At Christmas time, Edinburgh goes a little crazy (much of it in a good way). An enormous open-air German Christmas market sets up booths all down the eastern half of Prince's Street gardens, offering trivialities such as photographs and wooly scarves to give as gifts, as well as culinary delights including waffles, mulled wine, and German beer. The Ferris wheel towers over the landscape (dominating everything but the Walter Scott monument, which is a formidable piece of landscaping) and a number of other rides spin and whirl to the delight of thousands of otherwise-bored children. There is also an ice skating rink, with prices so steep that the year I. and I decided to go, we hastily backed away and made other plans. Offset against the old-world charm of the market, with its brightly coloured signs and wooden booths, is the high street shopping across Prince's Street itself. Dozens of department stores and smaller shops (almost all chains) advertise their wares using more modern methods, such as garish signs plastered to the windows that promise massive savings if you will only spend, spend, spend!
The sky today as I. and I walked into town was gorgeous, and today's photograph does not really do it justice. We are in the season of hour-long sunsets now: this photo was snapped at half two or so, the sky only got more stunning thereafter, and the sun had set fully by four o'clock. Here is the looming tower of the Scott monument (or as much as could be gotten into a photo with my rather close lens), the serene repose of the castle, and the bustle of the Christmas market and dozens of high street shoppers. This is Edinburgh: not all elegance, but not all bustle either.
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