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: Light and shadows

The White Hart Inn, Grassmarket, 5 February 2014, 10:30am

Cheers,

Kate xx

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.

  

Christmas is almost heeeere!

Cheers,

Kate x

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