Edinburgh Unwrapped

05/07/2023

A lovely sunny day for a fly past by the Red Arrows, after all the pomp and pageantry on show on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh’s Old Town.

Today King Charles was presented with the Honours of Scotland (the Scottish Crown Jewels and Stone of Destiny) at a National Service of Thanksgiving at St Giles' Cathedral. The last time this happened was for his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

The celebrations started with a People’s Procession walking down from Edinburgh Castle and it was accompanied by The Royal Regiment of Scotland, together with their Shetland pony mascot, Corporal Cruachan IV. There were plenty of pipes, drums and military bands followed by the Honours of Scotland being escorted in a car to St Giles.
Finally came the 21 gun salute from the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle and rounded off nicely by a precision fly past by the Red Arrows over the Royal Mile and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

25/01/2023

On this day in 1759 Robert Burns was born. As Scotland's national poet his fame has spread throughout the world. Today in The Scottish National Portrait Gallery it was lovely to see floral wreaths laid in tribute by his statue - including one from the American Consulate.

Surprisingly fundraising for this statue didn't start in Edinburgh or Scotland, but in Mumbai (then called Bombay) in India in 1812. John Flaxman, one of the best classical sculptors of his day, was commissioned to sculpt the marble statue in 1824. His sculpture has Rabbie holding a bunch of daisies as a reference to his poem "To A Mountain Daisy".

In the end the money raised by public subscription was so great that there was enough to build a commemorative monument where
Burns' statue would be housed.
The Burns Monument was completed by Thomas Hamilton on 8th September 1831 and still stands on Regent Road on Calton Hill, surrounded by a poetry garden. Later the statue was moved to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery to protect it from environmental damage.

If you're in Edinburgh pop in and see it yourself.
Have a great Burns Night wherever you are in the world!

11/09/2022

Earlier today I was on tour walking through Princes Street Gardens with a lovely Canadian family when the 21 gun salute was fired from Edinburgh Castle’s ramparts. Later this afternoon I watched, along with many other people, as the late Queen Elizabeth’s cortège passed by on the way to The Palace of Holyroodhouse. The end of an era and a unique moment in history.

24/08/2022

With so many festivals taking place in August in Edinburgh, visitors and locals are spoilt for choice. Yesterday I was at the Edinburgh International Book Festival which has been running annually since 1983 and has grown to become the largest public celebration of the written word in the world.
I was lucky enough to be in the audience listening to Diana Gabaldon as she talked about the Outlander phenomenon. Of course I couldn’t miss the opportunity to buy and have her sign my copy of ‘Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone.’
Surrounded by so many happy readers perhaps it’s no coincidence that Edinburgh was made the first UNESCO City of Literature!

29/06/2022

A real royal treat today being invited to the Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse and seeing members of the Royal Family chatting with the guests.
The Royal Company of Archers are the ceremonial Royal Body Guards in Scotland. It was Sir Walter Scott’s idea for them to take this role for the first time on the visit of King George IV to Edinburgh in 1822. Today they still look terrific in their green uniforms with the single large eagle feathers in their bonnets. They know how to use those longbows too!

14/02/2022

I love the effort the owners have taken to decorate their Edinburgh doorway. Happy Valentines Day!

It also happens to be the day in 1876 that Alexander Graham Bell, born in Edinburgh, filed a patent for the telephone. He might have invented the telephone, but Bell didn’t like having one in his study as he found it too distracting!

25/01/2022

It’s Burns’ Night and traditional celebrations are taking place all over Scotland and the world in honour of the birth of our National Bard, Robert Burns. I hope some of you have spared a thought for our rare native Scottish wild haggis population and gone vegetarian this year! 😉

Did you know Robert Burns was the first ever person to feature on a commemorative bottle of Coca-Cola in 2009?

21/01/2022

Walk around any Edinburgh corner and you’ll always find something historic with a story to tell. Want to know where the origin of the word ‘pigeon-hole’ comes from? Look no further! Today I passed by Corstorphine Doocot (called a dovecote in English). This beehive-shaped home for pigeons was built in the 1500s to provide fresh meat and eggs in the winter months for Corstorphine Castle. Pigeon droppings were also valuable as they were used as manure and as a key ingredient in gunpowder. The castle was demolished around 1797, but the doocot still remains. Inside there are 1,060 sandstone nesting holes or boxes. It’s from these holes in doocots that we get the term ‘pigeon-holes’ to describe the compartments in writing desks etc. Even in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town there are less grand historic pigeon-holes to discover if you know where to look.

20/12/2021

Edinburgh Castle looking atmospheric in the morning mist. My favourite fun fact about the castle - the Honours of Scotland (Scotland's crown jewels) were once hidden for safety under the castle's historic toilet!

25/09/2021

This is such a fun way to travel back in time to see the many changes in Edinburgh over the centuries.

Changing views around Edinburgh! Credit to the Image Owners featured

27/08/2021

Nice to see a busy sunny day on the Royal Mile with tourists and festival goers. One of my favourite vantage points by Gladstone's Land with its golden bird of prey looking towards St Giles Cathedral.

16/08/2021

Stockbridge area in Edinburgh today in the sunshine. Walking along I couldn't resist taking this photo of my favourite lane in town.

This charming mews building, and the others on this lane, once housed the carriages and horses of wealthy owners who lived nearby in elegant townhouses in the Georgian New Town.