Edinburgh, 2011

Contents

West End Apartments
The Old Town
New Town
Water of Leith
Leith
Six Times
Outside Edinburgh
Saint Abbs
Fife

As bookends to our canal trip (see the separate travelogue), we spent several days in Edinburgh. It had been at least 40 years since we were there, so it was time for another visit.

One of the best decisions we made was to rent a flat at West End Apartments, a 15 minute walk from the main tourist areas, and even closer to many attractions. There was plenty of space in the flat. The living room was spacious and well appointed, and the bedroom was large. Since both of us were rather under the weather, the flat provided a valuable place to rest up during the day.

The apartments had access to the nearby Dean Gardens, a lovely spot set on a steep hillside, bordering a river known as the Water of Leith

As additional benefits, we were entertained one morning by this chaffinch outside our bedroom, and later by a visit from the neighbour's cat - the two did not meet, we far as we know.

The center of Edinburgh is the Old Town, dominated by the castle set on a high cliff. Of course, we had to visit the castle, the focus for much of the bloody history of Scotland. As we walked up the hill we were greeted by a crow with a suitable flair for the dramatic. After a vigorous climb, we arrived at the castle esplanade. From there one has a magnificent view of Edinburgh, the Firth of Forth, and the coast of Fife to the north.

We took a guided tour which provided a brief history of Scotland and the castle. Most of the buildings date from the 16th century or later, but the oldest part of the castle is Saint Margaret's chapel, built in the early 12th century.

Below the castle is High Street and the Royal Mile, featuring many other historical buildings, including the tollbooth. In front of the cathedral we encountered the expected bag piper, his kilt blowing in the cold wind that was impossible to escape while we were there.

Lower down the Royal Mile is Dunbar Gardens, hidden from the street itself, but a quiet haven of repose. Just below that is the new Scottish Parliament building, an odd piece of modern architecture surrounded by antiquity. The building is constructed mostly of native Scottish materials, including these rocks from various areas of Scotland.

Beyond the parliament one comes to Holyrood Palace, and in Holyrood Park behind the palace is Arthur's seat (probably a corruption of "archer's seat", not a reference to King Arthur).

Below the old town is the Princes Street, the main commercial thoroughfare. The shop fronts along the north side of Princes Street are very modern, but the architecture of the buildings themselves is more traditional.

On the south side of the street are the Princes Street gardens, from where one can look back at the old town. The main feature of the gardens is the Scott monument, commemorating one of Scotlands most well known writers, Sir Walter Scott (in a toga? a bathrobe?).

One of the more interesting features of the gardens is the fact that they hide the main railway line into Edinburgh. At the end of the line is Waverly station, the busy main terminus for Edinburgh.

During the 18th century Edinburgh expanded into the New Town, where our apartment was situated. Nearby is the museum of modern art, which contains some interesting collections. They have the usual outdoor sculpture garden, but one unusual item is this landscape formation

Equally close to the apartment was the extensive botanical gardens. We spent a whole afternoon there, and especially enjoyed the rock garden and the section given over to alpine plants.

Adjacent to the gardens are a number of sports grounds. Gordon enjoyed watching part of a cricket match, and on another occasion watching the players at practice. Other available sports were bowls and, oddly enough, its Italian cousin boce.

One of the area attractions we enjoyed most was the river that ran close to our apartment, the Water of Leith. It runs through nearby Dean Village, situated at the bottom of a ravine, made up mostly of old mill buildings that have been converted into condominiums and offices.

The historical ancestry of the river is represented by these millstones. There is an adjacent river walk, which features ferns growing on the walls, and wild flowers such as laburnum. There is an odd monument along the walk - we never did find out what it commemorates. The river is home to several grey herons which clearly thrive on the fishing.

Further along the river grows wider,and finally empties into the Firth of Forth at the harbour town of Leith. Once a busy sea port, Leith is now an upscale community. The harbour has undergone extensive urban renewal, although elements of the working harbour remain. The former royal yacht Britannia is berthed in Leith to serve as a tourist attraction.

At the end of a deserted pier in the harbour is an unusual life size sculpture of a man, anointed by the sea gulls, gazing across the firth to the far shore. This is the last of six sculptures created by Antony Gormley, installed along a four mile stretch of the Water of Leith.

We first found out about the installation when we saw near our apartment a naked man, we thought, standing in the river. This turned out to be number three in the series. Number 1 is installed at the entrance to the museum of modern art. Number 2 stands in the river near the museum. Number 4 is a mile or so below our apartment. We never did encounter number 5.

The sculptures are apparently designed to tip over in a flood as a protective measure. This seems to have caused a small panic the first time the river ran high.

We rented a car for three days to enable us to get out of Edinburgh. We took a hike in the Pentland Hills, which offer great views of Arthur's seat, and hillsides of gorse

Nearby is Rosslyn Abbey, known for its elaborate stone carvings. The abbey was built in the 15th century with craftsmen brought from all over Europe. Perhaps because of the stone work, it has featured in various myths involving freemasons and the like, including the notorious DaVinci code.

We spent an afternoon in the village of Saint Abbs, east of Edinburgh. Saint Abbs is a fishing port with a working harbour. Above the harbour is a small memorial to fishermen who have lost their lives at sea, one of the most poignant such memorials we have seen.

Adjacent to the village is Saint Abbs Head, a rocky promontory, and a great place for watching sea birds. We took a walk along the cliffs, and through the valley inland from the head.

This was a rare day of perfect weather, and the colours of the lichen and the hillsides covered with thrift were astonishing. A little further on we enjoyed the peace of a small loch, and a colourful field of rape seed

We spent one whole day visiting the county of Fife. In 1970 we had lived in Crail, a lovely fishing town with a beautiful harbour. We had enjoyed the fresh-caught fish when we lived here, so had to buy some crabs this time.

We had lived in this house on Nethergate, just a short walk from the shore, where three-year old Ian loved to play in the tide pools. Forty years later we walked there again. Gordon scrambled over the rocks to take photos of the sea grass, while JoAnn stayed safely on the edge.

The town seemed to have changed little in 41 years. The pottery shop was just as we remembered it, as were the cottages near the harbour, and the wild flowers growing everywhere.

Next stop was the town of Saint Andrews, where Gordon had taught at the university. At least, that had been the official plan. In fact, he spent most of his time at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, doing battle with the old course. The cost of playing there has risen somewhat (more than 60 times what it was), and the crowd of tourists using the Swilcan burn for a photo op has grown. But the atmosphere has not really changed for 250 years.

And so back to Edinburgh, to enjoy a good dinner of crabs.

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