Edinburgh Saturday

This blog post is a sequel to the series 'The Recap of the Day – Edinburgh 2017'.
How my first day – friday – has been, you can read here –> Edinburgh Travel.

The morning

Halfway the morning, a bit later than I expected, I woke up and realised: today my first full day in Edinburgh! Yesterday I already managed to organise that I will visit three major venues and a bus tour or two on Monday and Tuesday, so what to do today I thought. I had downloaded the Scotland application and just started scrolling through the list of nearby venues and categories. My biggest interest is the quite far history of the Scottish, so I found some venues that gave me the expectation that visiting them would explain more about the Scottish history, culture, heritage and so on.

The first venue I visited was the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. This gallery is the first ever gallery in the world that is built with the purpose of a being a portrait gallery. What is a portrait gallery you think? In a comprehensive blog post about the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, I will explain my view on this question. For now, without my further research yet, I think a portrait gallery is a venue of exhibitions that gives an impression of what a particular culture shapes by portraits displayed in different kinds and forms and environment. Sounds a bit abstract but it comes alive when I tell you that those portraits could be shown through a photograph – obvious you think -, a painting – ok quite obvious, music performance – yes serious! -, wall decorations – oh yeah that's history – and so on! The rest of my experience will be written in the special blog post about the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

The afternoon

After the different exhibitions I have seen in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, I went to the café to have a little break. A diet coke and a real shortbread in a cute heart shape. After finishing this little lunchy snack I went for a walk to the nearby Princes Street and discovered that another gallery that belong to the National Galleries of Scotland, is nearby as well. Just located at the Mound, next to the Princes Garden and the Princes Street, is the Scottish National Gallery. A history art and modern art gallery mix divided into two buildings. I went to all the exhibitions and it is way bigger – in paintings and in walking up down left right or in circles – than you think.

The first exhibition I visited was the 'Beyond Caravaggio' exhibition about the master painter Caravaggio and all whom he inspired by his paintings and themes. I had seen a few paintings of him before, and of the ones he inspired, but I never realised these paintings were in such a way connected. Through inspiration by someone else and his style reminded me of the art painted by the Dutch painters Rembrandt van Rijn and colorplay used by Jan van Eyck - 'The Road to Van Eyck' is an earlier blog post I have written on my previous website.

After this special exhibition I went on to the RSA: Open Exhibition 2017 – RSA = Royal Scottish Academy. This is an exhibition of upcoming artists who are given a start by the RSA to present their work(s) in this exhibition and it is all for sale as well. I have never stumbled upon something like this but since I have seen a documentary about Kieron Williamson, a famous young painter, it is more common or so – looks to me – in the United Kingdom than in The Netherlands.

Last thing of the Scottish National Gallery but not the least thing of the day, I visited in the other building the permanent exhibition. Meanwhile the weather turned from sunshine with some clouds into now and then some rain. But luckily I was busy taking notes and walking through the gallery. This permanent exhibition was really astonishing! Why…I will write that part in a special blog post about the Scottish National Gallery.

The evening

In the Scottish National Gallery I stayed until closing time: five o'clock and most of the cultural venues close at that time. Because of the weather I crossed the Princes Street and visited some shops. I also went – again – to Waterstones in Princes Street. They are open until eight o'clock but sadly the café is closed much earlier. Strolling along the bookcases and reading the back covers about different Scottish history subjects. Wow! And I still don't know which book(s) to buy. Traveling by plane means limited kg on board as well. It's all for a safe flight.

Time for dinner! I was tired and wanted to find food nearby…and a bit quickly. The streets were now and then crowded of tourists – yes I am one of them but just one…not fifty waiting for the traffic lights. So I went to the Rose Street again because I had seen several nice looking pubs during an evening walk on friday. Now comes the benefit of traveling on your own: quick decisions, quick food and lots of people that want to fix things for you. I arrived at a pub and it was not crowded, but to enjoy a meal you had to find a table. Not a single table was free.

On to the next pub….and the next…and then I stumbled upon the 'Auld Hundred Pub & Dining Room' – shortly 'Auld Hundred'. The guard at the door arranged a table for me in the dining while I waited outside. Quickly arranged and still really really thanks! I was hungry and I had the last little spot in the middle of the room, next to a pillar of course. But really nice. Everyone else who checked in for the next hour had to wait.

I had a delicious dinner which will be described in a special post of course. The clock reached half past eight, time to go home and organise some stuff for the next couple of days. Forgot to check before my flight last friday if my laptop charger would fit in the world socket converter I bought from the Dutch brand HEMA. Sadly not. The plastic pins are too far inside the circle. Rent a converter from the place where I am staying. Problem solved.

The recap of the day

The recap of saturday is quite simple. I have seen two big galleries with both multiple exhibitions and lóts and lóts of subjects. Therefore I will write, just as with the food and drinks I am tasting, a special blog post for every big subject. – Homework for the rest of the holiday haha. Again I had a typical Scottish dinner and tasted new dishes. From the home front in The Netherlands I had heard that they had a day full of rain and bad sad weather. I am grateful that I had a wonderful day and a few raindrops won't keep me from walking through Edinburgh.

If you have any questions about my travel to Edinburgh, you can ask them in a comment, a pm through the social media or mail at: info@sophievandenakker.com. I hope I can provide you an answer, tips or tricks to visit this city and so on. Maybe I'll write it all down for another blog post too.

1250+ words up to so far in this blog post and I have not mentioned my walking statistics yet. Just a small registered 7,5 km, 11 floors of altitude and 11.000 steps according to the Apple Health Kit – which is less precise when you have no service connection with your telecom provider.

Have a good day!

Greetings by Sophie