fishbel
Advent Thankvent 22: Edinburgh
Today's was one of the few Thankvents, in fact I'd go so far as to say the only one, for which I pretty much knew the subject before the day. Edinburgh. Ma ain city, ma ain true luve (except Kinross-shire)(obv).
The reason for this certainty is, aptly considering yesterday's entry, tradition. It is my mum's birthday and, with the exception of Christmas day itself it contains more traditions than any other day of the year. The central tradition is that she and I go to Edinburgh. Once there (singing obscure carols all the way) we go to the German Market, go up the ferris wheel, go on the merry-go-round, buy a sparkly piece of jewellery for my magpie mum, buy last minute presents, go to the cinema or to the St Mary's carol concert and generally Edinburgh Christmas it up to the max.
Today, however, I was ill. You'd think I would be used to this now, but no. I'm ill on Mum's birthday pretty much every year, the combination of colder weather and end-of-term exhaustion usually proves too much for me. Today was the first time I have actually missed it, though, and I was gutted.
I had bought Mum two tickets to see The Illusionist which is partly set in Edinburgh, a fact which endears it to my family regardless of any other fact about it (luckily it is also rather lovely). We are all crazy about Scotland's capital. Today's picture shows the Cat Nick which is on Salisbury Crags, in a 1950s postcard which is up in our bathroom (along with the recently added festive teatowel). Through the nick you can see the house that my grandad was born in in the Canongait, then one of the poorest areas of Edinburgh. The whole of my dad's side of the family are 'Edinburgh born and bred'. My grandparents are quite insistent on this point, despite the fact that they have lived in Fife for approaching 60 years.
This dedication of locals to their home town is not always seen as a defining aspect of Edinburgh in the way that 'belonging to Glasgow' is a huge part of being a Weegie. I wanted to look into this perceived urban-patriotism in my poetry recital/tour which I did on the train between Glasgow and Edinburgh in the summer (I'm hoping to do the reverse journey as part of the Fringe 2011). Doing that show only made more legitimate my very frequent consideration of what makes Edinburgh individual, and more specifically, what makes it not Glasgow.
The crudest and most sweeping statement on the difference that I could make was this:
In Edinburgh it is always possible to look at the city. From Calton Hill, Arthur's Seat, Castle Rock, the Braid Hills, the Scott Monument, the top of Hanover Street and many more heights, the city presents beautiful and famous vistas. Right in the city centre is a one-sided street built in this way so that pedestrians and inhabitants could look back at the panorama of the Old Town. After staying in Glasgow, the enormous space created by Princes Street gardens seems unreasonably luxurious and wonderful. In Glasgow, the city centre is a grid many times the size of Edinburgh's modest New Town, lined with buildings which dwarf even George Street. The buildings of St Vincent Street are higher and louder than the sky. Turn a corner in Glasgow and you are more likely to be met with another feat of the architectural engineering in your eye-line than with a sweeping view. But none of these buildings makes a postcard. Even the iconic University tower is a single spectacular spike on an otherwise unrecognisable horizon. And thus, ladies and gentlemen, I would claim this unprovable thing: Edinburgh defines itself by its beloved cityself, and Glasgow defines itself by its beloved people, those humanscaled things that you can actually see at street level.
Whether this is true or not (let's face it, it doesn't matter) and whether Glasgow ever manages to catch up with Edinburgh in my affections, I will always be thankful for Edinburgh. And in Edinburgh I will always be thankful for the following:
* The Scottish Poetry Library (nice librarians and noise level and light)
* St Mary's Street (nice Russian shop and knitted stuff shop and pub)
* West Nicholson Street (nice smoothie and ethnoscheiss shops)
* The Main University Library (nice books)
* The Meadows (nice cherry blossom and BBQs and frisbee (ultimate))
* Chambers Street (lots of people and museums)
* The National Museum of Scotland (nice floors and a harp)
* Lauriston Park, Brougham Street and Panmure Place (nice flats)
* The Cameo (nice bar, nice films)
* The Pear Tree (nice pub quiz)
* Heriot Place (nice secret views)
* The West Port (nice book shops and, possibly, knocking shops)(ooh, and nice book festival)
* Cafe Luccano (nice vegan rolls (toasted))
* Bedlam Theatre (nice memories and plays)
* The Forest Cafe (nice Spanish vagrants and vegan food)
* No. 1 Sushi (nice video of people making sushi)
* Real Foods (nice Black Flame Raisins)
* Henderson's(nice background music and vegan cherry pie)
* Cloisters (nice people-who-like-whisky (similarly The Blue Blazer))
Advent Thankvent 22: Edinburgh
Today's was one of the few Thankvents, in fact I'd go so far as to say the only one, for which I pretty much knew the subject before the day. Edinburgh. Ma ain city, ma ain true luve (except Kinross-shire)(obv).
The reason for this certainty is, aptly considering yesterday's entry, tradition. It is my mum's birthday and, with the exception of Christmas day itself it contains more traditions than any other day of the year. The central tradition is that she and I go to Edinburgh. Once there (singing obscure carols all the way) we go to the German Market, go up the ferris wheel, go on the merry-go-round, buy a sparkly piece of jewellery for my magpie mum, buy last minute presents, go to the cinema or to the St Mary's carol concert and generally Edinburgh Christmas it up to the max.
Today, however, I was ill. You'd think I would be used to this now, but no. I'm ill on Mum's birthday pretty much every year, the combination of colder weather and end-of-term exhaustion usually proves too much for me. Today was the first time I have actually missed it, though, and I was gutted.
I had bought Mum two tickets to see The Illusionist which is partly set in Edinburgh, a fact which endears it to my family regardless of any other fact about it (luckily it is also rather lovely). We are all crazy about Scotland's capital. Today's picture shows the Cat Nick which is on Salisbury Crags, in a 1950s postcard which is up in our bathroom (along with the recently added festive teatowel). Through the nick you can see the house that my grandad was born in in the Canongait, then one of the poorest areas of Edinburgh. The whole of my dad's side of the family are 'Edinburgh born and bred'. My grandparents are quite insistent on this point, despite the fact that they have lived in Fife for approaching 60 years.
This dedication of locals to their home town is not always seen as a defining aspect of Edinburgh in the way that 'belonging to Glasgow' is a huge part of being a Weegie. I wanted to look into this perceived urban-patriotism in my poetry recital/tour which I did on the train between Glasgow and Edinburgh in the summer (I'm hoping to do the reverse journey as part of the Fringe 2011). Doing that show only made more legitimate my very frequent consideration of what makes Edinburgh individual, and more specifically, what makes it not Glasgow.
The crudest and most sweeping statement on the difference that I could make was this:
In Edinburgh it is always possible to look at the city. From Calton Hill, Arthur's Seat, Castle Rock, the Braid Hills, the Scott Monument, the top of Hanover Street and many more heights, the city presents beautiful and famous vistas. Right in the city centre is a one-sided street built in this way so that pedestrians and inhabitants could look back at the panorama of the Old Town. After staying in Glasgow, the enormous space created by Princes Street gardens seems unreasonably luxurious and wonderful. In Glasgow, the city centre is a grid many times the size of Edinburgh's modest New Town, lined with buildings which dwarf even George Street. The buildings of St Vincent Street are higher and louder than the sky. Turn a corner in Glasgow and you are more likely to be met with another feat of the architectural engineering in your eye-line than with a sweeping view. But none of these buildings makes a postcard. Even the iconic University tower is a single spectacular spike on an otherwise unrecognisable horizon. And thus, ladies and gentlemen, I would claim this unprovable thing: Edinburgh defines itself by its beloved cityself, and Glasgow defines itself by its beloved people, those humanscaled things that you can actually see at street level.
Whether this is true or not (let's face it, it doesn't matter) and whether Glasgow ever manages to catch up with Edinburgh in my affections, I will always be thankful for Edinburgh. And in Edinburgh I will always be thankful for the following:
* The Scottish Poetry Library (nice librarians and noise level and light)
* St Mary's Street (nice Russian shop and knitted stuff shop and pub)
* West Nicholson Street (nice smoothie and ethnoscheiss shops)
* The Main University Library (nice books)
* The Meadows (nice cherry blossom and BBQs and frisbee (ultimate))
* Chambers Street (lots of people and museums)
* The National Museum of Scotland (nice floors and a harp)
* Lauriston Park, Brougham Street and Panmure Place (nice flats)
* The Cameo (nice bar, nice films)
* The Pear Tree (nice pub quiz)
* Heriot Place (nice secret views)
* The West Port (nice book shops and, possibly, knocking shops)(ooh, and nice book festival)
* Cafe Luccano (nice vegan rolls (toasted))
* Bedlam Theatre (nice memories and plays)
* The Forest Cafe (nice Spanish vagrants and vegan food)
* No. 1 Sushi (nice video of people making sushi)
* Real Foods (nice Black Flame Raisins)
* Henderson's(nice background music and vegan cherry pie)
* Cloisters (nice people-who-like-whisky (similarly The Blue Blazer))