Edinburgh

 I'm putting a post up today to see if my old Blogland friends are still around  - I suspect that notifications of my posts aren't going out any more, but maybe I'm wrong. So if you've followed me in the past, it would be great if you'd comment, even if it is just to say "hi" ...  it would be good to know if anyone's out there!    😀

Right now I'm sitting in London feeling very grateful that the weather is mildly sunny, and we are not getting the scorching temperatures of more southerly bits of Europe.    Some of the hottest weather I've had this summer has actually been in Edinburgh, which we visited last month.  It's correct to say that  lots of sun isn't a famous feature of Scottish weather and, as one of my Scottish friends said, everyone had been very excited lately because of the huge bright thing they'd noticed in the sky.  They had apparently been lolling in the parks, sitting outside cafes and doing all sort of essentially non Scottish things.  One thing I had never seen before is the Scott Monument in glaring sunlight. To me, it looked a little bit like an Indonesian temple instead of its usual dramatic, misty, gothic self.

During our visit, we spent some time in the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. What a friendly and welcoming place - can't say I had expected it to be but it just shows how wrong I was.  It was built at various times in a variety of architectural styles, and everyone seemed so pleased with it and happy to be working there.  I thought the main medical library had an atmosphere right out of Harry Potter or even Alice in Wonderland....  do you agree?

We were staying in Leith, where we met up with old friends who had moved from London years ago.  K had found an unusual b&b which added to the fun. It's a curious little house whose three floors are linked by spiral stairs, overlooking a rose garden.  It looks old but is in fact, fairly new, and it's built slap bang against the Finnish consulate (which is in a genuinely very old house).  I supposed the Finns were the ones who had cultivated the rose garden, but it was hard to be sure.  What a place to find in the centre of a slightly rough-round-the-edges back street of what used to be the sailors' area of Edinburgh.   

Leith has mostly cast off its somewhat dodgy reputation and is indeed now considered to be one of the  coolest places in Scotland. There are loads of cafes, pubs, and some really good, and not at all pretentious restaurants.  And yes, by the time I took this photo the big bright sun had gone away, but then, I never really expected it to stay. 

On Saturday in Leith there's a farmer's market. The Two Raccoons here caught my eye. They transform surplus fruit into home made wine,  and very good it is too.   

One afternoon I went for a walk along the Water of Leith.  It's a riverside path which was well used by local walkers, cyclists and hangers-around, yet it seemed uncrowded and peaceful too. Some parts of the riverbanks were  lush and covered in wild roses, and I only wish I could share the birdsong with you - an aural embroidery of bird calls such as you almost never hear in a city. How lucky the locals are to have it.  

At first I thought this life sized figure was real, although I was quite glad it wasn't.  

And I was very pleased to see the Swan family out with their many children when they passed silently in a well posed row through the dark water...   

We were in Edinburgh for three nights, and when we finally returned to London on the train the sun had returned.  This is Berwick upon Tweed, which looks handsome from the bridge. Mind you I've never actually been there, but as the countryside rolled past the windows I thought I'd make a few more trips around these islands in parts far away from London and Suffolk. Just to remind myself that they're there. 

Have you taken a short break anywhere recently?