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... ;)

Slackin'.

Well, the sun's been out. That's pretty much my excuse for not blogging as much. Aside from also having four essays in-progress and a dissertation I've been planning, but I digress. It's been a little bit warmer in Edi and although it's been a little bit cloudy, it hasn't really rained in several days. Even the cloudy days still maintained a sort of brightness rather than that heavy, dark kind of overcast.

AND MY SISTER'S COMING TO VISIT!!

She'll be here tomorrow evening, so I've been cleaning and busy buying treats! :)

I don't think I mentioned it on the blog specifically, but my Instagram feed topped a Buzzfeed list of accounts based in Edinburgh that you can totally check out here: 15 Instagram Accounts That Will Make You Want to Move to Edinburgh Immediately so I've been living up my teensy-tiny slice of internet fame! Haha. What was so fun about that list was that about half of those accounts were already mutual followers, and it's spurred a more organized Edinburgh Instagram group. (Yes, nerdy. Yes, cool.) So now we're all keeping track of one another like it's some kind of special club. WELL IT IS.

On the downside, my phone has been acting up/shutting off and it's been difficult to take photos with it. Sounds like an excuse, but it's massively frustrating, so hopefully when I get that all sorted, I'll be able to post some more photos... more regularly. Because, I freely admit, all my photos are taken with my iPhone and I ain't ashamed.

I hope you all are having a marvelous March -- can't believe it's half over already!!

Cheers,
Kate x

Snap: Patrick Geddes Steps

Patrick Geddes Steps, 4 March 2014, 11:45pm.

Cheers,

Kate xx

Snap: St. Giles

St. Giles High Kirk in the evening, 3 March 2014.

Cheers,

Kate xx

Snap: Gladstone's Land

Kite with prey, Gladstone's Land sign, Edinburgh Royal Mile, 3 March 2014.

Cheers,

Kate xx

Snap: Cascade

Late morning just above the west end of Grassmarket (the Castle is towering behind me). That's the Edinburgh College of Art building crowning the pile. 25 February 2014, 10:30am.

Cheers!

Kate xx

Snap: Hidden in plain sight

It's so easy to walk right by this little view! Near the National Library of Scotland on George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, 23 February 2014, 12pm.

Cheers!

Kate xx

Snap: Bad photo

This is such a terrible photo! So bad! However, I love it. It was taken from a bus on a small country road in Fife near the National Trust for Scotland property, Hill of Tarvit where I had spent the day at a workshop about conservation. It was starting to get a little dreary, the hills in the distance were shrouded in fog, the bus was all over the place on the narrow, winding road. I managed to snap this the moment before my phone died, and even though there is absolutely everything wrong with it from a photography point of view, I can't help totally digging the color and the atmosphere that still comes through even though it's not even in focus. This is what it looked like.

Fife, 20 February 2014, 4:30pm.

Cheers,

Kate xx

Springy spring

I ran down to Princes Street to do a little shopping and on my way back to my flat I had to stop and admire Princes Street Gardens. Late on a Monday morning it was pretty quiet, but it smelled earthy and warm, and the sun was out just enough to have dried the benches. The hillside was covered in crocuses and I couldn't resist sitting down for a few minutes with the coffee I'd just bought, listening to the bagpiper playing above the National Gallery's cafe. I can't wait for some leaves to start popping out on trees, but my, this is a good start.

So looking forward warmer temperatures, too!

Cheers,
Kate xx

Snap: Marlborough Street

Marlborough Street, Portobello, Edinburgh, 7 February 2014, 1:30pm.

Cheers,

Kate xx

The seaside in winter

The sun was out in full force on Friday morning, so I took advantage of it and decided to hike it down to Portobello. It truly is a hike, at a bit over three miles, but it was a pretty straight shot for the most part, and I thought it would be worth it to just see the beach.

And it was, in a way. Portobello is considered part of Edinburgh, but it was, in the not-so-distant past, a separate town, so it still has a High Street that functions as its own downtown even though suburban housing and retail complexes connect it to the city at large now. Portobello is also the 'Edinburgh's seaside,' with a promenade beachside attractions like ice cream shops and an arcade. I arrived just as Friday school was letting out, so there were children everywherrre! After stopping for a brie and cranberry panini at a basic takeaway place, I had lunch and watched a ton of families walk by on their way home. But by that time there were a few more clouds covering the sun and making it feel chillier on the waterfront.

Other than that, and the dogs running around on the beach, it was pretty quiet. It's February after all, but there's always something a little quirky and surreal about seaside towns when it's not even remotely warm enough to do much of anything beachy. It was windy and chilly, so I only spent a little while walking along the promenade before hitching a ride on a bus back to the city center (which incidentally broke down so it took a lot longer, but at least I didn't have to walk three miles back!).

It was really nice to get out of the middle of town for the afternoon and see a different side of this city.

Cheers,
Kate xx

Sunny sun!

A few things: it's February and it feels so springlike, I can hardly believe it. February, historically and from a Wisconsin point of view, has always been my least-loved month. There was always a bunch of old, crusty, dirty snow on the ground, it was cold and dreary, and the whole point is that it has felt that way for the last two or three months! When will it eeeend?? Without a doubt, the shortest month still felt like the longest.

Not so in Edinburgh. Either it's been mild and I've lucked the heck out, or else if I had to deal with winter somewhere, dealing with it here just ain't so shabby.

Also, I have a particular fondness for mornings when the sun is out and the sky is blue, but the ground is wet from a recent rain. Nothing rivals shiny cobblestones when they glisten in optimistic sunshine.

The days are getting noticeably longer, the sun is getting a little higher in the sky. I almost need sunglasses now! There are birds chirping in the trees and some hearty spring blossoms popping. Yesterday as I walked home from class around 4:30, people were sitting outside cafes in sweatshirts, listening to the buskers and sipping coffee. A sure sign of spring if I ever saw one.

I gave a class presentation yesterday which may very well turn out to be my last. I shouldn't hold my breath, but personally, presentations are one of my least favorite things about university. I've just been to the library (en route to which these photos were taken quickly) and apart from spending some time outdoors now that the weather seems promising, some studying is about to go down.

Spring is always the toughest term as the weather begins to turn nice, don't you find? Categorize that under 'things I forgot about being in college.'

Cheers!
Kate xx

Snap: Sunset

Victoria Street, 02 February 2014, 4:15pm.

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

Final Days: The Kiss

Just a quick mention that Rodin's The Kiss, which has been at the National Gallery of Scotland since last February is only here for another week! If you happen to be in Edinburgh, you might just want to make sure you take advantage of getting to see one of the world's most famous sculptures--for free! It's on view through 2 February.

Cheers,
Kate xx

To and fro

Just a few snaps from my walk home the other day around Princes Street Gardens, where is the grass looking a little rough after they removed the Christmas tree maze! And it was a little rainy, but this little stretch near the National Gallery of Scotland is one of my favorites. There really are moments when I have to remind myself that stopping for a moment to take in the view, even though I see it almost every day, is worth every second.

The last couple of weeks have been insane with meetings, internship, classes and extra classwork. It was the opposite of last term, where everything got off to a very mild start. So much is happening this term that I'm trying to get a grasp of everything going on and everything that I have to do. I don't want to get so wrapped up in being busy that I can't enjoy being here!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! :)

Cheers,
Kate xx