Edinburgh Revisited...
(Snapshots of a holiday - brought to you by 20th Century Gargoyle!)
I lived in this fabulous city for just three years, between 1981 and '84. At the time I was far more concerned with earning a living than enjoying the city's beauties (which I had in any case grown to know and love on frequent weekend trips from my University, in Stirling). But you know how it is - you live in a place, you put off visiting the art galleries and museums and historical sites: maybe next week, or next month, or next year......
So it was with new eyes and a shared love that we walked, and walked, and walked...
The first night we went for a drink at Logie Bairds, and, exhausted as we were, walked back to the guesthouse..... Living in a polluted Southern city you tend to forget how clean Scottish air can be: making our way across the Meadows in a stiff fresh breeze, the air was as sweet as if "civilisation" had never happened....
The Tourists (Day One)
There's a wonderful shop just off the Grassmarket at the bottom of Candlemaker Row called Mr Wood's Fossils. Needless to say the crystal and mineral collection grew substantially during the visit!
It was overcast to start with, and the Pentlands wreathed in low cloud, but as we made our way down the Royal Mile from the castle (the only sensible way to go!) the weather gradually cleared. Not that it particularly bothered us: Edinburgh's bright, grey light adds to the Gormenghast mystique of the open courts and closes of the Old Town...
The Nature-Lovers (Day Two)
I finally got to walk along the Water of Leith, through beautiful, archaic Dean Village, down to the Botanic Gardens in the New Town. Back in the bad old days, trapped (but only temporarily) in an abusive, loveless marriage, I used to escape every Sunday and take a quarter bottle of whisky and a Scotch pie to the Gardens, and sit by the pool: in winter there was snow on the ground and bright cold sunlight: in summer drowsy bees and high light clouds... When I grew too cold, or too hot, I'd make my way to the glass houses and wander in fern forest and orchid house, and sit on a bench under the jasmine and listen to the murmur of water...
Now, again by the pool, we sat in cold wind and hot sun, picnicking on fresh orange juice and barbecued chicken and - of course! - whisky, sharing a unique joy and contentment. The park's native tiger - a big, rangy ginger tomcat - allowed us to stroke him before making off to stalk a crow that was eyeing the remains of our lunch: they'd obviously established some sort of mutual respect in the past - the encounter never went further than a stand-off...
Unfortunately, not all of the glasshouses were open. But we were still able to wander through the orchid house, and watch the koi in the pool in the tropical house... It was still magical after all these years. Obviously it depends on whom you're with.
It was mid afternoon when we emerged, tired but happy. We decided to let fate decide the next move - either back to Newington, the guesthouse and a local pub, or to the Dalkeith Rd and a walk around the base of Arthur's Seat to Duddingston and the oldest pub - reputedly - in Scotland: the Sheep's Heid (that's 'Head' for those of you who don't know the dialect.....) The next bus that arrived would determine where we ended up.
And what d'you know!? The Sheep's Heid won...
Arthur's Seat is amazing. There aren't that many cities in the UK that have an extinct volcano in the middle of them: Edinburgh is definitely the most famous. Duddingston overlooks a loch that's now a bird sanctuary - there were ducks, and geese, and swans, and herons... lots of herons...
The Culture Falcons (Day Three)
The weather forecast was for showers and sunny intervals, so we left the indoor things until the last day. (As it happened, it was another gloriously sunny day - the single solitary shower happened while we were in the Museum.)
The National Gallery was first - a grand building full of glorious artistic treasures - where I discovered a passion for Canaletto (amongst others!). The things I'd been missing all those years! I'm not sure how long we spent there - it was well past lunchtime when we came out, and my head was spinning with vibrant colour and exquisite images.
We sat on the steps in Hunter Square and ate bridies before heading off for the Museum. Which is a big place, with a lofty central hall with pools and fountains and the biggest catfish I've ever seen (outside of the Souryuden).... I spent some time drooling over the massive crystals in the mineralogical section, then we went to explore Scotland's past - taking lots of photographs of Pictish stones on the way. Strange and mysterious folk, the Picts... 
It was evening when we finally emerged - and we were hungry! We headed off down the Cowgate, and found the Three Sisters, where we watched a looping video of Guinness ads through the years (yes, that included all the Rutger Hauer ones) and I had the best Thai curry I've ever tasted...
Homeward Bound....(Day Four)
And then it was time to come home. I'd managed to see more of Edinburgh in three days than in the three years I lived there, and fallen in love with the city all over again. It's a sad fact that often, when returning to a special place, it seems smaller and meaner than you remember: that wasn't so here. The city is bigger, brighter, more intriguing than I remembered it to be, full of fascination and magic. Of all the cities I have ever stayed in - Paris, Rennes, Venezia, Firenze, Svendborg, Arhus, Glasgow, London, New York, St. Louis, Boston - Edinburgh is my favourite, jointly with Manhattan.
Thanks to our hosts, Ian and Heather MacDonald of the Kingsway Guest House, Newington, for a wonderful stay. Their hospitality, our comfortable room (with pine goblin en suite: see left), and the terrific full Scottish breakfast every morning, put the finishing touches on a perfect holiday.
And special thanks to Tribs, and Cherie, Christine and Laura, for a wonderful meal! And the Jade Plant is doing just fine.....