19 June - Edinburgh

Had an enjoyable weekend staying with some Scottish friends in East Calder.  East Calder is a little village located in West Lothian, Scotland about a 20 minute train trip west of Edinburgh.  It's now a commuter suburb for both Edinburgh and Glasgow.  Lots of new builds out there and lots of young families who have been priced out of Edinburgh have moved there. Got taken to dinner at local restaurant which as usual for here is very old and is on the side of a very scenic canal. It is not all new builds out there.  Lots of old buildings in very cute villages.  My initial reaction was it's a bit like the new builds in outer Western Sydney but no it is better, as they are built on the edge of very old established villages.

Stayed up very late chatting about the state of the nation.  Essentially everyone is very worried about what is happening world-wide and on a less important note - what on earth is happening with the volume of tourists with for example, these huge cruise ships and people being funneled everywhere to (my personal favourite) the made up Harry Potter sites.  We all agreed that travelling is a very different experience these days.

We interrupted my watching of Season 3 of Bridgerton to see some of the Trooping of the Colours - some ancient ceremony (actually not so ancient) to celebrate King Charles' birthday.  Charles looked like he was steeling himself to survive the hours of standing and in best British fashion it started pouring with rain but fortunately not before Charles managed to escape into a carriage. Have to admit we were less than enthralled and I soon persuaded Stephen to let me switch back to Bridgerton. 

The Euro24 football tournament is on so evenings are spent watching the games at the moment.  Watched Scotland get beaten by Germany which was no surprise.  Saw the famous Ronaldo (even I have heard of him) play last night.  The quality is pretty high.  Watching Scotland play again tonight but hopes are not high for a win.  The pubs here are decked out in various countries' flags so is a popular event.

The next wave of flowers are now on display.  It's so different from home.  It is now time for the purple Scottish thistle to come out.  All the flowers we saw in St Andrews Square a couple of weeks ago have now gone.  Seems to be a bit of a hiatus until the next lot bloom.

The restaurants/pubs etc are setting up outdoor seating ready for the Summer crowds and hopefully sunshine.  They build these temporary wooden shelters which seems sensible as you'd only use them for about 1-2 months every year.  Got to admire their optimism.

Stephen headed back to the Water of Leith this week to do a spot of fishing.  Tells me he managed to catch a fish although there is no proof.  I meanwhile headed to the National Gallery which unbeknownst to me has almost doubled in size since we were last here.  There is a large underground section now that only has Scottish art.  I spent the whole morning there as was lots to see.  I re-visited some of my old favourites.  Very much enjoy the Henry Raeburn portraits.  I thought this one was hilarious - typical grumpy Scot.

 Such a joyful look on his face.  I was very pleased to find a Monet I had not seen before.  Even for a little place like Edinburgh they have so much more European art than we do in Sydney. I came across Van Gogh, Gainsborough, Rembrandt etc.   I do envy them that.  They also get a lot more art on loan from places like London.  There was a Vermeer in the gallery when I was there that was on loan.  Sigh. Here is my Monet and a portrait done by a pupil of Rembrandt.

The new addition to the Gallery was very interesting.  Will take Stephen there.  Great landscapes - the Scottish artists do good landscapes.  Also enjoyed early landscapes of Edinburgh which gave you some idea of how it has developed.  Enjoyable morning.

One of our favourite afternoon walks which is off the tourist track is a walk to Newhaven.  There is a little pub we stop at and so far have been able to grab a corner table which has views over the water.  It's hilarious watching the birds battling the wind and being swept along the water when they land. Did that again this week and saw one of the cruise ships that now arrive here.  They berth off Newhaven and small pilot ships ferry the passengers into shore.  Not the most scenic place to berth.  Does count for some of the many many tourists that are now here.

 Our Gallery week continued with a visit to the Portrait Gallery.  Lovely old neo-Gothic building. 

 I re-visited my favourite portrait called the Oncologists.  And also found another one by the same artist (Ken Currie) called Unknown Man.  This one celebrates a forensic anthropologist who went to Kosovo to help identify bodies.  She says she was 'indelibly marked' by the experience.  His paintings are quite powerful.

We also went and saw some of the older paintings.  I'd read about the court of James 1 of England and the paintings on display about his Court.  He apparently liked his jewels.  Read about the enormous jewel in the hat below.  They also had portraits of his supporters in the Court and his wife.

Oh and I liked this modern painting of Tilda Swinton and below that the violinist Nicola Benedetti - which we had seen on TV on Portrait Artist of the Year.  Quite chuffed to see it in the flesh.

And as if we had not seen enough art we then wandered down Dundas Street to visit various galleries as there is something called New Town Art Month on at present.  The galleries down this stretch have their rooms full of artwork which you can view and buy.  Was very enjoyable.  It's a lovely part of town so also just enjoyed wandering around these lovely old town houses.

Finished up finding a small restaurant that makes its own pasta.  You can buy it to cook at home or eat there and it's BYO which is unusual.  Have earmarked it down for a visit post-London.