Valentine’s Weekend

With us both being insanely busy it seemed as if Valentine’s Day just suddenly arrived without much forewarning. But it’s important to make time for the important stuff. So without any time to plan anything we just decided to have a weekend filled with things we like.

We watched football, went out for delicious lunches, got our favourite cupcakes, talked, chatted, laughed, and watched the Lego Movie (so much fun!).

It goes to show you don’t have to come up with huge convoluted plans to have a nice weekend together if you just enjoy each other’s company.

 

Austria Christmas

Christmas at home just is special. The whole family together, catching up, relaxing, having fun.

This year was wonderful, I loved being at home and really loved seeing my family. Unfortunately 3/4 of us became ill over Christmas, one of those horrible illnesses that drag on, mine lasted for most of my stay. But you realise quickly that none of it really matters that much as long as you are together.

I can honestly say that despite the coughing and sniffling I absolutely loved my Christmas. I miss my family already. Roll on Easter!

Edinburgh Christmas

It seems ages ago now, but in December Fraser and I had our traditional pre-Christmas celebration. As with every year so far we spent actual Christmas day apart and with our respective families. This being from two different countries thing can be complicated to work out at times, but we have found a solution that works for us. And this way we get to have two Christmasses, and who wouldn’t want that?

We had decorated our flat earlier in December, I love having all that Christmassy stuff around. It makes you feel nostalgic and cosy on cold December nights.

Our whole day was lovely, we unwrapped presents, watched Christmas films, had a lovely meal and went to the cinema. An absolutely perfect day.

Being away from blogging

It’s a funny old thing, blogging. You are profoundly aware of the fact that what you are really doing is documenting things for yourself. Or I am at least. That was why I originally started this blog. I wanted to have a place where I would document the every day things, appreciating the little things in life, encouraging myself to take photographs and hold on to memories of just normal life.

It has been something I have immensely enjoyed and has been incredibly rewarding. I have already enjoyed looking back at slightly older posts and remembering fun times. As such, I realise there is no real need to explain why I have been away from the blog for over a month. I am not sure anyone cares, and that is of course understandable. I know people read this blog and I love getting comments, but I am under no illusion that there is anyone who really misses my blogging when it’s not around.

To put it simply, blogging is very time consuming. That is not an excuse just an explanation. I have been and will continue to be incredibly busy, but I have really missed blogging over this last month. Some lovely things have happened: Christmas with Fraser, Christmas at home with the family, coming back to Edinburgh, getting on with my coursework. So I feel I don’t need to feel guilty about having been away from blogging. It was right for a while so that I could really enjoy everything that was happening around me.

But as I have missed it, I have stayed up late tonight and finally sorted through a few photographs. What it has made me realise is that I really want to continue this blog. Not because I think this blog necessarily means anything to anyone else. But because I know that I will be grateful for it when I one day am able to look back at this time and at who I was at 25, what my life was like and what I did.

I am also aware that things are about to get even more busy as my Masters course heats up. So there may be more absences from blogging on the horizon. But sometimes distance gives us clarity. And that is what this time away from blogging has done for me. It has made me realise that even if I sometimes fail in my immediate goals, and don’t document all the many things I would like to, I should at least try. And so that is what I will do: continue to try and blog as often as my schedule allows. Because I know that in the future I will be so happy that I made the time for it.

I am preparing and will be publishing this week my long overdue Christmas posts and then hopefully be getting back to regular blogging. If there is anyone out there reading this, I love reading any comments and hearing people’s thoughts. Aside from everything else, I feel blogs are good place to share.

Visit to the Christmas Market

Well it’s that wonderful time of year again and last Monday Fraser and I made our way down to the Christmas Market on Princes Street. It is bigger and better than ever this year. It is not quite as cold as it has been in previous years so it was quite pleasant wandering around all the colourful little stalls.

There was a beautiful carousel in the centre and so much to see.

The main event for us is getting food there every year, we got some delicious sausages, Fraser got an Austrian one and I (sacrilege!) got a German one. They were yummy.

Then we walked around and looked at all the Christmassy stuff.

The ferris wheel really provides a lovely backdrop to the Christmas Market.

The market did its job and put me in a sufficiently Christmassy mood.

Autumn…What’s been happening recently

A slightly condensed version of this kind of post. Autumn was a busy season, here are just a few pictures of what happened… (Note: the last picture is the pumpkin that Fraser carved, as a tribute to Breaking Bad, our Heisenpumpkin. I thought it was amazing! It’s become a Halloween tradition for Fraser to carve an elaborate pumpkin).

Jamie’s Italian

Weeks and weeks and weeks ago Fraser and I went for a meal at Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant in Edinburgh. It was fantastic! It has moved to a new location recently and the restaurant looks lovely. Everyone was so friendly and there were so many great things on the menu. We chose two different things so we could try some of each other’s and we were impressed with both of the dishes. The meal was the result of a birthday present that Fraser got of vouchers for Jamie’s Italian, and we still have some left so we can’t wait to go again. And as this was around Halloween time (so long ago now!) we stopped by our favourite cupcake place afterwards and had a look at their Halloween cupcakes. There is clearly a lot of skill involved in this food business.

I highly recommend Jamie’s Italian if you find yourself in Edinburgh looking for a place to eat!

Because this city is so damn beautiful in autumn

I know I gush about how lovely Edinburgh is in autumn (well, in all seasons really). But since we spent so much time outdoors this autumn it really struck me when I was going through my photos that there are so many great shots to be captured. One evening in particular, we were walking home across the Meadows and the light was just so perfect and autumnal. Here are just a few pictures to give a sense of the kind of sights you see wandering around Edinburgh at this time of year.

Breath taking, I am almost ready for winter, the change of seasons and the new images as I walk around this lovely city.

Remembering the War Poets

While my mum was here we decided to go and visit the building that used to be the Craiglockhart war hospital. A little context: we have both read the Regeneration trilogy books by Pat Barker. They are three astonishingly well written books, which are incredibly profound and moving. The first one is set in Edinburgh and is based on the true events in the life of Dr W.H.R Rivers and some of the patients he treated at Craiglockhart hospital during the First World War. These patients included some of the famous war poets such as Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. I have long been an admirer of these poets and when we found out that we were not far from the building that used to be the hospital AND that they have a little exhibition dedicated to the war poets, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go and have a look and remember these remarkable writers.

The building is situated in a beauitful part of Edinburgh, and now forms part of Napier University. Despite having had a modern extension added to it, the old part of the building is still there.

The day on which we headed out there was beautiful. Cold but sunny in a golden autumn light. It is a testament to Barker as a writer that we both felt that the place was just as we had pictured it when reading the novel. The exhibition was very well put together and the stories of the war poets so moving.

It’s a little removed from the centre of the city but I would recommend visiting the exhibition as it is such a sad but important part of the history of World War 1 and its writers. And all of it is in such lovely surroundings. I was really glad that we made the trip out there and feel that it made me understand these people’s stories even better.

Calton Hill and this wonderful city

My mum has been here these past few weeks, which has been lovely lovely lovely. Made all the lovelier by the fact that Edinburgh did a good job of really behaving itself for most of the two weeks and giving us some stunning weather, really making the city shine.

So on one of my mum’s first days here we went up Calton Hill. You get the best views of the city from there.

On the way up we could see the Newtown buildings and beyond, as well as some lovely autumn colours on the tree tops.

On of the things that really interest me about this time of year is the long shadows casting such interesting patterns across the ground.

Calton Hill has some lovely monuments and sites that add to the peaceful atmosphere.

And you can look down and see every angle of the city, including the narrow buildings along the Royal Mile and elsewhere in Old Town.

You also get a lovely view of Princes Street.

Calton  Hill is popular but never really packed. People just stand and marvel at the views.