This week was Valentines day, and, in the days leading up to it, specifically because my mother was curious, I made a point of taking pictures of shop displays that were Valentine’s themed. Or, that I thought were Valentine’s themed. Valentine’s day, as far as I can tell is basically the same here, just a little more understated.

Granted there were shops like this, where you could practically drown in hearts and roses, but they tended to be places that rely on holidays like this to boost business, like florists.

But there were also shops like this. This isn’t a valentine’s themed display. This shop always looks like that. Though they might have added a few more hearts now that I look at it again.

I’d been meaning to go to Rose Street, the next street up from Princes Street, and go street by street seeing what sorts of things were around the area, and I finished this week still meaning to do that. The route I took to get there ended up being in the middle of a mass of construction – I think they’re installing rails in the streets, but it was hard to tell – so, rather than course correct like a normal person, I decided to follow the pedestrian route in front of me and go in the complete opposite direction. I ended up at Calton Hill and a bunch of other places in between that overall validated a decision that was basically fueled by stubbornness.

While this place’s existence doesn’t surprise me, it does make me happy. I both really want to go and am kind of wary of because it might not be as amazing as I think it should be.

The Old Calton Cemetery has a statue/monument commemorating the American emancipation act. I can’t tell you how long I spent trying to convince myself that, no, I was not looking at a statue of Abraham Lincoln, this is Scotland, before I actually read the plaque.

There isn’t really anything all that culturally relevant about this place, except it might have been in an ethnic neighborhood now that I think about it. I’m just including in because I’m pretty sure they only have one of their advertised services and this saddens me.

I had to pick up some house supply stuff (and jelly babies) at The Pond Stretcher, and noticed this on my way.

I suppose he’s more recognizable after the movie came out, but for those who don’t know, this is Tintin from the Belgian comic The Adventures of Tintin. Dressed up Scottish for some reason.

Something that’s really been throwing me off is the Post Offices here. If they didn’t have a sign saying “Post Office” I would think they were some sort of convenience-souvenir store hybrid thing. I’m so used to post offices being places that are for everything to do with mailing something, and everything to do with mailing something ONLY that I’m actually having a hard time believing this is where you go to mail stuff and “post office” doesn’t just mean something else here.

Why? Why would I want the person mailing my stuff to clean my clothes? I seriously need to find someone to ask about this.

I made an attempt at Arthur’s seat late in the week, but I didn’t set aside enough time to make any real progress and still be able to make it home before dark, and when I Google routes to the top, I didn’t pay enough attention to the directions and ended up going up a much steeper incline than I intended. So that remains on my To Do list.

That’s Calton Hill as seen from part way up the slope.