I stepped out of the train station, and was greeted by the sound of bagpipes. Rounding the corner I saw him, the piper, replete with a kilt and jaunty tam. Every Scottish gene in my body reverberated, and cried out, "we're home lass!" Man, do I ever love Scotland!
Edinburgh is somewhere I've long desired to travel to. It is a literary place, the home of many fine authors, and the location of a number of fine novels. I have imagined it many times, but oddly enough it looked nothing like I thought. It did however enchant me, and I happily spent three days wandering, shopping, getting rained on, and baked potato sampling.
I have heard Edinburgh described as "dank", which I suppose I could give some credit to. I prefer adjectives like moody, or atmospheric. I've said I liked Rome because of the accessibility of its history. Walking through Rome is like walking through time. I liked Edinburgh for the same reasons. Many times I felt like I had been taken back in time, a fantasy easier to live out in a city where my ancestors lived than in Rome where I am unequivocally a foreigner. Again, like I wrote about the Scottish countryside, I have perhaps seen more "awesome" (in the biblical sense) landscapes, or cities, but my aesthetic seems to have found a resting place here. Edinburgh is just dark (not dank) enough to make it interesting, classy enough to give it an edge, and old enough looking to give it a distinct romance.
Some of my best highlights were: visiting St. Giles and getting teary (of course) in the thistle chapel, then placating myself with coconut ice (florescent pink) from the gift shop, going to see a screening of To Have and Have Not (Bogart and Bacall), and eavesdropping on two women discussing their love of The Philadelphia Story, and the widespread availability of baked potatoes.
More than any other place I have visited I thought, I could just pack up my life and move here without any hesitation. Hmmm, you may wonder, are you going to loose me to the UK?
Edinburgh is somewhere I've long desired to travel to. It is a literary place, the home of many fine authors, and the location of a number of fine novels. I have imagined it many times, but oddly enough it looked nothing like I thought. It did however enchant me, and I happily spent three days wandering, shopping, getting rained on, and baked potato sampling.
I have heard Edinburgh described as "dank", which I suppose I could give some credit to. I prefer adjectives like moody, or atmospheric. I've said I liked Rome because of the accessibility of its history. Walking through Rome is like walking through time. I liked Edinburgh for the same reasons. Many times I felt like I had been taken back in time, a fantasy easier to live out in a city where my ancestors lived than in Rome where I am unequivocally a foreigner. Again, like I wrote about the Scottish countryside, I have perhaps seen more "awesome" (in the biblical sense) landscapes, or cities, but my aesthetic seems to have found a resting place here. Edinburgh is just dark (not dank) enough to make it interesting, classy enough to give it an edge, and old enough looking to give it a distinct romance.
Some of my best highlights were: visiting St. Giles and getting teary (of course) in the thistle chapel, then placating myself with coconut ice (florescent pink) from the gift shop, going to see a screening of To Have and Have Not (Bogart and Bacall), and eavesdropping on two women discussing their love of The Philadelphia Story, and the widespread availability of baked potatoes.
More than any other place I have visited I thought, I could just pack up my life and move here without any hesitation. Hmmm, you may wonder, are you going to loose me to the UK?
1 comment:
i was searching for pictures of Edinburgh on google images and your blog was one of the results, and I must say I totally agree with you about the city. I don't think I have any heritage there, but I definitely love it and could move there in an instant (which I plan to do not too far in the future). God bless and I hope you get more chances to visit the city!
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