Tuesday 26 March 2024

Edinburgh: shops and signs, including Harry Potter and Scots language

Coming back to Edinburgh after my last visit 8 years ago, I enjoyed browsing and purchasing at  some favourite shops and some new ones.  I was struck by how Victoria Street (above) had become claimed by the Harry Potter fans and businesses since I had last been there.  It amused me because this was a street I knew well before the fans.  As usual all the locals tut-tutted about the demise of Princes Street and some of the signs amused me. 

We occasionally saw queues outside the Museum Context shop.  I assume they were there for tours, even in the rain as in this photo.  Maybe they even enjoyed just soaking in the vibe of in the colourful cobble-stoned Victoria Street that is now claimed (not by JK Rowling) as the inspiration for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter world. 

It was a beautiful shop both viewed from the outside and while wandering inside but I found that it was really crowded, especially if you wanted to climb the stairs to the upper levels.  Opposite is another gift shop selling Harry Potter merchandise.  I wonder if the Harry Potter locations for fans have gained momentum as the children who grew up on Harry Potter are now adults travelling the world.

Museum Context sold nicely drawn postcards of Robert Cressers Brush Shop with a witch sitting above the ground floor holding a broom.  Then I read this sign!  The postcard suddenly made sense when I found out it was previously Robert Cresser's brush shop.  I remember loving that dusty old shop as I passed it regularly when I lived in Edinburgh.  It looked like a place from history with its old brooms.  Most intriguing was the sign advertising "toilet brushes rebristled and repaired".  I used to wonder if there are people whose toilet brushes were worth repairing.  The sign suggests it might be a the inspiration for Olivanders which sells wands but it should have been the inspiration for the broom shop (Quality Quidditch Supplies).

I was less enthused by this sign about the Elephant House Cafe being destroyed by fire in 2021.  I was very fond of the Elephant House.  In fact it was where I went after I got married in Victoria Street Registry Office (now a Virgin Hotel).  So I could not bring myself to go into this cafe that was aimed at Harry Potter fans.  According to one Harry Potter website, JK Rowling was well known for initially writing her novels in Nicholsons but moved to other cafes such as the Elephant House to write in more privacy.  I miss the original Elephant House but I suspect that it would not be the same with the queues of fans.

The last sign I photographed was one welcoming visitors to Victoria Street: "Scotland's most photographed street and believed to be JK Rowling's inspiration for Diagon Alley".  The sign then goes on to read "An old book shop has traded on this site for over four decades.  With shelves stacked to the ceiling, was this the original Flourish and Blotts?"  

The John Kay's Shop beside the sign at the top of the street was closed but looked interesting when I passed it.  I have memories of passing an old musty bookstore there with lots of tables of books on the footpath.  If it is the same as John Kay's it has been spruced up now but I am not sure.

I preferred the Museum Context shop in Cockburn Street to the one in Victoria Street.  For a start, it was not so crowded.  Instead of three floors, it was just one larger space that took up two shop fronts.  It had a lot of Harry Potter merchandise but also some lovely books, stationery and gifts that were not related to the film.  As with the Victoria Street store, it was arranged very stylishly with nice touches like a giant spider or magic mirror.

Last time I was in Edinburgh in 2016 there was Diagon Alley artwork in Candlemaker Row that seemed to suggest this was the street that inspired Diagon Alley.  There are some beautiful witchy shops on this street.  Sylvia was quite excited to go to Black Moon Botanica.  This was a beautiful shop to visit, though small enough that a sign at the door asked for no more than 8 customers at a time.  Candles, herbs, books, crystals and other items related to magic.  It had lots of wooden shelves that made it look like a olde worlde shoppe.  But not in a cynical way.  The woman who runs it seems very genuine and played such great music that I had to ask about it.  When she said it was her spotify playlist, someone nearby asked the name so she could follow it.  It was that sort of friendly shop with warm welcoming vibes.

We also enjoyed browsing the gift shops in Cockburn Street.  I used to love the shops there but there is no longer Avalanche and Fopp for the music lovers.  We really enjoyed Eden, Mysa and Museum Context.  Years ago I remember there being a cool gift shop around where Eden was but I think it might be a different business now.  I liked this tree in the middle of Eden.

Edinburgh is jam packed with souvenir shops.  You can't walk a few minutes without seeing one.  I particularly liked this one in the Grassmarket called Great Scot because it had a life sized toy hairy cow as you can see in the window.

A wonderfully old fashioned bookstore was Armchair Books in the West Port near where we were staying.  I am sure it was there way back when I lived in the West Port many years ago.

I loved the Opening Hours sign: "hours subject to local/international chaos" it tells us, and "if it seems like we should be open and we're not ... maybe something exciting happened."  It makes it sound so intriguing if it is closed when it should be.  Better than the manager sleeping in!


A more modern bookstore is the West End  Princes Street Waterstones.  The building is amazing. There are lifts but it far more romantic to go up and down the marvellous wooden staircases.  Especially when they pass the window with fantastic views of the Castle and Princes Street.

I get sad sometimes that Sylvia is too young for all the fun children's books that have come out recently.  When she was younger she would have loved Peppa Goes to Scotland with Peppa Pig on the cover in a kilt.  There were lots more Scottish themed children's books that I would have loved to browse if we had had the time.  Of course you don't have to be a kid to appreciate children's books but the excitement of a child with a new book is just magical.

Waterstones has lots of books and gifts for adults too.  These were my favourites.  I love an historic streetscape and I love a literary biography.  These jigsaws by Laurence King Publishing are both.  Such beautiful artwork of streets in the world of authors such as Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen and William Shakespeare.

Not all Princes Street shops have weathered the winds of change as well as Waterstones (and even they have closed their East End Princes Street store).  Locals that I talked to said it was a shame it had got so tatty.  The saddest sight was the permanently closed doors of Jenners.  This was once aan upmarket department store to rival Harrods and Bloomingdales.  I shared photos of Jenners on a previous visit in 2012.  It was such a pleasure to visit with the amazing wooden balconies.  And so sad they are no longer part of Edinburgh's sights.

When older established shops close, it makes way for the new.  Primark is the shop we loved when we were here in 2016 because Sylvia was into Minions and Primark had lots of merchandise.  We had a quick look on this journey and I found the clothes rather dull.  We laughed at how colourless this display was.  (I only just found out that Primark is the international franchise of the store called Penneys in Ireland.)  discovered that In fact the main place we bought clothes from was Sainsbury's in Cameron Toll. 

I loved John Lewis department store at the top of Leith Walk when I lived in Edinburgh.  I still have wedding gifts from their shop and we love the Christmas adverts.  I was on the lookout for a pretty bread and butter plate.  These William Morris plates were lovely but £50 for a set of 4 was pricey,  I left them behind because 4 plates seemed a lot for my luggage. 


Instead I admired some of the displays such as this Easter celebration dining table.  I ended up buying another plate that came in singles.  I will share more on this in another post.

 

I have seen this sign on a previous visit but could not remember if I had shared it on this blog before.  Who could forget a claim that "unattended children will be given an espresso and a free kitten".  That is some threat!  It was in the Netherbow cafe near the Fudge Kitchen

I am always interested to see reclamation of Indigenous languages.  Scottish Gaelic is sometimes used in signs in Scotland.  I took this photo of the Glasgow Queen Street sign with a Gaelic alternative.  I also saw Gaelic alternative at Haymarket Station in Edinburgh but not at Edinburgh Waverley.  This article by Ian Cameron about Gaelic Road Signs has some interesting reflections about Scottish gaelic (another language) and Scots language (a dialect).

Other than the occasional railway sign, I didn't notice much Gaelic about Edinburgh, though I am sure there was more than I remember.  I was quite taken with this little bear holding up a "Failte Lack dhu" sign.  Isn't it gorgeous!  Failte is Gaelic for "welcome".  The shop was called "Lack Dhu" but I am not sure about translating that in to English.

A few other signs were in a Scottish dialect of English.  I thought this one about was quite clear but Sylvia did not understand "your polis are oot and aboot: they'll be back in a tick to help ye oot".  I saw it in the Waverly Centre: a modern shopping market next to Waverley Station.  For those who find this as foreign as Sylvia it says "your police are all out and about: they'll be back in a tick to help you out."  The Scottish style of saying polis instead of police reminds me of the The Fast Show parody of a Scottish detective tv show called Monkfish where the Scottish actors spent a lot of time saying "polis" and "muurdah".  The sketch has not aged well but I still remember my amusement at the Scottish pronunciations.

Near our apartment on the West Port was the Dragonfly cocktail bar.  It was very Scottish to see a sign asking patrons to "haud yer wheesht".  This is something that my Scottish ex-husband used to say to me in jest so I am quite familiar with it meaning: be quiet.  One of the joys of visiting Edinburgh is that it is so familiar and yet has such a great sense of its own unique culture too.

Saturday 23 March 2024

Edinburgh: National Scottish Portrait Gallery and random buildings

When we arranged to meet at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Clare suggested we meet by the statue of Robbie Burns in the Main Hall.  This was both an amusing and iconic meeting place that would be perfect in a movie.  It reflects just how fun and erudite Clare and her husband Martin are.  It was great to walk through the gallery with them.  This is one of the amazing buildings in Edinburgh and further down the post, I share some more pictures of wonderful buildings.

I love this dreamy romantic bust of Walter Scott (1771-1832).  He has had so much influence on our culture and names.  Anyone from Melbourne will recognise the names of novels Waverley and Ivanhoe which were used to name suburbs, or his home Abbotsford, another name of a Melbourne suburb.

This bust is of another iconic Scottish novelist, Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94), author of classics such as Treasure Island and the Strange Cast of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Upstairs is a great view of the pageant frieze with paintings of famous Scottish people throughout history. The walls on the first floor of the hall have been painted with scenes from Scottish history.  It is worth visiting the gallery to see this magnificent hall.


We spent our time in the Modern Portrait Gallery and were ready for a cuppa after this and did not got to the 3rd floor for older portraits from eras such as Victorian Age, the Reformation, and the Jacobite Rising.  The modern portraits had many familiar faces and names: Billy Connolly, Tilda Swinton, King Charles III, Kirsty Wark and Sean Connery.  I have heard of Horse McDonald (above), a singer songwriter born 1958 who has been writing and performing for over 30 years.

I liked this Self Portrait in a Velvet Jacket painted in 1971-3 by John Byrne (1940-2023).  I had not heard of him but as an artist, playwright, screen writer and designer he sound talented.  Martin reminisced about sitting beside him at a gig some years ago.  Clare and Martin recognised many more people than I did.

Professor Sir James Black (1924-2010) had one of the more serious portraits.  He was a scientist who discovered the group of drugs known as beta blockers.  The modern portraits included a lot of creatives.  Not many people wore suits or uniforms.  Perhaps that is because nowadays, suits and uniforms are more about suppressing personality than expressing it.


However at times, uniforms can make people's professions immediately recognisable.  In this painting "Three Oncologists" from 2002, we see them in their scrubs as though interrupted during surgery.  Professor RJ Steele, Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri and Professor Sir David P Lane are from the Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.  I've watched enough medical dramas to know they are probably saying "get that artist out of my operating theatre!"  Seriously, the light seems to represent how science and medicine illuminate and confront the dark mystery of cancer.

Dame Muriel Spark (1918 to 2006) is a writer, best known for writing The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.  She looks quite elegant in this 1984 painting.

This self portrait of Jennifer Rowe had one of my favourite titles: "Quotidian Detritus".  It has a lot of day to day items from her life as an artist.  The title and her expression suggest to me that she has quite a good sense of humour!

This is another view of the Main Hall.  So beautiful!


A bust of Alexandra McCall Smith.  I have read quite a few of his 44 Scotland Street series which is easy to read and creates a great community of Edinburgh characters.


Then we headed to the large light filled cafe and had a cuppa and cake in the company of Ian Rankin's portrait.  I had a lovely fennel, apple and pecan cake (it was too late for any scones to be available),  Claire had a delicious polenta and rhubarb friand and Martin had a wonderfully dense chocolate brownie.  It was great to catch up with them and sad to say goodbye as who knows if and when we will see each other again.

On the way out I took a photo of the Portrait Gallery.  It is a magnificent Neo-Gothic building opened in 1889.  The red sandstone Queen Street facade has many statues of notable Scots.  Either side of the doorway are warrior heroes, William Wallace (left) and Robert the Bruce (right), as though they stand guard over this amazing building.

This is a photo taken of the Georgian terrace houses of the New Town.  On the road is a tram.  When we were last in Edinburgh the roads were a mess of construction of the one tramline in the city.  I would have loved a trip on the tram but unfortunately did not get the chance.

The main National Gallery of Scotland opened in this building in 1859.  It is in the middle of Princes Street Gardens that divide the Old Town from the New Town.  Once upon a time this area was marsh and then the polluted Nor Loch where smuggling, suicides and executions by drowning took place.  It was drained for the construction of North Bridge and now the Princes Street Gardens is a pleasant place to view the Castle that you can see beyond the gallery.  I have fond memories of Edinburgh's German Markets at Christmas being held in front of the gallery.


This building was the Edinburgh City Council Chambers where I worked for a couple of years.  These days I think most of the staff have been moved out of the 1753 building.  Now it seems to be mostly used for weddings, a cafe, tours of Mary Kings Close beneath it and the occasional movie.   and other events.  It is occasionally a movie star.  I recognised it in the fight scenes in Avengers: Infinity Wars.




I also spent quite a bit of time in St Giles Cathedral across from the City Chambers when I lived in Edinburgh.  I was a volunteer guide there and enjoyed talking to people about the stained glass windows, the Robert Louis Stevenson memorial and the bagpiping angel in the tiny but impressive Thistle Chapel.


As I was often heading from my home to the High Street or over the mound to Princes Street, I walked up the steep Victoria Street almost daily.  It is one of the beautiful streets of Edinburgh I always loved the view, even if not the slippery icy footpaths of winter.

Victoria Street is also the street where I got married in the Registry Office.  Last time we came to Edinburgh the India Buildings where the Registry Office had been were a nightclub.  Now they are a Virgin Hotel.  We have photos of me and E coming out of the Registry Office as a newly married couple through the door to the right of the red hotel entrance.  It still had the "India Buildings" sign by the door.

One one trip to Princes Street I returned up these stairs that went from Market Street up to St Giles Street near the George IV Bridge.  There are 120 steps.  That feels like quite an achievement to accomplish.

On another occasion I insisted on walking back to our apartment via these steps in Waristons Close from Cockburn Street to the High Street.  It is hard to believe we were up and down steps like these regularly when I lived in Edinburgh.  In fact, I used to go down Cockburn Street at lunchtime and back up these steps to the City Chambers when I worked there.

 
 
I love the view of the Old Town from Princes Street.  Actually this view is from Waverly Bridge.  I used to be able to look up at these buildings (sometimes known as Medieval skyscrapers) and point out the window of the office where I worked at the City Chambers.  It had a great view.


The Walter Scott Memorial in the Princes Street Gardens, also known as the Gothic Spaceship, is quite magnificent and prominent.  It is so large that often people don't look closely at the details.  Towards the end of our time in Edinburgh I pointed out the white statue of Walter Scott inside the memorial to Sylvia and she was surprised as she had not seen it previously.


There are many views of the Castle from Princes Street.  Here it is seen through the railings on the South side of Princes Street.

Also in the dip between the Old Town and the New Town are some lovely old churches.  This is St Cuthbert's Kirkyard.  The current church was built in 1892-4 but the graveyard is older as there was a church here for many decades before this, possible as early as the 7th Century.  It has a few famous Scots buried there, such as Sir John Napier and Henry Raeburn.

The Kings Bridge over Kings Stables Road was built in 1829-32 and is quite spectacular at the base of the Castle Rock.

Also spectacular are the views of the Grassmarket.  From this point where the Grassmarket turns into Candlemaker Row is a great view of the castle above the Grassmarket.  Expect to find many selfies and phone cameras at this point!

Up Candlemaker Row is the Oz Bar.  I didn't go there often when we lived in Edinburgh.  There was one memorable day when my brother Andy was visiting.  He is a keen ALF fan and wanted to see the Melbourne grand final in Edinburgh.  So we headed to the Oz Bar which serves Australian food and drink to watch it but it was one of those matches that was over well before the final siren.  I remember Andy and a few other Aussie guys losing interest and kicking an AFL football outside on the Candlemaker Row.

The Oz Bar has been spruced up with a lick of paint since I last saw it.  I am all for keeping it fresh but was not sure why this evil koala in a VB t-shirt was painted on the wall with a crocodile.  I couldn't help but wonder if it was painted by someone with a fear of the fabled drop bear or perhaps they painted it with the growl of the koala in mind.

The Oz Bar is located beneath the iconic Elephant House cafe which is is now closed.  I remember when you could go in there and admire all the elephant memorabilia, read Harry Potter graffiti in the bathroom and have great views from your table across to the Edinburgh Castle.  I took this photo of the view from around the Oz Bar on Candlemaker Row opposite the imposing walls of the Greyfriars graveyard.  I never got to go inside the graveyard or to the top of Candlemaker Row to see Greyfriars Bobby, but I am glad I stopped to appreciate the great view of the Castle from the street.