Leith Walk

Sorry folks.  It's been pretty busy around here so I've gotten behind on my blogging!  This one's not going to be very long, but there are lots of pretty pictures to look at :).

One fine Sunday Brian and I took a stroll down the Leith Walk, which is a walking path along the river and is absolutely gorgeous.  Oodles of people were walking their dogs, jogging, and just enjoying the lovely fall weather.  Off this path you can find the Museum of Modern Art, if you're into that kind of thing.  Even if you're not, it's pretty cool to be surrounded by surrealist sculptures and wacky landscapes.  

Anyhoo, enjoy the snapshots, and imagine a crisp, clean, sunny fall day :).

At the entry way.  We walked around the block a few times just to find this.  It's tucked behind a building, and the Google didn't warn us of this fact.

B looking at a purdy bridge.

Itty bitty weir.

Purdy bridge from the other side.

Me.

Can you spot the anatomically-correct metal statue???

B.

Drool worthy view of the homes on the bank.

It was an absolutely gorgeous walk, and we both really wished Q was there to partake.  She especially would have loved chasing after sticks in the river :).  It's also really cool that in a city as dense as Edinburgh is they really try to promote the natural areas, and people seem to enjoy using them.  With the gurgle of the river, dense trees, and mossy rock walls it was easy to forget that you were surrounded on all sides by apartments, hotels and roadways.  So, if you're ever here and need a good walk to de-stress, check out the Leith Walk :).  

M

Stuff

So, since school started for me, the adventures around town have sort of slowed down a bit. My classes are proving to be very interesting, but also a lot of work, which cuts into our ability to roam quite a bit.  Oh well, just need to do more planned roaming as opposed to the spontaneous!

Despite being relative homebodies lately, there is no shortage of interesting things to share!

For example, this rad set of graffiti on the walkway heading to Potterow, one of the University's services HQs:

Haha.  Well, Brian and I thought it was pretty funny, but maybe we have warped senses of humour :).

Apart from my friend Amy coming to visit us at the end of August, we were also lucky enough to have Brian's sister and his mom come say hi following their trip to Ireland in September.  The visit was short, but it's always nice to see familiar faces and spend time with those we don't get to see regularly anymore :).  Plus, they were so kind as to drag a bag of our winter outwear with them from Canada (mittens!  Yes!), and Heather even snuck in some dill-flavoured Spitz and a bottle of Saskatoon berry pancake syrup.  So awesome! :D

During the above mentioned visit, the City was taking part in a huge campaign for a species at risk charity, where artists and companies decorated giant fibreglass animal figures to raise funds.  The animals (including orang-utans, crocodiles, tigers, mom elephants, and baby elephants, among others) were spread out all over the place to raise awareness of remaining animal populations, and were to be eventually auctioned off.  I wish I had a yard in which to display one of the lovely works of art!  Plus, could you imagine anything more fun to freak dogs out with?  :P

Me n' mama elephant (fuzzy green!).

Me, Heather (B's sis) and Dar (B's mom) with mama elephant.

Brian and his favourite tiger, whom we so uniquely named Cringer/Battlecat (decorated with astroturfy material).

Some other fun stuff we've discovered involves food.  I keep forgetting to bring my camera to the grocery store to take pictures of some of the interesting items, but I did manage to catch the following:

Yep, no KD, folks.  Just this stuff, which is decidedly NOT KD.  It's got the K part, but the D is seriously lacking.

WTF?  "American style hot dogs"?  In BRINE?!?!?!?!  If anyone knows of a place in America that sells their hot dogs (not cocktail weenies!) jarred in brine please let me know, because otherwise I'm calling BS on this one.  We didn't end up buying these, thank GAWD, because they happily carry German frankfurters as well.  Ugh, brine, gag....

Lastly, before I ditch out on this post, here's a sweet pic of the Sir Walter Scott Monument and Princes Street Gardens in the mist.  It was right out of a fairy tale because you couldn't see most of the buildings around the valley. Oh Edinburgh, **swoon**.

M

Skating and Hockey!!

Being Canadian in Edinburgh, Brian and I were magnetically drawn to the Murrayfield Ice Rink!

Yes, there IS an ice rink here!

It's quite an old rink, with wooden seats and such, but they really encourage people to get out and skate.  There's multiple figure skating clubs, various levels of ice hockey teams, public skate every day, and a professional hockey team!

We initially walked over just to take a look at the facility, but they have this weird policy that you have to pay admission to just stand inside and check the place out.  So, we went skating :).  

However, they don't rent out hockey skates, just rubber booted figure skates...  We found this out after paying admission, so we had to just roll with it.  Brian was lucky and looked so forlorn about having to accost his dignity with figure skates that the man operating the rink lent Brian his own hockey skates.  These were much too large, but Brian was relieved in any event :).  I had to endure the strange figure skates though...

My bizarro ginormous figure skates.

Brian cinching up his ginormous hockey skates.

Although we were there on a weekday afternoon, the place was reasonably busy with young kids skating around.  It was obvious that skating is not considered a necessary life skill here in Edinburgh, but I thought it was pretty neat that kids even came out to give it a try.  There was lots of falling and clinging onto the boards, but it seemed like the kids were enjoying themselves, and that made us happy.  My skates were super dull, so I was impressed that I didn't crash a few times myself.  Brian of course ripped it up :).  I think he's really missing the PAND Broncos right about now.

Brian, workin' it.

Yay skating!

Le rink.

The following Sunday we went to see the Edinburgh Capitals' season opener!  The Capitals are part of the Elite Ice Hockey League here in the UK, and they have a pretty loyal following.  The fans have their own chants, bring drums, and are pretty fun.  They yell at the refs and chirp at players.  We felt very much at home :).

They sell hotdogs at the concession!  But they also have some local flavour, including meat pies and 'stovies', which are mashed potatoes, gravy and corned beef all mixed together.

Hockey!

So, if any of the Canadian contingent were holding back on coming out to visit because you'd miss hockey too much, you don't have anything to worry about :).  Just bring a drum and a loud voice and you'll fit right in!

M

A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That

It's hard to believe that we've been here for nearly 6 weeks already.  In some respects it feels like we just got here, and in others it's sometimes weird to realize that we're not actually from Edinburgh.  There's so much to do in this City, but it doesn't feel all self-important or anything.  It's a very welcoming and comfortable place, and a great place for those who like wandering :).

Since we arrived, Brian and I have been attempting to go on walks to different areas just to get a feel for things.

Of course, we had to go find Greyfriars Bobby, who happens to be just up the street from my school :).

Brian at the monument to Greyfriars Bobby.

The story of Greyfriars Bobby.

YA Edinburgh!

At this time the Military Tattoo was going on, and the lineup to get in would stretch all the way down the Royal Mile.

For the Tattoo, the City erects a mini-stadium onto the side of the Castle every year.

Stadium for the Military Tattoo

The Castle

Only a few days after we arrived in Edinburgh, my friend Amy came to visit on her way home from Bordeaux, France.  While Amy was here we went and visited the Castle, and it was such a beautifully sunny day.

View from the top of the Castle :).

Me and Amy.

Brian decorating the Castle with his awesomeness.

Brian, Amy and I also went to the National Museum of Scotland, which is AMAZING.  On our first visit we stuck only to the history of Scotland portion, and we could only get through 3/4 of it in 5 hours.

Main hall of the National Museum of Scotland.

Dolly!!

Brian adding some perspective to a broadsword.

This paneling was taken from a house on our street! (See the next picture).

Over the following weeks we have gone back to the museum several times.  It has an awesome natural history section, and other sections on art and industry, civilizations, and science.  We also discovered that it has a beautiful rooftop patio with city-wide views!

Edinburgh from atop the National Museum.

It was a windy day :).

On another windy day Brian and I headed up to Calton Hill.

This area has a gorgeously ancient cemetery and several neat monuments.

I'm the white speck at the base of the National Monument.

Monument for Horatio Nelson. 

View of the National Monument from the top of the Nelson monument.

View of the rest of Calton Hill.

Yonder wilderness.

B at the top of the Nelson monument.

"Stinkin' old cannon" (named by B), just sitting out there looking cool.

The cannon was built in 1624.  Oy.

On our travels we also came across the world's oldest golf club house!  It's so cute!  There is a community golf course across the street, but the original golf course is long gone.

Literally, Ye Olde Golf Tavern, established in 1456.

The community golf course, however, ties into one of the largest park areas in the City, called the Meadows.  People head out to the Meadows to play pick up sports (soccer and rugby appear to be the most popular, but we saw some guys playing the Irish game of hurling the other night), chillax on a nice day, or even set up portable BBQs and drink beer.  It's a wonderful spot.

One part of the Meadows.

There are of course many further adventures, but these will have to be documented in later posts :).  So, I will leave you with this, a pretty thistle on Calton Hill.

M