The restaurant was Harajuku, an authentic Japanese izakaya. They had this colorful painting on the wall.
Tommy and Rhona live in this wonderful stone house that was built in the mid-19th century. It's where they raised their three kids who are now adults. This is the back of the house, including the kitchen expansion they added on shortly after moving in.
Their backyard garden was lovely.
Kristina is a cat lover, so she quickly made friends with their lap cat PJ.
His sister Cleo was a little more skittish but she was curious about us.
Rhona and Tommy suggested we check out the Old Town of Edinburgh. We walked up by the Edinburgh Castle and made a small donation to this enterprising Scotsman playing the bagpipes.
Pete couldn't resist taking a photo of this church door.
Like we had seen in Bath, England, there were blocks of buildings in crescents here too.
Another crescent-shaped street is Victoria Street, which is near Edinburgh Castle. It seems that in Edinburgh, the crescent blocks have more variety of facades and also include retail shops rather than just homes.
We checked out Union Canal, now a 31 km bike and footpath.
We visited the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA).
The first piece we saw was outside Gallery Two, Nathan Coley's There Will Be No Miracles Here.
Next we came upon Antony Gormley's 6 TIMES HORIZON as we made our way to Gallery One.
This is the exterior of Gallery One. On the frieze is a neon artwork Work No. 975 EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT by Martin Creed.
Here's a closer look. Too bad we didn't get to see it at night.
In front of Gallery One was Landform by Charles Jencks. Here's what the museum says about it,
"The work is a combination of sculpture, garden and land art: a striking backdrop to events at the Gallery and a platform for viewing the gallery's outdoor sculpture collection. The shapes of 'Landform' are inspired by nature, where they can be seen in waves, clouds and geological formations. The work also has a social function, as visitors can walk and sit on the terraced paths. 'Landform' won the Gulbenkian Prize for Museum of the Year, 2004."
Inside a few pieces captivated us. This is Open by Chris Ofili. Composed of oil, acrylic, polyester resin and elephant dung,
"... partly as a Dadaist gesture, as an ironic signifier of Africanism, but also as a way of introducing a sense of ambiguity into what are in effect paintings of sensual, decorative beauty."
Our new friend Sue is an artist who works with glass, and we were happy she suggested we visit SNGMA. We liked the Anya Gallaccio's artworks on exhibit, including Hello Darkness, which is made of polished obsidian.
Her piece Red on Green is made of 10,000 dried roses.
The gardens there were lovely.
Recently Pete invested in a few Moment lenses, including a macro lens that he likes for taking super close ups of flowers.
It worked well for capturing this thistle close up.
We loved their beautiful purple poppies.
And their fuchsia peonies were stunning.
After leaving the museum, we walked along the Waters of Leith and we spotted another Antony Gormley sculpture. Tommy and Rhona told us later that last month a prankster had dressed one of the six sculptures with underwear.
The Water of Leith is the main river through Edinburgh. Behind us is the Dean Bridge from 1832. We had seen many bridges in this style while cycling in the Scottish Highlands.
This is another section of the walking path along the Water of Leith.
Sue's husband Willie had sent us a map showing this scenic way to walk from SNGMA to the botanic garden.
We saw that the Doric temple of St. Bernard's Well was open so we stopped for a look. It dates back to the late 18th century but the mosaics were likely added during the 1884 renovation before it was given to the city of Edinburgh.
Here's a closer look at the beautiful mosaics.
This is the charming steel gate at the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh. Hammered Steel, Reflected Glory is from the workshop of blacksmith Alan Dawson and was designed by architect Benjamin Tindall.
The gardens were large with many interesting plants like this Japanese Wingnut tree that is related to the walnut.
Here's a closer look at its long pinnate foliage.
We even got a pretty good look at exterior of the Edinburgh Castle from the botanic garden.
We headed over to check out an art exhibition, and saw some nice sculptures on the way. This is Reg Butler’s cast bronze sculpture Girl from 1957.
Andy Goldsworthy used Ballachulish slate in his piece Cone.
The exhibit by Levon Biss was incredible. Entitled Microsculpture, the artist used thousands of close up photos to create incredibly detailed prints of insects. This is Pleasing Fungus Beetle, and the insect was from Bolivia.
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History provided insect specimens from their enormous collection for the artist to photograph. We thought this was a grasshopper, but it's actually a Longhorn Beetle.
Each image takes about four weeks to create. In real life Short Nosed Weevil is actually only 25 mm long.
This photo shows the scale of the prints. It's Orchid Cuckoo Bee. You can read about the process and see more insects here.
It was fun to walk around and see all the stone architecture in Edinburgh. We learned that 'mews' were originally built as stables but have been converted into rows of flats.
We had a great meal at the vegan cafe Seeds for the Soul.
We tried their gluten-free carrot cake for dessert.
One afternoon was so sunny and warm. This is The Meadows where everyone was hanging out and soaking up the sunshine.
The Ross Fountain from 1862 made for a nice foreground element with the castle behind.
We really enjoyed our time in Edinburgh.
We took the train to Glasgow to check out this cultural city for a few days. We stayed near the University of Glasgow and Kelvingrove Park. This is the iconic University Tower.
Glasgow has crescents, like Edinburgh and Bath. We even saw a Georgian circus like was first built in Bath, a completely circular group of houses with a park in the center. Although the Glasgow circus didn't have all the Greek columns on the houses.
One of the 'Glaswegians' we learned about was Agnes Toward, a native of Glasgow and a shorthand typist. She is second from the right.
The tenement house that Agnes lived in from 1911 until 1965 had been preserved by the National Historic Trust of Scotland as "an authentic time capsule of life in early 20th-century Glasgow". Of course we were interested to check out the kitchen.
Agnes lived through both world wars and she preserved all her possessions with love and care. We learned that fairy soap had been around for since 1950.
Her kitchen sink had a mangle for wringing out wet laundry. Agnes spent the last ten years of her life in a hospital while her house remained intact, and when she died she had no heirs. By happenstance the actress Anna Davidson visited the house and later said,
This is Agnes' coal-fired stove where she used to make plum jam. For seven years Anna lived in the flat. Then in 1982 she approached the National Trust for Scotland, hoping they would buy it and to her delight they did. We appreciated both Anna and the National Trust's efforts to preserve this interesting time capsule.
This was the parlour, the place for entertaining guests. Note the box bed in the corner.
Anna commented that when she bought the house, the box bed in the kitchen was covered with cobwebs, but the stone hot water bottle was still between the sheets. Agnes would have slept near the kitchen as it was the warmest place in the house. The box bed looked like a cozy spot to us, but we learned they were outlawed around the turn of the 20th century because the poor air circulation inside affected peoples' health.
In Glasgow our Airbnb was in a tenement built about the same time as the Tenement Museum. Ours was a remodeled, modern version that was comfortable for us to stay in.
Although we didn't spend much time sitting on the couch, we liked all the floor space for yoga.
Above the couch was an artist's rendition of Glasgow along the Clyde River, showing all the interesting modern architecture.
Of course we wanted to see the iconic buildings down by the Clyde, like the SEC Armadillo.
We hadn't heard of the Oor Wullie comic strip, but Tommy told us about it when we saw these statues all around Edinburgh. This Oor Wullie statue was covered by shiny foil wrappers of Tunnock’s Teacakes by Robert Mach to 'marry one Scottish icon with another'. Behnind it is SSE Hydro event center.
It was raining a bit so we didn't walk too far, but we could see the Clyde Arc Bridge. We aren't sure why but Glaswegians call it the Squinty Bridge. It crosses the Clyde at an angle.
We also visited the Hunterian Museum, a part of the University of Glasgow in a building that dates to the 1870s.
The architect George Gilbert Scott was prolific in designing neo-Gothic style buildings in Glasgow.
We arrived in time to hear a pipe organ recital. This was the main hall.
The bust of Queen Victoria was nicely lit under the skylights.
Here's a closer look at the heads with different expressions that were dangling from the rafters.
"What does it mean to be Scottish?", asks Ron O'Donnell in The Scotsman.
We walked through this exhibit and noticed Adam Smith, a key figure in the Scottish enlightenment, appeared to be gazing at his own reflection.
Another prominent Scot, Robert Burns, was featured for his song poem Auld Lang Syne.
He's a Scottish icon, although this was the first time we'd seen him portrayed as Che Guevara.
This is Salvador Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross. Dali had a dream that showed him the angle to paint Christ from above and to not use nails. The painting was beautifully lit and like no other crucifixion painting we had seen.
Hungry, we used Happy Cow to find a vegan restaurant for a late lunch.
We picked Soul Food restaurant and started with Faux Gras made with walnuts, mushrooms and lentils.
Pete had the kimchi burger with sweet potato fries.
Kristina had the probiotic salad with two kinds sauerkraut. Both were very tasty.
This trip was our first time to visit Scotland, and we really enjoyed our time here and learned a lot.
Next we head to Iceland to travel with family.
Andy Goldsworthy used Ballachulish slate in his piece Cone.
The exhibit by Levon Biss was incredible. Entitled Microsculpture, the artist used thousands of close up photos to create incredibly detailed prints of insects. This is Pleasing Fungus Beetle, and the insect was from Bolivia.
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History provided insect specimens from their enormous collection for the artist to photograph. We thought this was a grasshopper, but it's actually a Longhorn Beetle.
Each image takes about four weeks to create. In real life Short Nosed Weevil is actually only 25 mm long.
This photo shows the scale of the prints. It's Orchid Cuckoo Bee. You can read about the process and see more insects here.
It was fun to walk around and see all the stone architecture in Edinburgh. We learned that 'mews' were originally built as stables but have been converted into rows of flats.
We had a great meal at the vegan cafe Seeds for the Soul.
We tried their gluten-free carrot cake for dessert.
One afternoon was so sunny and warm. This is The Meadows where everyone was hanging out and soaking up the sunshine.
We visited the New Town, which was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850. Together with the Old Town that we visited first, they were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.
The Ross Fountain from 1862 made for a nice foreground element with the castle behind.
We really enjoyed our time in Edinburgh.
We took the train to Glasgow to check out this cultural city for a few days. We stayed near the University of Glasgow and Kelvingrove Park. This is the iconic University Tower.
Glasgow has crescents, like Edinburgh and Bath. We even saw a Georgian circus like was first built in Bath, a completely circular group of houses with a park in the center. Although the Glasgow circus didn't have all the Greek columns on the houses.
One of the 'Glaswegians' we learned about was Agnes Toward, a native of Glasgow and a shorthand typist. She is second from the right.
The tenement house that Agnes lived in from 1911 until 1965 had been preserved by the National Historic Trust of Scotland as "an authentic time capsule of life in early 20th-century Glasgow". Of course we were interested to check out the kitchen.
Agnes lived through both world wars and she preserved all her possessions with love and care. We learned that fairy soap had been around for since 1950.
Her kitchen sink had a mangle for wringing out wet laundry. Agnes spent the last ten years of her life in a hospital while her house remained intact, and when she died she had no heirs. By happenstance the actress Anna Davidson visited the house and later said,
“I felt like Pip in the film of Great Expectations when he stood at the door of Miss Havisham’s room. Under layers of dust Miss Toward’s flat was exactly as it had been ten years earlier when the door closed behind her for the last time. The box bed in the kitchen was covered with cobwebs, but the stone hot water bottle was still between the sheets. There was washing on the pulley suspended from the ceiling, coal in the wooden bunker, jars of jam in the cupboards and unwashed iron pans on the cooking range. Every room was filled with the personal possessions of Agnes Toward ... I knew I just had to save all this for posterity and I decided there and then to buy the flat – though I already had a place of my own.”
This is Agnes' coal-fired stove where she used to make plum jam. For seven years Anna lived in the flat. Then in 1982 she approached the National Trust for Scotland, hoping they would buy it and to her delight they did. We appreciated both Anna and the National Trust's efforts to preserve this interesting time capsule.
This was the parlour, the place for entertaining guests. Note the box bed in the corner.
Anna commented that when she bought the house, the box bed in the kitchen was covered with cobwebs, but the stone hot water bottle was still between the sheets. Agnes would have slept near the kitchen as it was the warmest place in the house. The box bed looked like a cozy spot to us, but we learned they were outlawed around the turn of the 20th century because the poor air circulation inside affected peoples' health.
In Glasgow our Airbnb was in a tenement built about the same time as the Tenement Museum. Ours was a remodeled, modern version that was comfortable for us to stay in.
Although we didn't spend much time sitting on the couch, we liked all the floor space for yoga.
Above the couch was an artist's rendition of Glasgow along the Clyde River, showing all the interesting modern architecture.
Of course we wanted to see the iconic buildings down by the Clyde, like the SEC Armadillo.
We hadn't heard of the Oor Wullie comic strip, but Tommy told us about it when we saw these statues all around Edinburgh. This Oor Wullie statue was covered by shiny foil wrappers of Tunnock’s Teacakes by Robert Mach to 'marry one Scottish icon with another'. Behnind it is SSE Hydro event center.
It was raining a bit so we didn't walk too far, but we could see the Clyde Arc Bridge. We aren't sure why but Glaswegians call it the Squinty Bridge. It crosses the Clyde at an angle.
We also visited the Hunterian Museum, a part of the University of Glasgow in a building that dates to the 1870s.
The architect George Gilbert Scott was prolific in designing neo-Gothic style buildings in Glasgow.
We arrived in time to hear a pipe organ recital. This was the main hall.
The bust of Queen Victoria was nicely lit under the skylights.
Here's a closer look at the heads with different expressions that were dangling from the rafters.
"What does it mean to be Scottish?", asks Ron O'Donnell in The Scotsman.
We walked through this exhibit and noticed Adam Smith, a key figure in the Scottish enlightenment, appeared to be gazing at his own reflection.
Another prominent Scot, Robert Burns, was featured for his song poem Auld Lang Syne.
He's a Scottish icon, although this was the first time we'd seen him portrayed as Che Guevara.
This is Salvador Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross. Dali had a dream that showed him the angle to paint Christ from above and to not use nails. The painting was beautifully lit and like no other crucifixion painting we had seen.
Hungry, we used Happy Cow to find a vegan restaurant for a late lunch.
We picked Soul Food restaurant and started with Faux Gras made with walnuts, mushrooms and lentils.
Pete had the kimchi burger with sweet potato fries.
Kristina had the probiotic salad with two kinds sauerkraut. Both were very tasty.
This trip was our first time to visit Scotland, and we really enjoyed our time here and learned a lot.
Next we head to Iceland to travel with family.
