For our latest visit to Edinburgh, we changed the accommodation model from what we have done in the past.  This time we stayed in an Airbnb, converted mews building rather than stay in Eldest Son (ES) and his wife’s flat.  That meant we felt we could stay in Edinburgh for longer – a full week this time – and not be a burden on them as they worked and went about their daily lives. 

Because our accommodation was so close to them, we were able to pop over for, or just after, breakfast to see First Grandchild (FG) and, on his nursery days, enjoy the novelty of taking him to his nursery.  Overall, we saw ES, his wife and FG as much as ever, but they and we could also enjoy a bit more independence.  It worked for us anyway!

Our first few days were those when FG doesn’t go to nursery and so we had fun with him in Inverleith Park, the Royal Botanic Garden and the National Portrait Gallery (where FG ignored the art but loved going up and down the flights of steps).  We also loved playing with him at home playing with his toys.  It had been almost two months since we had last seen FG and, at his age (just over 18 months), that is a long time and a lot of growing up.  The way he now plays with his toys using his imagination in conversation with them is the main development I noticed.

The highlight of these early days of our stay was a car trip to Jupiter Artland to the south west of Edinburgh.  This is an outdoor sculpture park exhibiting a wide variety of works of contemporary artists set in over 100 acres of woodland and open grassland.  It is a very impressive venture founded in 2009 by philanthropist art collectors Robert and Nicky Wilson. 

FG walked with us but was a little bemused by our occasional sheltering under trees to avoid the showers.  He seemed to particularly enjoy the ‘Weeping Girls’ (rather macabre bronze figures looking very sad) by Laura Ford and the ‘Temple of Apollo’ by Ian Hamilton Finlay which had the sort of steps that he loves. 

I believe that he also enjoyed the snacks at the café.  While he tried those out, I popped off to get a closer look at the earthworks by Charles Jencks that we had driven past on the way in to Jupiter Artland.  They are larger versions of those outside the Scottish Museum of Modern Art and are quite dramatic, especially as the heavens opened for another shower.

On the Sunday we had a lovely lunch with ES’s wife’s parents.  ES has certainly married into a family that knows hospitality and how to cook.  We had great breakfasts fueled by bread from excellent Archipelago Bakery and delightful gooseberry jam home made by ES’s mother-in-law.  On our Edinburgh visits ES’s wife has repeatedly demonstrated calm and efficient cooking of lovely meals and she did so again.  ES wasn’t to be outshone and he treated us to a very tasty vegetable curry too.  Overall, and as usual, we ate very well.

We also drank well including at our favourite Edinburgh bar, Spry and at Kay’s Bar which is a tiny, intimate pub tucked away in a side street right next to our Airbnb accommodation. 

Once we had dropped FG off at nursery – he seemed entirely unfazed by the change in those accompanying him – Jane and I had several hours in which to relax and see the sights of Edinburgh.  Our main excursion within Edinburgh was past the noisy royalists and noisier anti-royalists lining the Royal Mile to watch King Charles receive the Scottish crown jewels, and on to the National Museum of Scotland. 

There we saw an exhibition called Beyond the Little Black Dress.  This traced the history of the little black dress as a fashion item since the 1920’s to the present (and, with a bit of foresight, into the future).  Even I could see that the dresses were spectacularly good and almost all the famous designers I know were represented. 

Rather than follow a purely chronological route, the exhibition was mainly structured around themes that have underpinned the use of the little black dress by designers and those who wear it.  There were sections on ‘Well Mannered Black’ (emphasising elegance during cocktail hour), ‘Spiritual Black’ (reflecting religious undertones), ‘Subcultural Black’ (such as the Goth look), and ‘Subversive Black’ (including the erotic and nuances of bondage).  Others showed, for instance, how Japanese designers used different ‘Shades of Black’ and how sustainable fashion is emerging. 

I liked the displays very much and I felt I learnt something in an area I know little about.  I was particularly struck by the last exhibit which was a short video called ‘Her Dreams Are Bigger’ by Osman Yousefzada.  This showed poor textile workers in Bangladesh – the sort that make mass-produced little black dresses – and related what they imagined the wearers of the clothes they make do and think.  The punchline is in the title of the video.  It was quite unexpectedly moving.

While Jane went off to peruse shops, I walked over to Old Calton Burial Ground and Calton Hill.  Both offered great views of Edinburgh in wonderfully sunny weather and clear air. 

^{Old Calton Burial Ground}

I hadn’t seen the burial ground before and it is a secluded, private space easily overlooked by tourists.  It is dominated by a tall obelisk erected in memory of members of the Friends of the People who campaigned for universal suffrage in the late 18th century but who were deported to Australia for their efforts.  It got me researching ‘one man one vote’ campaigns and I was amazed to find out how long it took for rich property owners to lose their monopoly of electoral privilege.  It was only in the early 20th century that the UK passed legislation to enable all men to vote; womens’ suffrage followed shortly after.

On another day, Jane and I popped into The Scottish Gallery, a private gallery which had completely changed its exhibitions since the last time we visited and now included some lovely porcelain pottery by Jack Doherty (not someone I knew but who Jane follows and likes). 

Jane and I also visited both buildings comprising the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art where I briefly revisited the retrospective of Alberta Whittle’s work (and, as during our last visit, enjoyed the abstract watercolours more than the more prominent fabric and photo-collage works).  We wandered through the galleries and again I was struck by the number of famous artists (that is, the ones I know!) represented on the walls.  It was nice to be able to spend the time rather aimlessly taking in such a wide range of art.

^{Modern Art Galleries of Scotland 1 and 2}

The relative flexibility of our longer stay in Edinburgh than usual (without impinging overmuch on ES and his wife) and the fact that we drove up (with no recharging delays or issues at all) and so had a car with us, afforded the opportunity to travel further afield.  I’ll cover our day trip to Glasgow separately……