State of the internship

I may or may not have mentioned it at some point, but I'm getting on halfway through an internship stint with the National Trust for Scotland and I just have to say... wow, is it exhausting! It's incredible the amount of work and time and teamwork and planning and organizing and so on that goes into something like the Trust, and what I get to see is just one small slice of the pizza-pie.

I've been shadowing a curator there, which is pretty much what it sounds like: shadowing. Quite a bit of standing/following around, a lot of listening, a little bit of doing--but a lot of learning. The days I help out are rarely spent in the office, and usually involve driving to one (or some) of the properties under the Trust's care in order to assess specific issues or work on projects particular to those places. It's a conservation charity, but it's so much more than that. Aside from collections and archives, there are entire estates to manage, holiday lets, historic house restoration projects, wilderness conservation, and archaeology. There's a wold heritage site!

St. Kilda World Heritage Area // via //

Glencoe // via //

Leith Hall // via //

Gladstone's Land interior // via //

Falkland Palace // via //

Inverewe Garden & Estate // via //

It's an enormous volunteer-driven organization (3000+) with a staff of several hundred to do the steering. It's an incredible amount of work, and like any other cultural/ artistic/ heritage institution, it's got its fair share of financial woes and restraints. In spite of this--or because of this--I feel, more and more, that the work this organization does is imperative to preserving the history and natural environment of Scotland for generations to come. Where I am from in Wisconsin, there is no heritage organization that remotely compares in scale or scope, so volunteering with NTS has been an eye-opening experience. Not to mention that it drives home the notion that I really have chosen to pursue something I love.

I may not be with the NTS for more than a few months, but like my museum experience before this, it's teaching me loads about every part of the museum and heritage business. Universally, big organizations can seem a little bureaucratic, they can feel disorganized, staff might not agree with one another's viewpoints, the public can be critical, problems of storage and finances arise, membership needs to be maintained, and so on... but the history (the artwork, furniture, ephemera, etc.) is priceless and the preservation work is paramount. One may learn something practical about how to properly carry a chair (not by the arms or back!) but what's more is where that chair came from, who used it, what its significance is, where it might go... History is an endless, unfathomable well. So in a day's work one learns to communicate with different departments that might have different needs. You begin to piece together what it means to have these properties open to the public, and the challenges that presents. You might move a bunch of paintings one day and sit in front of a computer doing data entry the next.

So it may be exhausting, but the reward is knowing that little by little, even if it feels like there's Just Too Much, history is recorded, preserved and presented to the public.

I encourage you to check out the NTS website where you can search their latest news and also search by location or map for all of their properties and projects. It's a fantastic resource for information on things to do all over Scotland.

Have you ever volunteered your time? Museum or cultural institution? Education? Maybe a community garden? What was the most rewarding part?

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

The People's Story of Edinburgh

Can someone please find me a copy of 'McDougall's Cookery Book?' Thanks a mil!

The above photo actually does a decent job disguising the fact that The People's Story Museum in Edinburgh is full of mannequins in period dress. Throughout the whole thing... it's kind of creepy actually, especially in the first floor exhibition room where a policewoman stands guard in the center of everything. When there aren't any other real-life people around, it's sort of startles you over and over again to turn around and see expectant faces that aren't even alive.

But seriously, what is a local or regional history museum without a little weirdness? That's the joy of some of these small museums.. they are strange. And in a super good way. There's so much on display, it would take hours to look through every little thing, and read every little plaque. To my mind, that's not really the idea. Visitors generally pick out the cases they like best, perhaps read the first paragraph of an information board, and move on to the next thing. But it's all there, and if you want to see artifacts of a bygone (sometimes recently bygone) Edinburgh, this is surely a place to get a glimpse of some of the people and things one would have seen everyday in the city. From fishwives to Scotmid horse-drawn milk delivery carts (they were used until 1985!), Women's Suffrage to the 'demon drink,' bits and pieces of the past are on display.

It was a truly windy winter day, though the sky was blue and sun was shining... it was wonderful to step inside this historic building, the Canongate Tolbooth. Edinburgh and Canongate were, several hundred years ago, two separate burghs. 'Burgh' is a Scots word, and means it was an official town, which in the Middle Ages usually had a kirk (church), a castle and/or a city wall, and was a place for trade (denoted by the mercat, or market cross).

Canongate was originally associated with Holyrood Abbey, which sat on the far eastern end of the Royal Mile, the ruins of which are still attached to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Tolbooths were the courthouses, jails and town halls of the burghs, and sometimes they incorporated schools as well, but they hardly exist anymore today, at least in their original form. The Canongate Tolbooth was built in 1591, but the way it looks today is due to a major restoration and remodel undertaken in 1875. The restoration was meant to give the building an appearance more closely related to how it may have looked when it was built, based on this awesome map from 1647 by Gordon of Rothiemay (it's zoomable, and so rad).

So there's your Edinburgh history lesson (and a few Scots words to take with you)! On that note, I'm so grateful to have taken a Scottish architecture course during my studies here because it has made my stay here so much more interesting.

And, hey, it's Christmas Eve! I've got a couple of quiet days ahead with plenty of reading, perhaps a Christmas movie (or two or three) and lots of tea, cookies, and some fresh-out-of-the-oven homemade salmon cakes. I'd rather be with my family, but this holiday could be far worse!

Best holiday wishes to you and yours -- Merry Christmas!!

Cheers,
Kate xx

A winter walk: Edinburgh Castle

PICTURES!!!

Haha. It's been a little while, but I've finally managed to get through the photos of Edinburgh Castle that I took during the weekend of St. Andrew's Day when Historic Scotland opened a number of its major destinations free for the day. Still had to secure one of a limited number of tickets, but it was totally worth it to not have to pay the (to my mind) ridiculous cost to get in. Not to mention they always charge you more for coffee and things once you're in!

Anyway. Let's rewind and not be so cynical. It was a gorgeous visit. You get an idea of what the light is like here right now... the photo above was taken around 10am and the sun is very low in the sky. The truth is, the sun stays really low in the sky all day, and sets around 3:30. It makes for some pretty contrasty photos, which is my only real complaint about it on this day in particular! Otherwise it was gorgeous and clear so therefore faaaabulous for view-from-the-castle shots!! I think I took far more of those than I did of the castle itself.

Edinburgh Castle is a working military garrison, but it also houses a couple of small museums and memorials as well as the Great Hall, the royal chambers and St. Margaret's Chapel, which is the oldest building in the castle, built in the 12th century. Of course it abounds with cafes and souvenir shops as well, but you can hardly avoid those.

Anyway. It was so nice to finally visit the place, because since it's literally only a block away, I had no real excuse for not getting there until now, other than the cost... But I'll be honest, of course I would have paid to go see it anyway. Ya just gotta, y'know?



In other news, the term is officially over. I've still got an essay to work on over the break (and would be smart to work on another additionally, but I'm not feeling too smart right now apparently), but it's so very nice to not have to go to class or meetings or seminars right now. I'm headed to London in just a little less than a week, and shortly after that... it's homeward bound to Wisconsin for about a week and a  half! Looking forward to seeing some loved ones and hugging my cat and going to a coffee shop where the baristas and half the customers know my name. OH and of course my very pregnant sister, whose little bun I'm hoping will arrive while I'm home. Here's to little niece or nephew arriving a few days early!

So much to look forward to!

Anyway. I've been sucked helplessly into the thrall of season three of Game of Thrones, which I'm only finally catching up on. Drinking a ton of tea, enjoying some free time, hanging out in coffee shops, and actually hoping a little bit of snow will come eventually. I mean, did I just say that? I see all the Christmas decorations, but it was 52 degrees here today. What do you make of that, Wisconsin?

Edinburgh Christmas from the castle:



And a really wonderful video that's been making the rounds here in town, of Edinburgh Christmas and the Star Flyer that I seriously have to get on soon:


Floating over Edinburgh from Mo Thomson on Vimeo.

Cheers!
Kate x

McCaig's Tower

The hike to McCaig's Tower atop a central hill in Oban is short, but depending on the route, can be strenuous. One can either wind up gradually on narrow streets, being aware of cars taking tight turns (and trying to get round one another as well, kind of a hairy situation...) or take the stairs. Steep stairs, and a lot of them. I took the street route first and the stair route the second -- yep, I climbed to McCaig's Tower not once, but twice!

The morning of the one full day I was in Oban, I knew I had to get up to see this tower. It's an unusual sort of thing, easily spotted from just about anywhere in the city because it's so high up on Battery Hill. It looks like an approximation of a colosseum shell, which it apparently was modeled after by its designer and financier, banker John Stuart McCaig. He died before it was completed to his original plans, which included a museum inside, along with statues of the McCaig family, so all that remains is the shell. Now the interior is lined with paths and landscaped with shrubs and trees.

Perhaps more important than the tower itself: the view. Let me just say right now that if there's anything worth doing in Oban, it's saving your money and skipping the high street shops and making your way up to this vista point. The neighborhood is also worth a good little toot around, too, just for its quaint architecture and continuous wonderful views down the hill. On a clear day, you can see foreveerrrrr!  Or at as far as the farthest island will let you. Hence taking two trips: the first day was overcast with lower clouds that obscured some of the higher peaks of the isles in the distance. The second day, though still overcast, visibility was much better. So I just had to!



And then for day two... You can get a much better sense of distance here. It was so nice to sit and watch the ferries come and go. If it hadn't been raining sporadically, I would have loved to sketch some of this scene.

 

If only I had been in the area for more than a couple of nights, I would have loved to take the ferry to some far-flung island and hike around. I think that might be a bucket list item for the summer.. Go scout out some seal colonies, cycle around islands (I'm harkening back to my 2011 family vacation now, I can't help it!), pick up seashells... I really love and miss the smell of salt in the air, and seaweed and the sea wind. I'll definitely be back.

The same day that I first climbed to McCaig's Tower, I wandered to the north of town to visit the ruins of Dunollie Castle and a Clan MacDougall house museum. More on that... NEXT TIME. :)

Cheers!
Kate x