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| The Dugald Stewart Monument on Calton Hill, Edinburgh |
Greetings, readers - and welcome to 2022!
Here at Omicron Central (on 30 December we exceeded more than 200,000 new cases within a 24-hour period - and 1 in 15 people in England had the virus at that time) many of us are hunkering down, trying to sit out the worst of this latest wave, or at the very least attempting to limit our indoor interactions. And that is what we did on our recent visit to Edinburgh, where we spent Christmas.
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| Edinburgh Castle viewed from Grassmarket Square |
Although we've visited a reasonable chunk of Scotland over many separate trips, somehow we'd never quite made it to Edinburgh. This is probably due to the fact that we love Glasgow in all its honest, a-bit-rough-around-the-edges glory. Glasgow has some very well-to-do areas of course, but you never have to go far in any direction to be confronted with its working class character. However, part of the appeal is that in Glasgow we've always had the best Italian food outside of Italy, thanks to the influx of Italian POWs from WW2 and post-war immigration. My mouth is watering, just thinking about some of the incredible Italian meals we've enjoyed in Glasgow.
Months ago we made the decision that Christmas in Norway, or anywhere else abroad, was impractical. I couldn't bear the thought of having to faff around with PCR testing and potentially having delays due to test results not being received, not to mention the ever-changing requirements of various countries, including the UK, and the possible additional expense of testing, flight changes and quarantine.
So with fingers firmly crossed, back in October I booked an Air B&B apartment just north of Edinburgh's New Town - only about a 20-minute walk to The Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle. In the days leading up to Christmas we were fearful of the more proactive Scottish government closing the border, however although tighter restrictions were introduced from Boxing Day, we were free to travel as planned.
On the journey up north we decided to have an overnight stop in a pub in Lancaster on the edge of the Lake District, but just before reaching Lancaster we took a short diversion to the coastline, visiting the cute village of Heysham which sits on Morecambe Bay. Warning: If you ever drive to Lancaster, avoid that city's one-way system at all costs - we spent close to an hour crawling a distance of 1.3 miles from one side of the city to the other.
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| The Royal in Heysham, dressed up for Yuletide festivities |
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| St Peter's Church in Heysham, perched on the cliffside above Morecambe Bay |
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| Cemetery with a view - the churchyard of St Peter's in Heysham, above Morecambe Bay |
The next day our continued driving journey saw the weather deteriorate as we approached the Scottish border. This was not entirely unexpected - you don't go to Scotland expecting sunshine.
We arrived in Edinburgh mid afternoon on 23 December, greeted warmly by our Air B&B host, Jean-Luc - a Frenchman who has lived in Edinburgh for more than 20 years. His Victorian basement/garden apartment was spacious, beautifully furnished and comfortable.
The local area appeared fairly affluent, with many homes decorated to celebrate Christmas in a tasteful way. Just a few minutes' walk away were a large variety of attractive restaurants, bakeries and boutiques.
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| Ah, yes... welcome to Scotland in December! |
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| Exterior view of our basement apartment in Edinburgh |
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| Our Air B&B apartment's living room |
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| The apartment's living room in daylight |
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| One of the many elegant front doors in the area surrounding our Air B&B apartment |
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| This city has a lot of buildings with turrets! |
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| So many lovely restaurants close by our Air B&B Apartment, and all decorated beautifully for Christmas |
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| Edinburgh is full of buildings constructed from golden sandstone |
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| You can judge a neighbourhood by its front door embellishments. If things like mats, plants and wreaths don't get nicked, it must be a nice area |
On Christmas Eve we were up early to ensure we could make the most of the limited daylight in late December, because in Scotland it really doesn't get light until close to 9am and is already getting dark by 3pm. After striding around for a couple of hours we joined a hop on / hop off bus tour to get an orientation for the city and give us some time out of the cold, doing a full circuit and then, on our second loop, alighting at Grassmarket for a wander before walking up to Edinburgh Castle.
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| Colourful buildings in Victoria Street, near Grassmarket in Edinburgh's Old Town (below Edinburgh Castle) |
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| What would a blog post on Edinburgh be, without a picture of somebody in a kilt, playing the bagpipes?! |
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| ... and for those wishing to purchase their own kilt, The Royal Mile (just down the hill from Edinburgh Castle) provides ample opportunity to do so! |
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| Festively decorated Boswell's Court, on Castlehill (street leading up to Edinburgh Castle) |
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| Cannonball Restaurant and Bar, near Edinburgh Castle (we didn't actually go inside but the side entrance was very appealing!) |
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| One of the buildings on the Esplanade just outside the walls of Edinburgh Castle (I think it's now private accommodation. Note the turret) |
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| Outside the gatehouse of Edinburgh Castle. The castle was open on Christmas Eve, but tickets had been sold out for days so unfortunately the exterior was all we saw |
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| A chap dressed up as William Wallace (Braveheart) to raise money for charity, outside Edinburgh's The Scotch Whisky Experience, near the castle |
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| Such a lovely building - The Writers' Museum in Edinburgh (another turret!) |
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| View across Princes Street Gardens towards the Christmas Market |
Kevin and I always have our main Yuletide celebration on Christmas Eve, as is the custom in Scandinavia and many other northern European countries. The evening meal on 24 December is our 'special' celebration, after which we exchange gifts.
Some weeks before our trip to Scotland I had done online research to find a restaurant that (a) would be open for dinner on Christmas Eve, (b) was 'nice' without being super expensive, (c) was within a 25-30 minute walk from our apartment, and (d) offered vegetarian / vegan / pescetarian dining options. I hit upon a small restaurant in Edinburgh's New Town area, The Perch, which appeared to meet these criteria, and promptly made a booking.
We were nervous about dining out, with Omicron raging. However The Perch was a find! Located up a flight of stairs and overlooking well-to-do Hanover Street, there were only four other occupied tables and we were more than adequately socially-distanced. There was a single wait-person, a young woman who was bemused by our Googling of unfamiliar Scottish dishes and ingredients as we perused the menu. The Perch had that rarest of things in a dining establishment: nice lighting. We could see what we were eating, but were not under the glare of gestapo-interrogation-style spotlights, as is the case in so many restaurants these days.
We started with a glass of fizz each, Kevin opting for Prosecco whilst I threw caution to the wind and had my first glass of spumante since my teens - back in the days when an inferior, sickly-sweet version of this sparkling wine was all the rage in 1970s Sydney. What a revelation! Crisp, fresh and dry, my glass of Botter Rosé Spumante was superb and I could easily have been tempted to indulge in a second... however I resisted.
The meal was absolutely delicious, and we discovered a traditional Scottish dessert - something called cranachan which was two layers of the most buttery, crumbly shortbread I've ever eaten, in between which was sandwiched whisky-flavoured cream blended with raspberries. It was scrumptious!
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| Our Christmas Eve supper venue - The Perch |
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| Victorian tiles in the street-level entry to the building housing The Perch restaurant |
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| Stairway leading up to The Perch |
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| Kevin enjoying his Prosecco |
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| Kevin's Prosecco on the left; my rosé Spumante on the right. I was the winner |
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| And here it is - our newly discovered Scottish dessert: Cranachan |
Christmas morning was forecast to be the only day without rain and we had even been promised a few hours of sunshine. Accordingly, after breakfast we left the apartment to walk up to Calton Hill, a famed viewpoint only about 20 minutes' walk away (see the first photo in this blog post). It was a cold morning so we wrapped up in thermals, woolly hats, double gloves and thick footwear. By jingo, the wind - it was truly glacial!
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| View from Calton Hill northwards towards Edinburgh's harbour (the Firth of Forth) |
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| Kevin and Yours Truly on Christmas morning, on Calton Hill. Those aren't smiles, they're grimaces to stop our teeth chattering in the glacial wind! |
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| The view south-east towards Arthur's Seat - from Calton Hill, Edinburgh |
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| Looking south from Calton Hill, Edinburgh - art deco building St Andrew's House in the foreground (it is the headquarters of the Scottish Government, a separate building to that which houses the Scottish Parliament) |
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| The author on Calton Hill on Christmas morning. In the background (l to r): - the Dugald Stewart Monument - the W Hotel with its winding steel ribbon - the City Observatory |
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| Another view from Calton Hill, Edinburgh - this time looking across all those hundreds of sandstone buildings towards Leith and the Firth of Forth (Edinburgh Harbour) |
On our last full day in Scotland's capital city - Boxing Day - we once again braved freezing temperatures, walking about 30 minutes to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is the Queen's official residence in Edinburgh. We made the trek because the evening prior I had been surprised to find I could actually book tickets to visit this landmark - surprising because everything else in the city was closed. Imagine my further surprise when we arrived at the palace gates to find the site well and truly closed...
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| The main gates of the Palace of Holyroodhouse... sadly closed on the day we visited, despite the fact that I had managed to book tickets! (I was given a refund) |
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| Queen Mary's Bath House at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It's a looooong way from the main building and there's no evidence of an actual bath... but this building supposedly was the bathing facility for Mary Queen of Scots |
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| Photo taken through the locked gates at the Palace of Holyroodhouse... this is as close as we got! |
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| Entrance to The Queen's Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse (which of course we were unable to visit - closed) |
Our plans to visit the Palace thwarted, we turned our attention across the street - literally - to the fabulous Scottish Parliament building designed by Spanish architect Enric Miralles and opened in late 2004. It was a controversial project which hugely overran its budget, to the extent there was a public enquiry. However I'd like anybody to nominate a landmark building in any country and from any century that didn't cost multiple times its original budget. Such is the way of great architecture. As a young child I remember constant griping about the cost and design of Sydney Opera House which, if the wowsers with no artistic vision had their way, would not have been completed.
I've long admired the interior of the Holyrood Parliament whenever the news shows Scottish ministers in action - it's light, bright and functional. But I don't think I'd ever seen the exterior on TV before.
We frequently find English people in particular to be very conservative with regard to architecture. A substantial proportion of the populace seems to be stuck in the mindset that the only worthwhile buildings are from previous centuries, and modern design has no merit. I consider the Holyrood Parliament building to be a superb expression of the Scottish landscape which, in the centuries to come, will be valued every bit as much as the Holyrood Palace across the street.
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| The western elevation of the Holyrood Parliament building with its distinctive windows. These have been designed to provide each office with a bay window containing seating and shelving, as contemplation spaces. The lattices covering the glass are made from oak |
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| All along one side of the Holyrood Parliament building - the Canongate Wall - are quotations with relevance to Scotland and the Parliament. This one really resonates with me |
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| The public entrance to the Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood |
We'd like to return to Edinburgh when things are actually open (!) and when the weather isn't quite so challenging for endless hours of trudging around on foot. It's an elegant, friendly city with many beautiful buildings and, we are assured by friends, fantastic restaurants.
And it was great to get away for a short break, much as we love Frensham.
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| Representative of much of our time in Edinburgh - rain! Photo taken through the car windscreen as we were leaving the city, with the Scott Monument in the centre |
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| Leaving Edinburgh's outskirts |
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| The rugged landscape of the Pentland Hills, just south of Edinburgh (taking from our moving car) |
In the weeks prior to travelling to Edinburgh we did have quite a social whirl, with people trying to make up for the 2020 festive season's tight restrictions and eventual lockdown. However, most of us attempted to balance this with some degree of caution.
In late November we girded our loins and headed into London for a one-man show at the Harold Pinter Theatre, for which I'd optimistically purchased tickets many months previously. We left home late morning so we would have time to squeeze in a late lunch at our favourite restaurant, The Gate in Hammersmith, which we had not visited since before Covid. How heavenly it was to be dining on vegan / vegetarian haute cuisine once again.
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| Dark chocolate mousse on orange frangipane with spiced orange sauce: all-vegan scrumptiousness from The Gate, Hammersmith |
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| Vegan mille feuille with caramelised apple and roasted hazelnut praline - at The Gate, Hammersmith |
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| Christmas lights on Regent Street, London |
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| The London Eye lit up |
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| Darn! Can't remember which street in London this was... |
At the theatre we were gratified by the level of Covid checks (you had to show a negative test result at the door) and the fact that everybody was wearing masks. A glass of champagne on arrival helped get us in the mood for some quality theatre, and what a superb performance it was - Ralph Fiennes delivered T S Eliot's Four Quartets with depth and magnetism. He was astoundingly good. Ralph has long been one of my favourite actors and it was incredible to see him in the flesh, and to witness his considerable talent at first hand.
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| The crowd buzzing outside the Harold Pinter Theatre in London |
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| And he was indeed. *swoon* |
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| The stage design for Ralph Fiennes' performance was dramatically sparse |
Before leaving London the following day we managed to squeeze in a visit to an exhibition celebrating the life of Noël Coward, at the London Guildhall. It featured photos and recordings of the man's theatre productions, films and songs, as well as original costumes, pieces of furniture from his homes, items from his personal wardrobe and some original paintings. What an age for an artist to live through, and what an output from one man who willingly shared his wealth and time, supporting various charities and in particular The Actors’ Orphanage which took in the children of struggling or deceased actors.
I had planned to attend this exhibition way back in June when it first opened, but I confess it took me many months to work up the courage to return to London after such a long period of avoiding public transport and crowded environments. As one of my most recent blog posts reported, I did venture into London a couple of times in late October and early November.
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| Yours Truly outside London's Guildhall Art Gallery on a freezing November morning |
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| The Noël Coward exhibition featured a number of his fabulously elegant silk dressing gowns. for which he was renowned |
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| Another marvellous dressing gown, which featured in photos with legends such as Frank Sinatra, Lauren Bacall and Judy Garland |
Last year we had to cancel our annual Christmas drinks party due to Covid restrictions, so this year we were keen to proceed. We had a very small group of seven triple-vaccinated people, all of us having limited our social interaction in preceding days and having done a lateral flow test that morning to ensure we were not about to spread Covid to each other. It was so nice to once again host this social event - I enjoy planning the menu, creating Christmas music playlists and decorating the house.
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| Hallway decorations |
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| A mostly vegan menu, including home-made Turkish pidé which you simply cannot buy in the UK! (we've never been able to find anything that tastes like the pidé you can buy everywhere in Australia) |
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| My puff pastry pesto Christmas tree was a hit with our guests! |
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| I made these little festive jars to add to our Christmas decorations |
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| Dessert is served: the first trifle I've ever made (caramelised clementine & amaretti), mince pies, German dark chocolate marzipan and a cheese board |
And finally, the obligatory shots from our immediate environment, in recent weeks...
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| The main entrance of Frensham Heights School, with festive lights and Christmas tree |
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| Kevin standing by the beautiful Christmas Tree in Frensham Heights' 120-year-old Long Gallery |
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| We had a light snowfall at the end of November - here are 'the girls' enjoying some seed (our resident group of pheasants) |
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| Winter sunrise, from just outside our garden fence |
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| Winter sunset, from our garden |
I'm sure we're all looking at 2022 with anxious eyes, desperately hoping that this year life returns to some kind of pre-Covid normality. In February it will be two years since we saw any family member in person (my nephew Adam and his family visited us in February 2019 - just before it all went to hell...) and we haven't left the UK's shores for 2.5 years.
Wishing you all happy and healthy times in the year ahead. We hope it's not too long before we see some of you again.
Until next time,
- Maree xo
