Copy of Monomad Entry: Scotland, 20 Pics at a Time

Edinburgh was not a city that much crossed my mind before this past winter. At some point last year my sister surprised me with a trip itinerary to Scotland for my 40th birthday. I couldn't turn it down of course!

My flight would take me to Edinburgh as my first experience outside of the US since a trip to Canada in 2000 (but does that really count as out of the US?)

For my first two nights she booked a room right on the Royal Mile in the heart of the city. I must say I was smitten immediately.

I arrived a few hours before her so I took the time to meander the streets. It's insane how close everything is compared to Jacksonville. My Fitbit was pleased with all the steps!

It's not everyday one runs into a protest:

After some wandering I discovered that the National Gallery of Scotland can just be wandered into and explored for free. Those photos are too numerous to post here. But here's a good view of the sprawling pedestrians just outside:

It just so happened that the day I landed was Record Store Day. Edinburgh is not short on record stores. Unfortunately, I didn't want to risk taking vinyl records on a plane and instead opted for some Sparks CDs that I have never seen in the States.

I prefer the world in black and white:

Sometimes things look better in color. Not always, but sometimes.

My sister insists (as does Wikipedia) that the name of this street is pronounced "Co-burn" but I prefer to pronounce it like James May would...

I had never heard of "close" being used as a term for alleyways, so this was all new to me. Honestly, I've never seen alleyways be this inviting.

Adam Smith spent some time in Edinburgh (in fact he's buried there). Say what you will about capitalism (I rather like it), I think he deserves better than this:

Probably the biggest reason I fell in love with Edinburgh is the openness. I saw a storefront for Stills. Something about photography. I like photography. So I walked in. The lady at the front desk was on the phone and didn't seem to be bothered by my presence, so I stepped through the threshold into the gallery. Was it... free? I suppose so. At the end of the gallery was a staircase, being American I was a bit hesitant to use it, but I figured "what's the worst that could come of it?" and I wandered down to the basement. Darkrooms? What? Not seeing anyone to stop me, I entered. I was greeted by a worker cleaning up one of the rooms. I expected to be thrown out. Nope. He showed me around and agreed that it was a shame I wouldn't be there to develop my film for the trip.

Upstairs was a huge library of photo books and zines. Again, no one to supervise, just one worker who saw me on her way out and greeted me at the door. I suppose there are a million CCTV cameras, but still, this is very unlike the US.

Anywho, I have 2700 digital shots and ten rolls of film from the trip. 20 at a time is probably a good number to post the best ones. Keep following!