesday. The weekend consisted of amazing weather and even the last couple of days, though windy, were still sunny and comfortable. It's a good gauge of the weather when you have the option of sitting inside or outside at a cafe and even on the first of October, want to sit outside.

Over the weekend I made a quick stop at St. Giles, the cathedral on the Royal Mile. As I've already started to take its hulking shape for granted since I walk by it numerous times every day, I wanted to get inside and explore all of its chapels and side aisles. And my, are there a lot. I thought it was best described in one of the texts for my Scottish Medieval and Renaissance Architecture class that since Scottish communities generally only had one church, the additions of chapels and additional aisles with numerous little altars and tacked-on spaces caused it them to sprawl "crablike" (Scottish Architecture by Glendinning and MacKechnie, Thames & Hudson, 2004). Crablike is right. The aisles and chapels seem to sprawl on and on. Around every corner there seems to be another altar, another pulpit.

I'm glad I stopped in. :) Definitely recommended if you find yourself in Old Town Edinburgh at some point. It's free entry!

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

Moments on the Mile

I want to always be a tourist. It's not hard to think that way when you're in an internationally renowned historical and cultural center, but it's amazing just how quickly I start to fall into my usual rhythms, start going to the same places, sticking to the same area -- my comfort zone. Comfort zones are all well and good (we need them, we definitely do), but on that note, it's absolutely worthwhile to keep from getting too complacent by always making time to be a tourist. So I take my camera with me (in addition to my phone) most--if not all--of the time. I try to stop and take in places, really observing how I and other people interact with them. I like to stop into temporary exhibitions (see below), and also see the interiors of buildings I may have walked by a hundred times. There is always something new to learn, and something that will captivate and potentially inspire.

So, with that, my trek down the Royal Mile this morning. Objective: Get to Scottish Parliament and look at a gigantic tapestry. Secondary Objective: Take my lazy old time.



So here's this guy. An unavoidable feature on the Royal Mile in front of St. Giles High Kirk, here stands the sculptural likeness of Walter Montagu Douglass Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch (bewklewk? buckloo? bewklew? It's a mouthful even without the Scots pronunciation)... by William Birnie Rhind. Anyway. I've passed it numerous times and only just this morning stopped to really take in the detail, primarily, of the pedestal, which includes a series of these bad boys:



...and a whole bunch of decoration. It's nice. Also, it stands in the place of the Old Tolbooth, first established on the High Street (fair warning, "Royal Mile" is something of a tourism construct -- it's still primarily considered the High Street, or Lawnmarket, or whatever the street is you're actually on) in the 14th century. Though now an open square in front of St. Giles Cathedral, there are markers in the pavement, some with dates, that outline where various walls once stood. The Heart of Midlothian, in the bricks on the pavement, also marks the spot of the Old Tolbooth.



My primary goal was the walk to the opposite end of the Royal Mile, to the Scottish Parliament building, where an exhibition in its final week, The Great Tapestry of Scotland, is on display. There are well over 150 panels showing Scotland's history from the very beginning -- like, 400+ million years ago -- up to the present day. The website has some fun facts about how much thread was used and how many people actually worked on it, but it was mostly about the history. And Alexander McCall Smith was kind of The Man behind the whole project. It was cool, but I would hazard a guess that I was perhaps one of the very, very few visitors there under the age of 50.



And then I sort of meandered my way back up the Royal Mile, stopping for a coffee along the way and a break on a bench for a little bit, a few photos. It's always interesting what catches your attention when you sit down for a few minutes and simply look around you, studying everything big and small. Like little tiny people walking way up on Arthur's Seat, which provides the backdrop for the rather abrasively modern parliament building.




Many of the final photos in this post were taken just outside the cemetery gates where Adam Smith is buried, among many other notable people. I didn't want to juggle a grande Americano and my camera, so I saved the visit to the actual churchyard for another time, but it won't be long!

Cheers!
Kate x