Thursday, September 4, 2014

edinburgh

hello from scotland! last month, on the way to shetland, i spent a few days in edinburgh before (and after the island), there is so much fascinating history, and an interesting story for everything in scotland, i won't even try to do it justice. instead, here are a few photos and highlights of this most magical of cities...




my bed & breakfast is on pilrig street







 i climbed calton hill


 the national monument




 dugald stewart monument


 pilrig church on leith and pilrig, made finding my b & b much easier!





 now i've joined a walking tour of old town edinburgh. our first stop:

St Giles' Cathedral is the historic City Church of Edinburgh. With its famed crown spire it stands on the Royal Mile between Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Also known as the High Kirk of Edinburgh, it is the Mother Church of Presbyterianism and contains the Chapel of the Order of the Thistle (Scotland's chivalric company of knights headed by the Queen).



 our fantastic funny knowledgeable guide, jonny, only guide in his company born in edinburgh he said! had the brilliant idea to stop in for a wee dram of whisky on our three hour walking tour...



 greyfriers bobby! do you know the story? find out more here. (i did rub bobby's shiny nose!)

for my girl, who is soon to be married xxx


 kilt!


going somewhere really exciting!


 welcome to edinburgh castle!!





first selfie, with a cannon!






 i walked on medival grounds!!



coffee break + journal time


back down the royal mile to...


the scottish parliament


 this was the second most important thing i'd hoped to see on my visit to edinburgh, to view the great tapestry of scotland. when i arrived at the parliament i checked in with the visitors desk, thinking they might suggest the best way to see the tapestry. the gentleman there asked me if i would like to stitch on a panel right now! YES!! he guided me down a hallway, through a door, into a large room where i met two ladies. stitching!


i made several stitches too, eeps! but could not sit still for long, the tapestry was waiting...




completely incredible. seeing the great tapestry of scotland was an experience i'll never forget.
i bought the book on the making of it and look...



 this is one of the stitchers, cindy is sharing the panel she worked on! brilliant moment! for more information on the great tapestry of scotland (and to view every panel) go here.

seen on a plaque outside the parliament


 back on the royal mile






 one evening (it's about 10pm in this photo) i was trying to find my way to a restaurant that had been suggested. consulting my iphone, trying to determine which way was south east...when out of the fog came a girl, chatting on her mobile. i apologetically interrupted, excuse me? do you know where this place is? (pointing at my phone). she did not. but asked if i had a name of the restaurant. yes! she did in fact know of the place and i should follow her...


 off we went, at a brisk pace, her telling me how she was to board a bus tomorrow for glasgow, she was going to be singing in the commonwealth games! oh wowee! meanwhile, we are taking 'shortcuts', through a park and back streets, i had no idea where we were. eventually we stopped, on a busy street, right where i asked to be. and just like when she had appeared, out of nowhere, she was gone, with a wave and a smile.

~ woodland creatures on leith walk, edinburgh



more a bar than restaurant, but oh my goodness the macaroni and cheese was worth the walk!
when i returned from shetland i came here again for dinner and a fringe festival event in an adjoining room!


here is reason number one for coming to edinburgh. to see this house. robert louis stevenson, beloved author, traveller, poet, was born here. on 13th november 1850. (a plaque beside the door declares this). waking early one morning, with map in hand, i walked the two miles (or so) to the thing i wanted to see most. on 8 howard place on a quiet tree lined street, i found it. 



 i don't know what i expected, but i don't think i could have imagined being alone here. i stood for perhaps thirty minutes, and didn't see another soul. a wonder. i took many photos (with too many cameras) picked a few leaves for my journal. thought of favorite poems...'swallows travel to and fro and the great winds come and go and steady breezes blow bearing perfume, bearing love'. rls

it was an extraordinary moment. i've been a collector of robert louis stevenson for many years, vintage books and ephemera have found their way into my hands and heart...my eldest daughter read a poem of rls at our wedding and on our honeymoon we visited western samoa, on the island of upolu, we saw his home vailima and his final resting place.




 fittingly, a book store lives across the street :)



 back to my little nest on pilrig street


past the church...





 here we are! ardmor house, built in 1890!


 highly recommended bed & breakfast! my room on the right, facing the garden :)







and the very best part of my trip was meeting new dear friends. kathy, paula and i met for drinks on the royal mile the night before we flew to shetland. this was the beginning of the grandest adventure.

thank you for coming along! xxx lori

58 comments:

  1. As always, just lovely and thrilling and inspiring--thank you so much for sharing!

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    1. thank you so much for your sweet comment wendy! i'm so glad you enjoyed!

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  2. What an ispiring travel! I love the ancient spirit of Edinburgh. Thank you for sharing :)

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    1. thank you hanni! edinburgh is indeed like stepping back in time, a fantastic place!

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  3. so so beautiful Lori !!!! Never been in Edinburgh : thank you for sharing all these pictures!!!! I really love the idea to visit Scotland one day…. I hope soon !!!!!
    xxxxxx Ale

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    1. thank you ale! i hope you do visit, you will love it, i think edinburgh and the people that live there are beautiful!

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  4. Hello Lori,

    Edinburgh is indeed a very fine city. The architecture is of great interest and there is a wealth of cultural activity. So much to see and do that one becomes completely exhausted by it all.

    Your bed and breakfast looks to have been perfect. A home from home after long days of sightseeing. Perfect!

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    1. you are right jane and lance, it is easy to become quite overwhelmed in edinburgh, there is so much to take in. i think it helps to have a bit of a plan, and then like you mentioned, a lovely place to come back to to rest. i highly recommend ardmore house, i even made my first review on trip advisor for them. thank you for your comment!

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  5. Amazing pictures of a fabulous city! Your detailed and stunning documentary gives me the impression that I am there with you. The best!

    Stephanie

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    1. thank you so much stephanie! i guess you could tell i was excited and had an amazing time. and this post was really just a small part of it!

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  6. Oh how I love, love , love Edinghburgh! And your pictures are certinly giving it credit! We spent a great deal of our honeymoon there, 23 years ago? Peter mainly enjoyed Scotland in general for the whisky, I adored the landscape and the textile traditions they have there. I even bought a kilt, it was in back then you know, even on women, and I wore it at the bank, where I used to work, back in the 90ies. I will write down the name of the b and b that you stayed at as well as the restaurant. They might come in handy one day, maybe for our 25th anniversary, who knows:) thank you so much for sharing!

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    1. thank you karin-ida! great memories! i love that you bought a kilt. i too enjoyed the textiles and whisky (even went to a whisky tasting). i loved the ardmor house, i can highly recommend it. going back for an anniversary sounds like a wonderful idea!

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    2. Thank you for the inspiration Lori!

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  7. Thank you for sharing your tour of Edinburgh Lori - I've only been there once when I was about 7 and the only thing I remember is the castle - now I'd love to go back and visit the rest.

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    1. thank you emma, that's really sweet, you at 7 in the castle! what great memories! i think not a lot has changed, it's still a gorgeous city with LOTS to see, i hope you do return someday.

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  8. it's looking more and more as if Scotland is going to be a 2015 trip for us....hubby's choice this time. (Me? I'd be going to Iceland!!! they're close, aren't they??? hmmmmm. or back to Shetland...but he's sort of a 'been-there-done-that kind of guy and worries if I go somewhere twice, I might want to move there!)......anyway, I'm feeling much (MUCH) more excited about the possibilities! The photos are amazing....this is a great jumping off point for my 'trip studying'!!! Thank you. THANK YOU!

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    1. thank you very much steph, i took a LOT of photos. i think you would love scotland, i would absolutely love to go back, there is SO much to see. so much beauty and history and the people! the nicest people i've ever met. and anyway, we need to take the hiking/knitting iceland trip together!

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  9. What a beautiful adventure Lori...lovely images of "the old Country"-beautiful how you have captured the energy of this place.
    Bucket list- for sure.

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  10. I love Scotland! My darling daughter lived there for four years doing her Ph.D., and it was always lovely to visit her. Mostly in Glasgow, which is a wonderful city too, but we also went to Edinburgh a few times.

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  11. such an adventure! one of my best friends just moved to Edinburgh and I cannot wait to use it as an excuse to go and visit! maybe next march! (i heard they're a knitting festival planned!)

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    1. i heard that too! you must go, especially if you have a friend to enjoy it with! that is really exciting lea!

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  12. Lori it looks like such an amazing time. I know I've said it a hundred times about my books and your trip, but in my Outlander books (Voyager) last night they were on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh! Only it was the 1700s. But to see all these pictures it makes me so excited! Once again thanks for taking us along with your trip and sharing all the magical things that happen along the way!

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    1. thank you andee, it is hard to stop talking and sharing about it, it really is the most wonderful place. and the thing is those buildings that were built then are still standing! incredible! i'll have to find those books you are reading. :)

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  13. Meanwhile I was busy sleeping off jet-lag... I can't believe how much you saw and did, girl! Just wonderful!! Thank you for sharing. Loved meeting you in Edinburgh and hearing in person your account of these adventures... and now to see your lovely images to go along with! <3 <3 <3 Ps. "selfie with a cannon with a Canon." hehe ;) xoxo

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    1. hehe, best moment, when i text you, 'who's this?' and then meeting. so much fun. i decided i would sleep back at home, as you know i hardly slept on shetland either. (why i broke my phone early one morning)
      ;) xxx

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  14. I went to Troon, Scotland when I was 12 for the summer with my grandma and step-grandfather, who is a big golf fan! It was a wonderful experience. One of my favorite outings was up to Loch Ness. I also ♥ that people there say "Cheerio!" instead of "Goodbye!"
    Thank you for sharing your pictures. I wish had a digital camera when I went.

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    1. thank you martha, i loved the people there too, among the nicest anywhere on earth!

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  15. Whew! when you said a 'few photos' my heart sank! Lori only giving a few photos .... if I could make a tear shape I would! thanks for the many lovely photos!!! (reminded me of another blogger who did a beautiful post on S. W. Scott's house http://blackberryrambles.blogspot.com/2014/05/scotland-abbotsford.html... the picture of the library is one of my favourites!)... what a wonderful time you had! Looking forward to hearing your further adventures! what a dream come true for you!

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    1. oh haha, well, this is a few compared to what i took. it's the most difficult thing choosing what to share. i'm so happy you enjoyed my rambling!

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  16. Lori,
    What a magical trip, thank you for taking us along...xoxo

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    1. it was annie, thank you for reading and sharing. xoxo

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  17. Such a wonderful post, Lori! I have stayed in Edinburgh a few times and it was amazing to see it through your eyes! Such a great collection of images. And how perfect you saw those beautiful knitting panels on the tapestry :) Happy weekend!
    Helen xox

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    1. thank you so much helen! i would love to talk to you about your visits, i imagine you would have quite different things to share. it's a lovely lovely place. happy weekend to you too! xo

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  18. a gorgeous collection of photos from another magical adventure!

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    1. thank you so much deb! indeed, one i am so grateful to have had :)

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  19. Thank you for letting me come along on your trip. I am so glad for it. :)

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    1. thank you very much kerstin, i'm so happy you enjoyed :)

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  20. Hey Lori! I tried to post this before, but something went wrong.

    So great to see your pictures of this gorgeous city. I recognize so many places from when I was there a few months ago, but I also like seeing the area around your B&B, where I haven't been. (It's a bit north of the New Town, right?) Have you visited any yarn stores?

    I love the tapestry! What a nice idea that you got to make some of the stitches. I've read a lot about the tapestry on various blogs, but unfortunately the parliament was closed when I was there, so I haven't seen it in person.

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    1. hi nisse! sorry for the trouble, i'm so glad you were able to comment. i remember enjoying your post on edinburgh! i did not have time for yarn stores, really wish i did. i had directions and everything, but i knew there would be time for wool in shetland so...yes! the b & b was in the north part, near leith walk and pilrig. it was a beautiful area, outside of the main old town/new town, about an hours walk from the royal mile.

      the tapestry will be continuing to be on display, although it's moving its location. i think eventually it will have a permanent home and i hope that you will see it! it is very much worth the trip.

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  21. Thank you so much for the glorious photo tour, Lori. I worked in Scotland for a few months twenty-odd years ago but never made it to Edinburgh. I wish I had! My beloved great aunt lived there for many years (before migrating to Australia, at the age of 98, to be with her family) and it made me so happy to see the streets she had loved and walked for half her life. It is a beautiful city, with its sandstone buildings and cobbled streets... And oh, the colours in that beautiful photo of the front garden with its pale blue door and the pink Japanese anemones and eryngium... And the tapestry! How fantastic to be able to contribute a few stitches! Thank you for sharing. Fiona x

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    1. thank you fiona! and thank you for sharing your lovely memories with me! i hope you can visit edinburgh sometime in the future, i think it would be so wonderful for you to walk the same streets your sweet great aunt did. (i love that photo with the pale blue door and anemones too, it was just a few houses down from the b & b) :)

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  22. Oh how I wish I had been able to meet up with you in Edinburgh! You have a knack for stumbling upon the loveliest things... That tapestry, oh my.

    And now I'm off to the bookshelves to locate our collected RLS volume, read a poem, and think of my dear friend...

    xoxo

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    1. i know, it would have been wonderful to share our time together in edinburgh too! (and glasgow!) i had chosen edinburgh for these things though and had done a lot of research and planning for the tapestry and r.l.s. beforehand, with directions and maps and hours... so i was kind of on a mission while there! i think we both need to go back...someday...
      xxx

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    2. Yes, let's do that! We MUST plan another adventure together.
      xoxo

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  23. I left my heart in Edinburgh ♥ (the man in kilt is a Missoni Hotel waiter isn't he? Always nice guys outside that place ...)

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    1. i think you are right :) i think i left a part of mine there too (and shetland) :)

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  24. Lori, I've been searching for enough time to comment on this marvelous Edinburgh post. Isn't Edinburgh a multi-layered, historic,and also right up to the minute place? All those stones made into buildings. Hills and valleys. Art and science and history and right-now politics, too.

    It was fun to recognize many places in your photographs, but also to see some new spots. That modern Parliament building was but a dream when I was in Edinburgh. Wow...what fun to actually add some stitches to the tapestry!

    Your having a local with generous spirit guide you to your destination echoed what happened to me when I was in Glasgow searching for those Whistlers at the Hunterian Gallery.

    The B&B looks like a marvelous choice.

    Of course, as the news gathers force about the upcoming election, I am wondering what ground level atmosphere you might have detected. Please do email if you'd like. I notice today that the dollar v. British Pound rate is much more favorable to the dollar...Scottish Independence seems to be gaining strength.

    What a grand trip you have had! xo

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    1. thank you frances. yes, the referendum. news of it was everywhere. opinion seemed to be divided as far as i could tell by what i read. the only thing i'd heard spoken of it though was at a fringe festival comedy event and the performer promised NOT to speak a word of it. he said everyone had had enough at that point and couldn't wait for the outcome.

      edinburgh was spectacular, 3 days was not nearly enough to discover it's charms, but then i doubt 3 months would be either. every building has a story, every street...i felt i should have had a notebook with me when on the walking tour, so much to take in. it was a grand trip, in every way, i think i'm still processing it (and going through photos). xo

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  25. This one is the best yet. I was hanging on every photo. What utter beauty. :)

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    1. you are so sweet kristen, thank you very much!

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  26. I think you just had one of my dream vacations...

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    1. aw, i hope you can go someday, what an incredible part of the world!

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  27. Lovely post! I enjoyed reminiscing about Edinburgh whilst looking at your pics. x

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xoxo lori