Water of Leith
“Edinburgh isn’t so much a city, more a way of life…I doubt I’ll ever tire of exploring Edinburgh, on foot or in print.”
Currently reading…
Stopped by the book’s namesake on the way to breakfast.
“The area of the city where I make my home is known locally as ‘writers’ block,’ in the main because J.K. Rowling, Alexander McCall Smith, and I live within a few hundred yards of each other. Nor do we keep ourselves to ourselves: local café owners know that Ms. Rowling still writes at various tables with a mug of coffee beside her; Professor McCall Smith and myself have been known to share a few drams of malt of an evening, while discussing everything and anything. Irvine Welsh (of Trainspotting fame) also keeps a home in the city, and novelist Kate Atkinson, who won a Whitbread Book Award for Behind the Scenes at the Museum, is another Edinburgh resident.”
-Ian Rankin, Britannica online
Started the day (Dec 2) with hot beverages and breakfast at Leo’s Beanery.
Excellent mocha!
I had the roasted squash, herby mushrooms, sun-blush tomatoes, spinach & avocado on toast served with homemade ketchup. Delicious!
Amanda ate (believe it or not) the nutty & fruity homemade granola served with delicious dairy free yoghurt & seasonal fruit compote. Less granola than she would have liked, but good nonetheless. She had Scottish breakfast-blend tea which she loved.
After being asked several times, “Have you been to Dean Village?” we struck out today to see what all the fuss was about. Perhaps if you were in a city other than Edinburgh, Dean Village may be worth the hype.
If you go to Visit Scotland, you can read more, but if Dean Village was a bit underwhelming, the approach along the Water of Leith Walkway was certainly compensation.
Here is a video of our walk along Waters of Leith Walkway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAK6CT-hKUA
My lovely bride
The structure is St Bernard’s Well and the figurine inside is a depiction of the Greek goddess of health Hygeia.
Hygeia—Greek goddess of health.
There is always a dog nearby in the UK!
The fuss at the end of the road: Dean Village and former water mills. It is very pretty, but there isn’t much more to it than this view (which might have been more impressive with less construction and more sun),
Everyone knows what happens after drinking lots of tea and coffee. Dean Village may be big on charm, but it is also short on bathrooms, so we booked it to the nearby Scottish National Gallery of “Modern Art.” Call me an ignominious, but I simply do not understand “modern art.”
You enter one gallery and it’s dark. There are two screens facing each other, one to your right and one to your left. On the left screen plays the video a woman making random vocalizations. Facing her on the right screen is a dude making equally nonsensical sounds. Apparently they were “harmonizing” with each other. It may be easiest to imagine two owls hooting at each other. Weird! Basically, we had to get out of the room before the pair drove us crazy.
There was a canvas painted with an orange square, which apparently meant something very deep; a leopard-print upholstered chair with a matching tail attached to the back; and two pieces of colored wire strung from one wall to another that were apparently an exhibit. Deep!
There were a few fun pieces like Salvador Dalí’s Lobster Telephone, and some paintings that didn’t require a plaque to describe what the artist was trying to say. If the artist has to write an explanation in order for you to have any clue what the hell they were thinking, then…
Which is not to say I left the museum uninspired. I made my own “modern art” that is certainly every bit as good as what I saw on the walls of this museum. Here is my art:
A Room With a Poo
Artist’s Description: After a disappointing visit to Dean Village, I stopped in the WC and made a significant contribution to the Edinburgh sewer system. This moving experience, and the striking pond outside the window—subtly reminiscent of a leach field—inspired me to create this piece.
The post card in the gift shop summed up the experience succinctly.
A-R-T…Switch the A and the R. Drop the T and add a P. Put a C in front and there you have it.
Here the subtle 11.7-degree anti-clockwise rotation is exactly half of Earth’s 23.4-degree tilt, reminding us that because our planet is tilted everything is going to be alright. -Jack Handy, Deep Thought By
At the end of the day, the museum gave us a lot to mock and laugh about and that was certainly worth the price of the free admission.
