3 May - Leith

Not sure what we have done but the weather is still holding - cool but mostly sunny.  Making the most of this and doing a lot of walking.  Edinburgh is a very walkable city so both enjoying getting some exercise.  Actually come to think of it we did wake up to heavy fog one morning, which I assumed would mean sunshine.  I was wrong.  

Not sure it actually shows it but this is our building fading into fog.

Actually quite atmospheric.  Dropped car off on foggy day, Stephen headed off to Glasgow by train for lunch with his friend David and I walked back down Leith Walk.  I snapped some photos down at The Shore part of Leith.  Bit eerie in the fog.  Couldn't resist snapping a rather handsome looking duck floating on the Waters of Leith and an assertive looking seagull.  They were both very plump.  UK seagulls are huge compared to home.  I feel like I am living by the seaside sometimes as we hear the seagulls here given the proximity to water.

How could I forget!?  Before dropping car off on Wednesday (1 May) Stephen headed out for a day of fishing.  He went to a place called Clackmannanshire.  It was howling with gale force winds and no fish was caught.  He tells me you can see the ripples on the water if you look closely at the photos below.  Dinner therefore was a chicken risotto rather than trout.  Below are a couple of the snaps Stephen took of his fishing spot.

Instead of fishing in gale force winds, I found myself a hairdresser on Leith Walk.  Made a booking for a couple of weeks time for a haircut.  At least that is what I hoped I have booked although I am really getting pretty good at understanding the Edinburgh accent.  I think it is much nicer than my drawl.  

We visited a local bar yesterday (2 May) called Teutchters Landing.  It is very much a local and is only a short walk from our flat.  I somehow ended up drinking a pint of beer called Fierce.  (Photo below as proof).  Next time must remember to ask for a Half Pint.  I did get through it though.  The bar has a very large number of whiskeys on display and you can get food. Think we will be back to try the food and potentially some whisky.  There is even an outside courtyard.  We stayed inside.  The bar is located in the former waiting room  for the steamboat ferry from Leith to Aberdeen and overlooks the Water of Leith. It was very cute. "Teutchters' is apparently the lowland Scots word for a highlander.  I have my fingers crossed that it does not appear extensively on Trip Adviser.

Today (Friday) we made our 2nd trip to the Three store to re-charge our phones.  We keep getting our date for re-charging wrong and will have to return for a third time tomorrow.  They are very patient with us.  Luckily the store we visit is in a new shopping precent called the St James Quarter. Lots of lovely shops to wander past and we checked out some possible food stops.  I especially liked one called the Duck and Waffle.  Quite a few Asian restaurants and we are starting to miss Asian food so will be visiting.

After saying Hello to our friends at the Three shop and promising to visit again tomorrow we walked up to the Royal Mile and had coffee at an old favourite called Procaffeination.  Coffee was pretty good as was the scone we shared.  Crossed the road to drop in on a leather shop that does very expensive bags and belts.  Chatted at length  to the manager and no doubt disappointed him when we didn't purchase anything.  Very nice stuff though.

We decided to stay off the Royal Mile and headed down to the Cowgate which ends up at the Grass market.  The Cowgate is so atmospheric.  You could imagine Burke and Hare lurking here to steal bodies.  There are a number of hostels down here and we recognised a few venues as Fringe venues. It's old down here.  Very old.  Walked past a church that was first built in the 1500's with its tower being a recent addition - only being added in the 1600's.  Also quite quirky down here. I did like the cow at Cowgate. Included some photos below from the Cowgate area.

After visiting Victoria Street to pick up a jacket someone may have bought, walked back past Princes Garden.  Took some photos of the Old Town and we noticed in Princes Garden there is a tree that looks like the Whomping Willow tree in Harry Potter.  We are thinking of getting a strip of red carpet with a bollard and red rope around the tree with a sign "Inspiration for Whomping Willow" and somehow charging for its viewing.  Not sure exactly how that'd work but got to be worth a try. 

Princes Garden and its Whomping Willow tree is above.