A day dark and dreary

I've been reading a few Victorian gothic novels lately that were written by Scottish authors or were even set in Scotland: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by R.L. Stevenson is one that I'm actually amazed I never read before -- since it's possible to read it in one sitting, it's totally worth picking up. The other was one I'd never heard of, preceding Stevenson's novel by over 60 years, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg. Memoirs and Confessions takes places in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas and, though published in 1824, is set in the early 1700s. Even then, there are mentions of the city that I can recognise.

When my sister and I climbed up to Calton Hill and checked out the adjacent Old Calton Burial Ground, it was blustery, as it had been all day, but the sky had clouded over and the air had a hazy, misty quality to it that made everything seem dark and quite ominous. It never actually rained that day, but going through these photos I couldn't help feeling a sort of atmospheric connection with all the dark and dreary literature I've been reading. So I went with it... dark and dreary Edinburgh! Sometimes that's okay... brings out the mysterious gothic feel of the city quite nicely.

Cheers!
Kate xx

Art surprise at St. Mary's Cathedral

Here's an example of a stop made that I didn't anticipate, and hadn't even known about before seeing it rise over the neighboring rows of houses. This would be St. Mary's Cathedral (I want to know how they scored the domain name cathedral.net, just as an aside). It's a Victorian Gothic-style church consecrated in 1879. I was literally the only person in here for about fifteen minutes, until some other tourists appeared, so I took my lazy old time wandering around with the entire place to myself. There was an area in the south transept in which some local artists were displaying their work -- some of it quite good -- beneath the pretty amazing Paolozzi window (pictured below).

Altogether, the cathedral has a simple layout, timber ceiling, and was somewhat dark overall due partly to the color of the stone and the dark timber ceiling, but I enjoyed the stop. So... a few photos. I fear some of the interior are a little less impressive because it was pretty dark and I can't stand using a flash. Bear with me! :)


  



Cheers!
Kate x