EDINBURGH

It was a long time since I didn´t know what to expect of a place. And Edinburgh managed to do it.

I had seen some pictures before ( Carlton Hill, Princes Street Gardens, the Walter Scott monument, air views of the Castle with the Tatoo going on ... ), I had studied diligently the city map, I had heard tales of friends going  there (mostly because of work ... the Solectron product transfer was quite busy), but I really didn´t know what I was going  to find.

The most recent time I can remember feeling that way was during the sailing towards Santorini. I couldn´t stop looking around all those small isles and sensing its newness, and my couple of days wandering (and sometimes running) around Edinburgh brought me a very similar feeling.

So, I left you after my visit to the Naked Portrait exhibition. I went to pick up the already booked tickets ( EUROBEAT and POTTED POTTER at the Fringe, and IMPRESSING THE CZAR at the Festival), and I walked up towards the Royal Mile. It really was "walk up" ! The difference between the hill where the Castle is located and the New Town is palpable. Middle Age against georgian architecture, but all of it in a dark grey stone that shone under the fine rain.

It doesn´t matter how much you have read about the Festivals there, nothing prepares you to the amount of people and the street performers and the general buzz permeating the whole place. The city is alive and even under the rain, there is a spark (and it helps against the too-many tacky souvenir shops and the omnipresent piper with its "Danny Boy" music ... I used to love that song, not any more).

I walked along the Royal Mile and decided against having lunch (I had too many things to do and see). So, following a recommendation from a friend, I walked down to "Blue" ( Atrium´s little brother ) and I booked a table for an early pre-show dinner. It was a bit expensive, but it was lovely. I had wild smoked salmon and then loin of pork with stewed pears. I must admit that I overindulged with the glass of Billecart-Salmon Rosé (but what´s a girl got to do when she sees it in the wine list?). I had had it before with smoked salmon, and I knew that it was exactly the drink to go with it.

Next time : show reviews or how I managed to sit in Gryffindor and win the Quidditch match.