Edinburgh Highlights: Eating, Drinking

March 3, 2026 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

Continuing the highlights of our month long stay in Edinburgh…… here the best of ways we found to sustain ourselves between our sightseeing.

Dinners

Restaurants in Edinburgh are worthy of a capital city; there is both high quality and diversity. The best are also very popular and we couldn’t get a suitable booking at a couple of the restaurants on our wish list. It seems from the evening restaurant experiences we did manage (in between more basic meals back at our rented accommodation) that the clientele is dominated by young professionals. It seems that either the cost-of-living crisis is a fiction for this group. Or perhaps they are spending their discretionary funds on the short-term pleasures of dining out rather than accumulating savings in the face of whatever jobs crisis Artificial Intelligence is promising to create for them.

Little Capo was my favourite evening dining experience. The food, especially the burrata, was excellent and our seating at the bar put us in the centre of a buzzing atmosphere. The service was excellent – friendly, attentive but not too quick.

A close second was a meal at Vinette. A tiny entrance led to a rather labyrinthine space where, again, the service was very good and at a very comfortable pace. Our table was somewhere between a corridor and a room and Jane had to spend the evening looking at a fridge of hanging beef which wasn’t ideal. However, the food was unusual (we didn’t choose the steaks) and very tasty.

Lunches

As we had when we visited Edinburgh for a month last year, we had lunch at The Port Of Leith Distillery. This held some nostalgia for us since, last year, coming to the bar in the distillery had been our first real outing together after Jane had broken her shoulder. It was interesting too to see the result of the demolition work we had a ring-side seat for last year. My lunch was excellent but Jane said hers was too tepid to be really enjoyable.

*^{View From Port of Leith Distillery: Last Year (Top) Versus This Year. Royal Yacht Britannia To The Right}*

Better for lunch and with an equally good view was Cafe Calton. This is on Calton Hill and is very popular with residents and tourists alike. We started with a shared, very tasty Scottish Rarebit and my chicken burger was very good with enough unusual touches to raise it above the ordinary. The efficient, smiling staff seemed to be having a good time and so did we.

I know I wanted to avoid a list but I have to mention Sunday lunches at Brown’s of Leith. This has only been open for a few months but it is already hugely popular. It was perfect for informal lunch with a large canteen style dining area with three or four pop-up type food and drink providers around the edge including seafood and pizza. We went twice and I will go again next time we are up.

Coffee and Wine

In my mind, Smith & Gertrude just trumped our old favourites from previous Edinburgh visits: Cairngorm, Toast and Spry Wine Bar and Ante Coffee. I thought that Ante had the best coffee but they gave it to me in a cup with no handle so I couldn’t drink it easily while it was as hot as I like without burning my fingers; style over function in my view.

Smith and Gertrude with its turntable playing classic vinyl, lovely cheese and wine selection. On one day, we dived in there as it opened at 4pm to have a swift glass of wine before picking up FG from nursery. The frisson of mischievousness on our part from being 10 minutes later than usual in picking him up was memorable.

Pubs

One of our longer walks took us through the residential area of Trinity which is full of 18^th and 19^th century villas and solidly built terraced houses. Just beyond, was the Firth of Forth and The Starbank Inn which provided a view of the sea and good food and beer.

The Firth of Forth Outside The Starbank Inn. Gloomy Day But Nice To See The Sea! — *^{The Firth of Forth Outside The Starbank Inn. Rather A Gloomy Day But Nice To See The Sea!}*

Although it was just over the road from where we were staying, we only managed to get into Teuchters Bar & Bunker, the scene of my rather unfortunate seating failure during last year’s visit, once.

Because Teuchters majors on the rugby I called upon the outstanding knowledge of Eldest Son’s parents-in-law for suggestions for a venue to watch an Arsenal football game with Youngest Son (he’s a big Arsenal fan) on a rainy Sunday night. They came up with Platform 5 which turned out to be perfect; a sports bar with a telly showing the Arsenal game in a sea of screens showing the (Glasgow) Rangers versus (Edinburgh) Hearts game in front of dozens of energised Scottish football fans. The atmosphere was great, the cheering was raucous, broken glass was on the floor, the bar staff were working flat out and Arsenal won (but Hearts lost); great evening!

As usual, Edinburgh had much to offer. There is still a lot that we have left to do there – I’ve still not been to a music concert there for example. We love it.

*^{Sunset Over Edinburgh And The End Of Our Stay}*

Edinburgh Highlights: Viewing

March 1, 2026 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

We achieved so much in our month in Edinburgh and there seemed to be something memorable every day. The weather was grey and drizzly for most of the first three weeks, we both caught colds (the only apparent downside of visiting grandchildren) and I had a nasty recurrence of tinnitus for a few days. But my joints behaved, we had a nice place to stay and had a great time.

Listing all that we did will turn into a long list so, below, I’ll focus on the best and most pleasurable….. Sights seen first and then eating and drinking….

Art Galleries

As usual, we visited several private and public art galleries. Best for me were the several different exhibitions that came and went while during our month-long stay at the Scottish National Gallery. As last year, perhaps the best of these were the two substantial exhibitions of the best works by members of the Royal Scottish Academy. The first was for work of all types and the second focused on watercolours.

Various Works At The Royal Academy Show, Scottish National Gallery — *^{Various Works At The Royal Academy Show, Scottish National}*

*^{Huge Variety Of Watercolours from Royal Academicians At The Scottish National Galley Show}*

Alongside these there were two other exhibitions in the National Gallery. One celebrated the 200^th year of the Academy and was called Origin Stories. It showed works throughout the last two centuries and illustrated how members of the Academy (‘academicians’) supported, taught, mentored and inspired each other through a network of artistic relationships. The second was a small exhibition of Modern Miniatures – both small sculptures and paintings. All of this was very good to see.

'Modern Miniatures' At The Scottish National Gallery — *^{‘Modern Miniatures’ At The Scottish National Gallery}*

Elsewhere the Modern One was showing its rehanging of its permanent collection. Also, the City Art Centre was as excellent as usual with an exhibition of Scottish Portraiture alongside its permanent collection.

Works Qt Modern One Including One From A New Peter Doig Exhibition (Top Left) — *^{Recently Re-hung Works At Modern One And One From A New Peter Doig Exhibition (Top Left)}*

*^{Pictures At The City Arts Gallery (Including By Joan Eardley and John Bellany)}*

……And I always love visiting the National Portrait Gallery where the great entrance hall is so impressive.

*^{Entrance Hall Of The Scottish National Portrait Gallery}*

Here, this visit, there was a fascinating exhibition of photographic art by Alfred Buckham (‘Daredevil Photographer’) who, in the first half of the 20^th century, created aerial pictures from three negatives – one of a plane, one (or sometimes more) of clouds and one of a city or landscape taken from his own plane. He travelled the world as a somewhat larger-than-life Englishman, clearly had a great sense of humour, and produced some remarkable images.

Edinburgh BY Alfred Buckham — *^{Edinburgh By Alfred Buckham}*

Other Exhibitions

Dovecot Studios was also well worth visiting as we usually do. First, we saw an exhibition along the viewing balcony of tapestries made at the studios. I thought some of these were very good to look at and almost all were impressive in some way.

*^{The Dovecot Studio And Some Of The Tapestries On The Balcony}*

Downstairs we saw a new exhibition: The Biba Story: 1964–1975. Biba fashion rather passed me by at the time. Regardless, the exhibition was well laid out and interesting.

*^{The Biba Exhibition At Dovecot Studios}*

The exhibits conveyed the distinctive Biba style, the development of the brand was fascinating, and the stores that sold the goods were clearly impressive. At the end, my questions about textile sourcing and what the accessories looked like were largely answered but I was left unclear about why the whole enterprise came to an abrupt end.

On a different scale, we saw a small exhibition of textiles and weaving by Lynda Graham at Mote102 Jane keeps an eye on this tiny gallery and we have visited before. It’s a intimate space with undecorated, rough walls that is perfect for the types of exhibitions Mote102 present. Indeed, the walls are almost as interesting as the art.

Films

The Everyman Cinema is a luxury with big sofas and the option to buy drinks and food from them. We saw and, overall, enjoyed Marty Supreme. Timothy Chalamet was very good but, as Jane said afterwards, the film has so much action that it felt like being hit around the head with a rolled-up newspaper for two and a half hours.

We also saw and enjoyed Hamnet. I especially enjoyed the last 20 minutes of Hamnet and can understand why Jessie Buckley has won so many awards for her performance.

I also went with Eldest Son to see the very different 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple at the Everyman Cinema. It was impressive throughout; the music and acting are top notch (especially Ralph Fiennes). This was my best cinematic experience overall while in Edinburgh; especially so since Eldest Son, who is a huge fan of the whole 28 series, had kindly shown me the prequel on his laptop/telly the previous day so that I was up to date.

Day Trips

We only left Edinburgh/Leith twice once to visit Stirling and the other time to visit Rosslyn Chapel.

There was a limited amount to see in Stirling but the train ride there was smooth and Stirling Castle is very impressively located, presented and preserved. It was made ornate and grand by James V as a way of underlining his status (some might say narcissism). The statues and rooms remain majestic.

*^{Inner Royal Chambers And The Chapel (Bottom Right), Stirling Castle}*

Our visit benefitted from gorgeous sunny weather and the views from the hill top on which it was built were of snowy mountains and wide river valleys. The history of the castle, its architecture and rooms were all well explained and maybe we will revisit it one day with a grandchild or two in tow since the presentations were very child-friendly. My lasting memories though, will be of the 360-degree panoramas available from the castle site and the neighbouring cemetery.

Our visit to Rosslyn Chapel did not benefit from sunny weather but it was an unexpectedly impressive building and, again, its history, architecture and specific features were well explained.

It seems that Victorian renovation efforts, following a long period of disrepair after the Reformation and attacks by Thomas Cromwell in 1650, were rather ill conceived. Severe problems with damp remain. However, and despite the building only being about half of what was originally intended by the owning St Clair family, it is a gothic marvel. The carving throughout the chapel is remarkable and the stories surrounding it – including those amplified by Dan Brown in his famous book ‘The Da Vinci Code’ – are absorbing.

Again, I can imagine revisiting the Chapel in the future with grandchildren but on a drier, sunnier day so that we can appreciate the views and walk through the adjoining woodland rather more.

Best Walk

The best walks were with First Grandchild (FG) between our rented mews house or FG’s nursery and his home. Sometimes he sang, sometimes he ran or skipped, and sometimes he showed us the sights of Edinburgh from his perspective. We particularly enjoyed him pointing out the absent parts of clothes dummies in the windows of fashion shops – some didn’t have feet, some lacked arms and all were missing their faces. FG is almost constantly amusing as he burns off energy and reveals his vivid imagination.

I walked along the Water of Leith and through the Royal Botanic Gardens many times and walking around of the Georgian architecture West End and New Town is endlessly satisfying.

*^{Barely Spring Views In The Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh}*

However, my favourite walk without FG during our month in Edinburgh was along the Union Canal. This showed me once industrial parts of Edinburgh I’d not seen before and the Slateford Aqueduct over the Water of Leith was an unexpected and impressive sight. The Water of Leith Visitor Centre nearby wasn’t open but I’ll be back.

Indeed, I am already looking forward to our next visit to the sights of Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Family Plus

February 26, 2026 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

We both understand how lucky we are to see our sons grow up and become fathers, and even luckier to have good relationships with them and their partners so we can see grandchildren. Jane’s father didn’t live quite long enough to meet me, let alone see all that has followed.

As last year, we spent a month in Edinburgh to spend time in a city we love and to see our growing family there. Coincidentally (since we had made the rental booking well over 9 months before), our visit started a day after the birth of a Third Grandchild (TG) in Edinburgh. Like last year, our Bristol family were able to join us for one of the weekends. Plus, this year, our Youngest Son (YS) and his wife were also able to visit for a weekend; last year a storm grounded them in Belfast.

*^{Dean Village, Edinburgh From Dean Bridge}*

It was marvellous to have all our immediate descendant family in Edinburgh over the period of a month to welcome TG into the world. Her parents seem to be coping with the new arrival very well and TG is a gorgeous little granddaughter.

First Grandchild (FG) loves his new sister. We picked FG up from pre-school a few times. It was lovely to hear him chat about his day on the way and then to see that his first act upon arriving home was to give his sister a big, loving hug and kiss. He seems so proud of her.

First Grandchild So Proud Of His New Sister — *^{First Grandchild, So Proud Of His New Sister}*

FG also loves Second Grandchild (SG) from Bristol. FG was generous to his cousin with his toys and the two of them played well together. SG was very excited by the whole experience of travelling to Edinburgh, staying with us and seeing his cousins. It all warmed our hearts.

That YS and his wife could make it over from Belfast for a couple of days was unexpected because their new business had only been launched a week before. Both have been heavily involved in securing grants, harassing slow, overstretched builders, chasing Council planning and building regulations officers, pressing the landlord for services, securing materials and preparing the media for the launch. Although they have been consistently positive, the last few months have undoubtably been stressful for them.

However, the launch of Nellie Studio, a very smart osteopathy and Pilates studio (take a look at the website!), has been a great success and they felt able to join us and admire TG. We have watched the hard work and determination needed to get the business established with a degree of anxiety and an inability to help much. However, the space they have constructed looks great, teachers and customers seem very happy, and we now expect to see the business grow amid a bit of fun. We certainly had fun with them in Edinburgh.

Youngest Son's Wife's New Osteopathy and Pilates Business — *^{Youngest Son’s Wife’s New Osteopathy and Pilates Business}*

As ever, we had a great time in Edinburgh and that time cemented in our minds how lucky we are to have lived long enough to meet the people our sons live their lives with, and the lovely children they have produced with them.

I Do Like A Plan!

December 18, 2025 / fgrtommo / 2 Comments

One of the things that occasionally frustrates Jane, my wife, is how I love to stick to routines. I’m not good with the unpredictable and the unexpected. Surprise visitors, sudden changes to imminent diary dates, unbidden moves of items from one storage location to another, furniture moves, unnecessary changes to mobile phone features; all tend to cause me more anxiety than they should, especially as they are trivial first-world problems and my wife loves them all.

I think that my craving for plans to achieve calm routines is why my career went best when I was in operational information technology. There, the reliability of day-to-day computer services is critical. Having computer services working smoothly day after day was a key aim – not least because running computer services is cheaper that way. Changes had to be managed very carefully and if an anomaly happened then all efforts were made to ensure they didn’t happen again. Plans and routine were lovely then and I still hanker for them.

Fortunately, especially since my retirement, my wife jolts me out of this way of being so I am forced to stay on my toes. She will be the one to suggest that we go to a different pub for our usual Sunday pint and crossword. She will change the drawer contents around in the kitchen so I can’t find anything for a few days. She will poke me into holidays and outings. I think I am better at embracing, and even instigating, change than before – for example, my cooking skills and bravery are vastly improved from a few years ago – but it is my wife who tends to really try new things.

Of course, external events also push me off my routine and disrupt our plans. COVID almost derailed our family Christmas in 2020 and it did ultimately erase our plans to walk the North Devon/Cornwall Coastal Path earlier that year. The weather has also intervened to prevent or near-ruin other holidays in the past.

*^{Opening The Bedroom Blinds To The Sort Of Winter Sunrise And Weather I Like!}*

Increasingly too, as I get older, I’m conscious that health issues can mess up the best laid plans and prevent implementation of my normal routines. For example, I hate it when an arthritic joint prevents me from walking comfortably into town to get the newspaper and daily shopping. Last month, the blow up of my ankle problem took me off my feet for a few days and this month, a bout of orbital cellulitis (an infection of the tissue around the eyes) did the same. Anyone would be annoyed at these unplanned health issues but I feel my anxiety about them is amplified somehow by my feeling of missing out on my usual pattern of life.

Those ‘outages’, as we called computer service failures in my working life, help me appreciate the days when I can just get on with the routine and think about plans relatively proactively and calmly. ‘Seize the day’ as Jane often tells me. I need to do that more.

The bones of our plans for Christmas and the New Year are pretty much in place and, while weather and health may, of course, disrupt them, I’m very happy with what is in store. We kick off with carols in a local church then dinner at ours with Jane’s siblings. Then Christmas Day will be with Second Grandchild (SG), his parents and his other grandparent. SG is a very happy little boy by nature and I can imagine he is going to be beside himself with Christmas cheer – while not yet fully understanding many of the related concepts.

Boxing Day will be just Jane and I – for the first time ever, I think, we will be on our own. I am hoping for a sunny, crisp, wintery day and a long walk to a local pub for a leisurely lunch.

*^{Winter Sunset At Ruskin Mill (Jane’s Photo)}*

Then we are off to Belfast to see Youngest Son and his wife. To round out the family tour, we are then in Edinburgh for four weeks during which another Scottish grandchild should arrive.

We were last in Edinburgh for First Grandchild’s (FG) fourth birthday. As usual, we had a great time as we mixed family socials with art and nature. Eldest Son and his wife always provide amazing hospitality and it was lovely to see how FG had developed since we last saw him in the summer. His sense of fun combined with his determination and focus on detail were brought out by some of the presents he got for his birthday. It is clear that he is going to love ‘LEGO®’!

The Water Of Leith - Very Full During Our November Visit to Edinburgh — *^{The Water Of Leith – Very Full During Our November Visit to Edinburgh}*

The arrival of FG’s new sibling in January is going to colour, enliven and warm our visit next year. We had hoped to repeat what we did early in 2025 (without, this time, Jane breaking her shoulder!) but the flat we had rented then and booked for this visit was unexpectedly withdrawn from Airbnb last week – a very irritating imposed change of plan!

We have rebooked elsewhere (inevitably at a higher cost….) and are looking forward to our time in Edinburgh enormously. We just need to complete the plans for our schedule of trips, restaurants and art intake for the time we are there. I do like a plan!

Edinburgh: Holiday or Home?

March 7, 2025 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

We have visited Edinburgh many times since Eldest Son (ES) moved there and increasingly frequently since he and his wife had a son there. We have fallen in love with the city.

I have always liked city living. Jane is more of a rural lover. I too have really enjoyed my several years of retirement in a comfortable home, out in the beautiful countryside of Gloucestershire and our lovely community in the Stroud valleys. But now we are beginning to recognise that our current levels of mobility won’t be forever and that we need to plan for that. Living in a town or, better, a city like Edinburgh, might be the solution.

*^{Classic Edinburgh View – The Castle From Princes Street}*

We have spent a lot of time debating the options and it is a privilege to have those choices. To help in the decision making, we spent a month from late January in Edinburgh. All our previous visits to Edinburgh had been little more than long weekends. This time we wanted to see how it felt to get a more profound and thorough feel for the city, and to think about how it might be to live in it for at least a substantial part of the year.

The month we spent in Edinburgh deepened our regard for it. We managed to get to the cinema once and the pub a few times, but barely scratched the surface of the nightlife that is available. However, I could already see that there is a lot going on and that I could resume my love of small-venue music gigs that absorbed me in the latter years of my working life in London. It seemed clear too from a couple of visits to the local pub with ES’s parent-in-law, that making new friends wouldn’t be too hard.

In the event, I don’t think that we are closer to a decision about where our next couple of steps will take us in terms of where we live. We continue to toss ideas around.

I think that we have concluded two things. First, that the model of hiring a flat in central Edinburgh for a month is one that we want to repeat (although the flat we stayed in this time was really good and set a high expectation for next time); we had a great time and I think the arrangements were helpful to ES and his wife without putting so much pressure on them to provide the hospitality.

The second thing is that we want to keep a base in the Gloucestershire area so that we can stay close to Jane’s roots and the ones I have put down since we moved here, and be close to Middle Son, his fiancé and Second Grandchild. Now we need to work out what that means. Fortunately, we don’t have to make a decision immediately; to an extent, we can see how events unfold and influence things – goodness knows that recent world events have shown how quickly perspectives can change.

^{Our Rural Idyll – Different From Edinburgh But Not Too Shabby As A Location}

Regardless of all that, our winter Edinburgh month left us with a huge number of happy memories.

Best Solo Moments for me during this visit were those alone with First Grandchild (FG). One was when Jane was rather immobilised with her broken arm, and I took FG out to a local park. He played wonderfully considerately in the playground and then we went on a long walk during which we chatted incessantly. I felt so proud of him .

^{Me: “It’s Like A Trampoline”
FG: “It Is a Trampoline Grandad!”}

The other, was when I was babysitting and putting FG to bed but couldn’t work out how to zip up his sleeping bag. FG (like me) is a person who likes routine and I could see that he was struggling to manage his emotions about my zip incompetence and the impending break in routine. Just as he visibly got control of those emotions, I finally worked out that the zip went downwards not upwards and we could celebrate together.

Best Moment with Jane was probably one of her earliest ventures out after her accident when we went to The Port of Leith Distillery for lunch. This a building that stands alone amid demotion works On one side it overlooks the port and the Firth of Forth and, on the other, The Royal Yacht Britannia and the adjacent, drastic demolition and renovation of a chunk of Leith. The views were great, the demolition work was entertaining to watch (for me, anyway), lunch and drinks were nice and going to Leith on the tram felt like a very positive step in Jane’s recovery.

*^{Port Of Leith Distillery: The View From Our Table, The Building And The Inside}*

Best Pub was Teuchters Bar & Bunker just over the road from where we were staying. It has a great range of local beers, really good comfort food and a very convivial atmosphere. ES’s father-in-law took me there a couple of times and he seemed to know everyone which led me to…..

….Most Embarrassing Moment was in Teuchters when, leaning back to meet yet another new acquaintance standing just behind me, I slid off my chair onto the floor. I did say the beer was good!

This just beat another embarrassing moment when I again fell on my backside. This time I was blown over by the a gust of wind during the last vestiges of Storm Eowyn. At least I fared better than a magpie that was also caught out by the gusty wind and died yards away having been blown against a building.

Best Bar: Spry, as usual. We managed to get there almost every week.

Best Cinema: Everyman Cinema. It was our first visit to an Everyman cinema that serves food and drink to you in the auditorium while you relax on their sofa-like seats. I made two mistakes; first I didn’t understand the ordering system and needed to be prompted by the staff to indulge. Then I unwisely chose their largest bottle of beer – daft if you need to sit through a two-hour film without a loo visit. We saw the Dylan biopic ‘A Complete Unknown’ and really enjoyed the whole experience.

Best Toastie: The toastie I had at the aptly named Toast in Morningside Road was exceptional. But for consistency over several visits, I’d recommend Cairngorm Coffee just up the road from where we stayed. We even had a special Valentines Day orange flavoured toastie there.

Best Restaurant: We didn’t make it to as many as planned but taking our Edinburgh family to The Free Company, a farm and restaurant in the outskirts of Edinburgh on the edge of the Pentland Hills was a real treat. FG behaved impeccably and did some good dancing on the way out that put my Dad-Dancing to shame.

*^{The Free Company Restaurant As We Arrived (It Was Almost Full When We Left)}*

Best Museum was, of course, the National Museum of Scotland which we visit almost every time we are in Edinburgh. However, for the first time, I also visited the Surgeons’ Hall Museum and enjoyed that. This museum has several parts covering the origins, history and the future of surgery. The section called the Wohl Pathology Museum was very impressive although, after 20 minutes of looking at exhibits showing deformed, vitamin-deficient skeletons and the results of cancer on internal organs, I felt a little squeamish and cut the visit short.

*^{Outside The Surgeons’ Hall Museum (No Photos Allowed Inside)}*

Correction. I covered best art galleries, cathedrals and graveyards in earlier posts. However, before moving on from Edinburgh posts, I should just correct a prior statement about there being two cathedrals in Edinburgh. ES’s father-in-law corrected me and pointed out that there is also St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral nestled next to the new St James’s Shopping Centre and overlooking a plaza with modern and old statues. For completeness, here it is…..

Maybe we will pop inside and have a closer look during our next Edinburgh visit.

Edinburgh: Graveyards and Galleries

February 28, 2025 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

I have always been interested in visiting old graveyards. They are generally quiet places for reflection, a secluded refuge for wildlife, and also a rather oblique representation of history and of lives lived. For me, those characteristics more than offset any feeling of sadness or mournfulness derived from their function.

Edinburgh has a number of graveyards in or near its centre. While Jane was resting her broken arm, I took the opportunity to visit a few.

*^{St John’s and St Cuthbert’s Churches At The End Of Princes Street}*

At the west end of Princes Street is Saint Cuthbert’s Churchyard. It seemed to be the nearest cemetery to our holiday flat. This is a very old graveyard with burials believed to have dated from the 14th century and probably much earlier. It is one of a few graveyards in Edinburgh that has a watchtower, built in the 19th century, for guards aiming to prevent bodysnatching for the purposes of medical science.

*^{St Cuthbert’s Churchyard Between St Cuthbert’s And St John’s Churches}*

Another such watch tower is in New Calton Burial Ground. This has great views over Holyrood, Arthurs Seat and the government buildings and alleys off Canongate. Like many of the graveyards I visited, it has a map to show the location of graves of the Edinburgh ‘great and good’. On the day of my visit, the northern end was full of birdsong.

*^{New Carlton Burial Ground Including Its Watchtower}*

*^{View From Near The New Carlton Burial Ground – Canongate Kirk, Salisbury Crags and Arthurs Seat}*

New Carlton Burial Ground was overspill from the nearby Old Calton Burial Ground which I have visited before and which has memorials to a number of notable Scots, including famous radicals of whom some were deported to Australia for their troubles.

In Canongate is Canongate Kirkyard. The Kirk and its Cemetery which was created when decreed that the inhabitants of the Canongate would no longer be allowed to worship at Holyrood Abbey in 1687. It is the resting place of Adam Smith, the famous Scottish philosopher and economist.

^{View From Canongate Kirkyard – Carlton Hill In The Background}

This cemetery has views back to Carlton Hill and is a peaceful haven just yards away from the many tourists – even at this time of year – strolling between Holyrood and The Royal Mile. I too, wandered down to Holyrood Palace but, impressive as it looks from outside, I demurred from paying £25 to enter the grounds and house; maybe I will on a future rainy, rather than just grey, day in the City.

*^{Holyrood Palace On A Grey Edinburgh Day}*

Unlike the other graveyards I visited, Greyfriars Kirkyard was crowded with tourists eager to follow up on apparent connections to Harry Potter characters and the famous story of Greyfriars Bobby, a terrier who sat by and guarded the grave of his owner (a nightwatchmen at the cemetery) for 14 years, without a break, until he too died.

The more interesting aspects for me were the scale and disposition of the mausoleums in Greyfriars Kirk. These proliferated from the 1660s when burial in Greyfriars Church was prohibited. Families of the dead apparently compensated for not being allowed inside by erecting very large monuments outside. Some of these directly attach to the houses around the graveyard (see below).

*^{Greyfriars Kirkyard and The Greyfriars Bobby Monument}*

Further afield, I stumbled across two other cemeteries. Dean Cemetery, behind high walls and full of mature trees, was very quiet except for the birds. The cemetery is attractive – if you like this sort of thing – but the grey skies gave the cemetery a rather melancholy air and I plan to return when the trees are in leaf and the atmosphere is brighter.

Even prettier – perhaps helped by the blue skies overhead when I visited – was Grange Cemetery. I found this during a rather random walk south of the centre of Edinburgh. I noticed the imposing surrounding walls and found a way in. Like Dean Cemetery it is in two halves. Here however, the divide here is not a wall but a long array of catacombs that are halfway underground; an interesting dimension to the site.

The Grange Association do a great job of maintaining the cemetery and of documenting its history and its ‘residents’. Thanks to that, I found the grave of Robin Cook who was one of my political heroes 20-25 years ago. His gravestone has a nice epitaph referring to the Iraq war: ‘I may not have succeeded in halting the war but I did secure the right of Parliament to decide on war’.

*^{Grange Cemetery And Catacombs (With Robin Cook’s Gravestone Top Right)}*

In the last week of our Edinburgh stay, I returned to the National Gallery of Scotland to see the permanent collection and we also returned together to Dovecote Studios to see an really excellent exhibition presenting the Scottish Colourists.

^{My Favourite Picture In The Scottish Colourists Exhibition At Dovecote Studios Exhibition – By Arthur Melville, A Forerunner and Mentor to the Colourists}

The Scottish Colourists were a group of just four artists who were at their peak in terms of quality and influence in the art world in the first half of the 20^th century. Unlike Jane, I hadn’t heard of any of them as I entered the exhibition. But interesting information about them was carefully presented and their influencers, and those they influenced, were summarised and then underlined with examples. I loved the exhibition and felt I learnt a lot.

*^{The Scottish Colourists: Works By (clockwise from top left) SJ Peploe, FCB Cadell, JD Fergusson And Leslie Hunter}*

Another interesting exhibition I saw was at the Talbot Rice Gallery. The gallery is part of Edinburgh University and is within the wonderful buildings of Old College. The art on show was at another end of the spectrum from that of the Scottish Colourists. Let’s just say that the anti-woke brigade would not have approved.

The first part was an exhibition of videos by Gabrielle Goliath relating to violence against women. The videos were images of women describing their experiences but the words were truncated so that only the gaps between their words remained. It was strangely powerful albeit with really just the one idea and the explanations of the videos were too high-falutin for me to absorb properly.

Much more aesthetically pleasing but equally, weirdly impactful was an exhibition of work by Guadalupe Maravilla, an child refugee and cancer survivor from El Salvador. It’s hard to describe the work (see below) but the allusions to healing, trauma and displacement were fascinating. All this was in a single, splendid room bedecked with hammocks for the ‘healing gods’; it was all very dramatic.

*^{The Work Of Guadalupe Maravilla At The Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh}*

Jane and I also visited a couple of the multitude of private galleries in Edinburgh. One, the Open Eye Gallery, had some work by a friend of hers, Gail Turpin, who’s exhibition we visited last summer when we were in the city. I liked her watercolours but was even more taken by a room showing paintings by James Fairgrieve and by a few ceramics by Rachel Wood.

*^{Inside The Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh}*

The other was the oft-visited The Scottish Gallery just up from where Eldest Son lives. As soon as I walked in my eyes fell on a couple of Joan Eardley paintings. I’d never heard of her until we started to visit Edinburgh a few years ago, but love all her paintings of sea and fields that I have seen since.

*^{One Of Joan Eardley’s Paintings At The Scottish Gallery}*

We originally planned day trips to Glasgow and Fife whilst in Edinburgh. In the absence of those, I was very happy visiting Edinburgh’s graveyards and galleries, and wandering through the wonderful Georgian architecture of central Edinburgh, where most streets seem to have a monument or imposing building at their end. It’s a great city to visit, and, I think, to live in.

^{Buildings At Night At The End Of The Street Of Our Holiday Home, Edinburgh}

Edinburgh Cathedrals and Outskirts

February 14, 2025 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

Before Jane broke her arm, we spent large parts of each day absorbing Edinburgh: the city and its sights. We walked to the shops, to the cinema, to the bars and cafes we frequented and even, somewhat aimlessly, to just take in the Georgian architecture of New Town or to discover slightly unfamiliar areas on its margins. We were priding ourselves on our step counts while taking in the ambiance of the city and seeing some new places.

For example, for the first time in all our past Edinburgh visits we went to both the cathedrals in the city. St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral is actually just at the end of the street with our Airbnb. It’s a relatively modern cathedral but it is in a gothic style. It is large, imposing and pleasantly airy, and set in grassy grounds.

St Giles’ Cathedral is far older and is set right in the heart of Edinburgh next to the Royal Mile. It has a lovely open spire and a pleasingly compact shape. Inside, the layout is unusual with a central altar. I liked the atmosphere, the scale of the place and the fact that it encouraged donations rather than imposed an entrance fee.

The Thistle Chapel that was bolted onto the side of the Cathedral in 1911, is a particularly interesting aspect of the building. The chapel was designed and built in the neo-gothic arts and crafts style for the Knights of the Thistle, an order of chivalry associated with Scotland which dates back to 1687. This order consists of sixteen members and a new member is only ‘invested’ when another dies. Each member is represented around the chapel with statues or, more recently, plate crests. I loved the cool, almost damp atmosphere in the chapel and some of the diverse stories of the past and current members.

*^{The Thistle Chapel, St Giles’ Cathedral}*

We also ventured outside of the City. We visited South Queensferry which Jane had seen described somewhere as the UK’s second prettiest town. It has a quaint high street and some interesting buildings and gardens nearby.

*^{South Queensferry Looking West From The Beach}*

However, I think the most remarkable thing about the town is the view across the Firth of Forth between the road and the rail bridge. The rail bridge was originally built in 1890 and I’m not surprised that it has been voted Scotland’s greatest man-made wonder; it is a terrific, dramatic structure.

*^{Road And Rail From South Queens Ferry; A Panorama}*

We spent a day in Border Country south of Edinburgh. The journey south through the Pentland Hills and past the Eildon Hills to Melrose was very attractive.

Melrose is a pretty town with a number of tourist attractions (mainly closed for the winter). The Abbey on the town outskirts looked great in the sunny weather. However, it was clear that it is undergoing significant renovation and repair so we didn’t venture into its grounds. Instead we simply strolled around the town for a while and then set off to see nearby Dryburgh Abbey.

I vaguely recall visiting Dryburgh Abbey when I was a teenager. It has changed a lot less than me since then but Historic Scotland have, I suspect, increased the information available around the site. This did illuminate what it must have been like to be a Premonstratensian monk in the 12^th century. Apart from the 2am nocturnal mass, the vow of silence and the bitter cold, it didn’t look like being such a bad life!

The abbey is now a lovely ruin surrounded by very mature trees and well-kept grassland leading down to the River Tweed. Sir Walter Scott is buried amongst the ruins. We were almost the only visitors at the time and the Abbey and its environs were peaceful and relaxing to walk around.

We drove on to Selkirk and then Peebles. We started on roads along the sparkling River Tweed but were diverted, due to bridge repairs, onto a hillside route. I was surprised at how wild the landscape is around Peebles and, given that we were in no rush, the diversion proved to be a welcome one.

We found a relatively fast electric car charger on the edge on Peebles town centre and walked into the town. We took on board cake and coffee at The Milkman and wandered up the high street of what was a spa town. It was all very relaxing and pleasant, and, all the while, reminding me of childhood holidays with my parents in the Tweed Valley.

We headed home chattering about our impending day of baby-sitting First Grandchild the next day, unaware, of course, that subsequent events would prevent that, or further big trips before we return home. At least we managed to see some Scottish countryside and we can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that it will be there still when we return in the future.

A Different Way In Edinburgh

February 7, 2025 / fgrtommo / 3 Comments

We are booked for a month into a very comfortable, nicely warm and well-furnished Airbnb in central Edinburgh that has a view of the Castle. Our idea has been to try a model for visiting Edinburgh that is different from our usual 3-4 night stays with Eldest Son, wife and First Grandchild. In part it is just an extended holiday, but in part a test as to how we might find living more permanently in this wonderful city.

*^{Sunrise Over Edinburgh Castle From Our Airbnb}*

The first two weeks have been extremely successful – until a bit of a disaster yesterday; more on that later.

We have already visited lots of Edinburgh sights – the museums, cathedrals, galleries and exhibitions – got into the hinterlands of Edinburgh and, of course, done a bit of grandchild entertainment. Were lucky enough to have a double dose of grandchildren when Middle Son, his fiancée and Second Grandchild visited us on our second weekend. That visit, plus the nature of the intermittent contact with First Grandchild over a longer period than usual, has created a bit of a feel of living here rather than just holidaying here.

*^{Edinburgh From The Top Of The National Museum of Scotland}*

No doubt that feeling would have been further enhanced by Youngest Son and his wife being able to join us as planned on our first weekend in Edinburgh. Unfortunately, Storm Eowyn put paid to that. Their flight was cancelled and Edinburgh was all but shut down during the worst if the storm. Even at the end of the storm, the gusts of wind were strong enough to knock me off my feet!

Because of, first, Storm Eowyn, and then a visit from Middle Son and family, we have tended to eat in rather than out. However, we have sampled a couple of our favourite bars and a few cafés, and we love the local pub (Teuchters). Anyway, there are two more weeks for trying some more recommended restaurants.

*^{Another View of Edinburgh Castle From Flodden Wall}*

Cooking in a holiday home is not new to us but doing so most evenings over a few weeks is another way of generating a feeling of being ‘home from home’ rather than just being on holiday. Next week, we are even entertaining Eldest Son’s parents in law. That will be a further novelty but a nice reflection of how things might be if we moved to Edinburgh more permanently.

During our days here, we have been very active. We have, of course, sampled the normal delights of the Royal Botanic Garden the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, the Modern Art Gallery of Scotland the Scottish National Gallery and the National Museum of Scotland. Edinburgh is a capital and has public buildings, exhibitions and collections to match that status. There were new exhibitions in all of the galleries and all were a pleasure to visit – although it was sad to see the Storm Eowyn damage in the Botanic Gardens.

*^{Storm Damage – One Of The Largest Cedars In The Royal Botanic Gardens Has Gone}*

The Scottish National Gallery is celebrating 40 years of its photography collection and curation. Photography is not my favourite art form but it was good to see some pictures by some famous photographers (such as Robert Mapplethorpe, Annie Liebovitz, and Lee Miller) among the often gritty, local Scottish fare.

*^{40 Year Celebration Of Scottish Photography Collection – Including The Iconic Lennon/Ono Photo}*

The Modern Art Gallery continues to show the substantial Everlyn Nicodemus exhibition which I saw on our last Edinburgh visit. I sped through that but perhaps somehow enjoyed it a little more on a second viewing; plus, there are several other works in the gallery’s permanent collection I had not focused on before.

^{‘After the Birth’ By Everlyn Nicodemus}

The Scottish National Gallery had a sequel to an exhibition of JMW Turner watercolours that I had seen in the gallery two years previously. That had shown the section of the Henry Vaughan collection of Turner watercolours that had been bequeathed to Scotland. This new exhibition was of the selection of watercolours bequeathed to Northern Ireland that again, as part of conditions of the donation, can only be shown to the public in January.

*^{Turner Watercolours at the National Gallery of Scotland}*

There were no surprises in the collection of blurry seascapes, sunrises, sunsets and mountain valleys shrouded in mist. But I like Turner’s style and enjoyed the viewing despite the long queues to get in.

Also at the National Gallery was a small exhibition of art inspired by the landscape of the Orkneys, called ‘In Orcadia’ and including large, interestingly constructed paintings by Samantha Clark.

That was good but even better, I thought, was the large exhibition of paintings by the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. There were hundreds of paintings on show and of course, not all hit the spot for me. But overall, I thought the quality was very high and I could imagine several on my living room wall.

^{The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour Annual Exhibition}

We also went to diverse art exhibitions at Dovecote Studios and the City Art Centre. At Dovecote we saw textiles and paintings by Ptolemy Mann. The designs were colourful and bold but Jane was a little disappointed that the majority of the textiles were manufactured in India not Scotland.

*^{Dovecote Studios And Ptolemy Mann Artwork}*

At the City Art Centre were two exhibitions of modern Scottish art and of pop art; I liked the pots by Lara Scobie at the former and the typically irreverent set of cartoonish watercolours by the seemingly slightly unhinged, David Shrigley.

^{Works By Lara Scobie and David Shrigley At The City Art Centre, Edinburgh}

We made a couple of trips to the National Museum of Scotland. The first to see some of the displays that we don’t get much of a chance to see when accompanied by First Grandchild. The second was with him; his increasingly calm inquisitiveness was a joy to participate in.

One concept we discussed, as we passed some of the dinosaur and wild animal exhibits, was that of skeletons. Subsequent conversations indicate that he understood how creatures often have skeletons and that you can’t see until after they are dead. It’s fascinating to watch children learn.

*^{Everything From Dinosaurs To Hi-Tech On Show At The National Museum of Scotland}*

And now we come to the misfortune of yesterday….. Apart from Storm Eowyn, the weather during our stay has been largely dry and sunny. However, it has also been cold and yesterday morning my wife, Jane, slipped on some ice and, it turned out, broke her shoulder. The pictures of x-rays that we came away from the hospital with have helped First Grandchild understand the importance of bones but there is no other upside to the accident.

We’ll cope and enjoy the rest of our stay in Edinburgh but plans regarding how are changing……

A Birthday and Christmas Prep

December 20, 2024 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

Having grandchildren coming to stay with us at Christmas has added a higher than ever level of expectation of fun around the festive period. I keep envisaging their excitement when the big day comes. For example, I’m looking forward to the wonderment of First Grandchild (who is now three years old) when the sherry, mince pie and carrots we will leave out for Father Christmas and his reindeer disappear overnight, to be replaced by present-filled stockings. We are ready!

But first, the last few weeks have contained much enjoyment of different kinds. First there was FG’s third birthday and a visit to Edinburgh to share in that. Then we had friends from London staying with us, followed by a choral concert in the nearby town of Tetbury and a test of our grandparenting skills while looking after Second Grandchild unsupervised.

In between, there has been preparation for Christmas, a bit of physiotherapy for my knee, wrapping up of my volunteering duties for the year at the local school and food bank, and the writing of a draft Parish Nature Action Plan for the Parish Council. It’s not work but it’s felt quite busy.

As usual, we loved our time in Edinburgh. The trip up in the car was pretty smooth (though the freezing cold weather slowing operation of some of the electric vehicle chargers on the way back was problematic).

*^{Freezing Weather On The Way South From Edinburgh – Lovely To See But Limiting On EV Battery Capacity And Charging Rates!}*

Once in Edinburgh, the hospitality Eldest Son (ES) and his wife lay on was as lovely as ever and further enhanced by their newly refurbished kitchen. It was great too to see ES’s parents in law, as we usually do, over a big Indian takeaway. We got out and about to see some of the sights that are now becoming familiar to us. Plus, of course, the centrepiece of our visit was FG’s birthday party.

FG’s birthday party was shared with that of his best male friend and it was very successful. The bouncy castle was very popular and FG spent a lot of time on that. There were a variety of other toys and activities around the room and these were also well used. The brutal beating of a Piñata in the form of a cardboard donkey full of sweets felt a little incongruous and unsettling but was a highlight for the birthday boys. For the adults, there were a few beers to provide some relaxation amid the hubbub of the kids scurrying around and the simple, raw excitement in the room.

*^{Along The Water Of Leith Near Dean Villag}*^{e, Edinburgh}

I skipped out of some of the post-party clearing up to watch Forest Green Rovers Football Club play (and win!) a vital top-of-the-table game on the television. I also skipped out on one, sunny afternoon to walk down the Water of Leith to Dean Village and then to the Modern Art Galleries.

*^{View From Outside Modern One Gallery, Edinburgh}*

At Modern One gallery (there are two separate national galleries of modern art) I saw an exhibition by Everlyn Nicodemus. It was a larger exhibition than I expected (especially given that it was free) and, by the end, I was also surprised by its variety. I can’t confess to have been moved much by the work but a lot of it was wonderfully colourful and vibrant. The whole experience of walking around the exhibition with so few others was quietly pleasing. It always seems worthwhile visiting Edinburgh’s art galleries.

*^{Some Of The Colourful Paintings By Everlyn Nicodemus}*

We also always seem to make time to take FG to the Royal Botanic Garden and the National Museum of Scotland. The Botanic Gardens are great year-round and FG likes the visits to the café there. FG also loves both seeing the exhibits at the National Museum – especially the natural history section – and getting to and from it on the bus. Watching FG’s mind take in all the sights in the museum is very rewarding and I never tire of going there.

*^{Natural History Hall At The National Museum Of Scotland}*

Next month we are visiting Edinburgh again and, this time, for a month. It will be a very different experience our usual long weekends with ES and his wife. I hope the Air BnB we have chosen is as good as it looks.

Although the weather is bound to be wintery, our stay will, at one level, feel like an extended holiday and we will be a couple of tourists taking in the sights again. But, on another level, it is a bit of a trial run for seeing if we would like to move more substantially to Edinburgh. We are both excited by the prospect of spending more time in the city; Edinburgh is such a wonderful place and being near ES’s family for a few weeks will enable a different relationship with all of them, at least temporarily.

Back home, we entertained our London guests with extended chat, Jane’s cooking, plenty of drink, a lunch at The Woolpack Inn in Slad (in our opinion, the best local pub food) and a walk by the Severn to see the Purton Hulks.

*^{Along The Canal Walk Towards The Severn And The Purton Hulks}*

These ‘hulks’ are boats deliberately run ashore and filled with debris and concrete to form a barrier between the tidal Severn River and the adjacent canal. They create a rather ghostly atmosphere and an interesting historical distraction from the huge views up and down the Severn estuary.

*^{One Of The Purton Hulks Overlooking The Severn Estuary (Tide Out)}*

Our entertaining skills were also tested when we looked after Second Grandchild (SG) for a few hours while Middle Son and his fiancée went out for lunch – their first outing together without SG since he arrived. It turned out to be a breeze. SG seemed curious about us substituting for his parents but calm and quietly playful. When he refused to have a nap in his nursery, I took him out in his buggy. While we were out, he was attentive to his surroundings, regarded me with apparent interest and occasional smiles, and then gently fell asleep. What a pleasure retirement is when one can do things like that with a grandchild!

Now Christmas is approaching. To get in the mood we went to a choral concert in a very Christmassy Tetbury. The concert was in the main church which is very spacious and dominated by rows of high, enclosed pews. The church looked marvellous with so many candles lit on huge chandeliers and elsewhere, and the concert sounded great when the choir was in full blooded flow.

*^{The Standish Consort And Ensemble La Notte at St Mary’s Church, Tetbury}*

Now we look forward to our sons arriving for Christmas. Youngest Son arrives later today (unfortunately without new wife who is bound to Belfast by their dog for this trip). Then Eldest Son’s entourage arrives next week before Middle Son, his fiancée and SG arrive on Christmas Eve. The semi-planned Christmas schedule is full of fun and games, walks and meals, Secret Santa, and sitting around the wood-burner and kitchen playing and chatting with the little ones and adults alike.

Now I have retired and I have no background (or foreground!) thoughts of work to contend with during the festive period, I can focus on all of the above. It’s a treat and a luxury.

Slivers of Summer

June 17, 2024 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

Overall, the weather during the last few weeks has been rather disappointing. The meadow grass in our field that usually waves gently in sunlight at this time of year has, instead, collapsed in the windy wet. The cool and damp spring and early summer has meant growth of vegetable seedlings has been slow. Many have been eradicated by slugs and snails who have revelled in the damp conditions. Fortunately, there have been several lovely days of sun and some of those have been when it has mattered most.

*^{Roses In Rain: Along The Permissive Footpath Through Ruskin Mill Into Town}*

For example, we had a lovely sunny afternoon during which we were able to visit Second Grandchild (SG) in Bristol and to help his parents with their garden. We got a lot done – though there is more potential to fill the vegetable and flower beds with a bit of home produce and colour and we look forward to helping again there. Having said that, the highlight of this trip was having the chance to give SG a bath. He has discovered the joy of moving his little limbs and they didn’t stop threshing throughout his little wash.

We also had a relatively warm and dry evening for a wedding party in Kew in west London with some past neighbours of ours. It was a lovely celebration of their wedding – some 14 years after first meeting – held in their garden with opportunities to meet a number of other old friends from our time in Kew. The drinking started early and finished very late and I can’t remember when I last had such a bad hangover as a souvenir of an entertaining evening.

I have had to pick and choose my moments for local walks in the sunshine. On one of those sunny days, Jane and I went to a couple of National Garden Scheme open gardens a couple of valleys away from our home. One of these was very good; the other, not so much. But regardless of the quality, it is always interesting to see a slightly different part of the Stroud Valleys and to have a nose about in someone else’s back yard.

^{National Gardens Scheme Gardens In France Lynch, Gloucestershire}

Most importantly, despite the gloomy BBC weather forecast for the weekend, we had good, chilly but bright weather for our latest trip to Edinburgh to see First Grandchild (FG) and his parents. As usual, we were treated to great hospitality, FG was on fine form and Edinburgh was full of interesting things to do.

*^{Little Boy, Big Gunnera In The Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh}*

In between our compliance with FG’s constant demands to ‘play a little bit’ we visited a few art exhibitions, took FG as usual to the outstanding Royal Botanic Gardens and National Museum of Scotland, walked the streets of Stockbridge and along the Water of Leith, popped into our favourite bar (Spry) and had a lively evening out with FG eating pizza at MILK.

Beyond the wonderful entrance hall of the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland was a recent rehanging of the main hall of portraits that focused on modern portrait creation. Many of the paintings and photographs were new to me and several were impressive. The gallery is quiet, compact and one of my favourites.

*^{Portrait Of John Burnside (Scottish Poet) By Alan J Lawson, National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh}*

We also visited the National Gallery of Scotland. Walking to it across Princes Street gave us a great view of the hordes of ‘’Swifties’ heading off by bus and tram to Murrayfield for one of three concerts Taylor Swift was holding over the weekend. The sun was shining but there was a cool wind. I felt sympathy for the majority of fans who had diligently dressed up in extravagant boots and light sparkly skirts and tops – as Swifties apparently do – given the expectation of a big drop in temperature while they queued to get back into town after the concert and night drew in.

*^{The Current Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition At The National Gallery Of Scotland}*

In the gallery was a showpiece ‘national treasure’: a painting by Vermeer that had been put on special show to commemorate the 200^th year of the National Gallery. It is lovely of course but we spent most of our time in the new gallery extension and among the pictures by The Glasgow Boys (and Girls). The new gallery is a wonderful, light space with great views (see below) and, on a Friday, not crowded despite the multitude outside waiting to get to see Taylor Swift.

To complete our cultural ride, we visited a lovely little exhibition in Leith. This was in an old, small but elegant building – an ex-pharmacy apparently – owned by Mote102 as a charming pop-up space for shops and artists. It had been partially restored so that some of its original (Georgian or Victorian) features were visible and it was a good fit for the work on show.

*^{Works By Gail Turpin At Mote102, Leith}*

The artist on show – and present for a short talk – is an old acquaintance of Jane’s called Gail Turpin. Jane had found out that she was now based in Edinburgh from the bride at the wedding celebration we had attended a couple of weeks previously. All three, and a few other friends, went on an eventful holiday in Greece a few decades ago.

After Jane had reminisced with Gail about that, I perused the textiles and drawing on show and then left Jane to the talk while I found a small present for FG and parked myself in Spry Wine Bar.

*^{Another Part of Gail Turpin’s Exhibition, Leith}*

We travelled to and from Edinburgh by train this time. That had its benefits; the journey was an hour shorter despite a train cancellation and we had booked seats so it was a relaxed journey. Train cancellations are not so frustrating when one is retired and there aren’t meetings to get to ad hard deadlines to meet. Also, while in Edinburgh, Jane didn’t have to keep thinking about moving the car to avoid parking restrictions (I rarely get involved in this aspect), we avoided car parking costs and didn’t have to worry about charging the car up.

*^{Waverley Railway Station, Edinburgh}*

However, despite the avoidance of car parking costs, the train is a more expensive option. Also, it seems that, on this occasion, there was a hidden downside in that the packed train was carrying the coronavirus. Jane caught it and has had a few rough days as a result. Fortunately, for the second time when Jane has had Covid, I seem to have dodged the bullet. Lucky me not (so far) to have never caught the dreaded Covid when so many others have!

My Retirement Journey

I've Retired! What Next?

Edinburgh