“ visit the pandas while knocking back a mojito.”
travel
ECCENTRIC EDINBURGH
If city sightseeing leaves you feeling a little uninspired, put down the guide book and employ some of Hannah Johnson’ s original ideas for exploring the many quirks and intricacies that Edinburgh has to offer.
I
love discovering a city by assignment. Giving up the guidebooks and surrendering to the tastes and experiences of other people almost always leads in exciting directions. I’ ve been working in Edinburgh for the past few weeks, and before leaving Cardiff I asked my friends for a task list of things to do that didn’ t involve tours, buses or fancy dress. I wanted to absorb every element of the place, to create an individual experience like a new pathway through the twisting, tiered streets. Suggestions included panda discos, tourist stalking, soundtracked walks and a blindfolded visit to a park. Here are some of the highlights, to help you to uncover the allures of the Athens of the north in a fresh light. Try some tourist-based street photography. Forget about taking predictable photos of Greyfriars Bobby and the castle, and instead hunt down interestinglooking tourists and steal stealthy shots of their expressions while they trudge along in their tour groups or gaze up at buildings. After battling the tourist crowds, hike up Arthur’ s Seat to battle the wind and watch the clouds move across the city. Chase them down the hill with Mogwai’ s Les Revenants on your headphones, then grab a pint in the Sheep’ s Heid pub on the other side. On a dry day, try some urban brass rubbing and capture the texture of the city with a big sheet of paper and some wax crayons. Keep your eyes peeled for interesting plaques, air vents, gravestones, drain covers and engravings on buildings, then turn the results into postcards. Spend the evening watching the sun set from the mini-Acropolis on Calton Hill and write a story about one of the lives you spy though the tenement windows as they begin to illuminate. Exploit the abundance of galleries in the city, from the tiny pop-up studios in Abbeyhill to the magnificent National Gallery which currently houses Rodin’ s The Kiss. Stimulate your senses outside the gallery in Prince Street Gardens by absorbing the sound of the trees on a windy day with your eyes closed – it sounds like a hurricane and smells amazing. Don’ t forget to collect photos of the bits of street art you spot throughout the city – try to find the mouse on Jacob’ s Ladder! After finding this little animal, splash out on a late night visit to the zoo to visit the pandas while knocking back a mojito. Edinburgh Zoo Nights happen every few months and include entertainment, a silent disco, bars and food stalls which are all open until 11pm when the animals have to go to bed. Fancy dress is strictly forbidden – it confuses everyone. If you’ re feeling energetic, get sweaty then drunk at a pub crawl jogging club. It zips between two excellent establishments along a 3.5 mile route, starting at 7pm each Tuesday from Joseph Pearce’ s on Elm Row. Recover with some Edinburgh-inspired culture by watching Syvain Chomet’ s L’ Illusionniste, and reading Alice Thompson’ s captivating novel, The Existential Detective. Listen to Idlewild’ s Scottish Fiction, then track down some real life Scottish fiction at the Storytelling Centre on the Royal Mile. After a few days of exploration, draw a map of the city from memory without the help of Google. This is harder than you’ d think, but it’ s fascinating to track your discovery of the city, whose streets seem to bend vertically and where stairwells disappear into the sky. Landmark your favourite spots, note down places where you got lost and see how inaccurate it is afterwards. Above all, allow this city of a thousand layers to seduce, engulf and inspire you – soon you’ ll be compiling your own list of hidden treasures.
“ visit the pandas while knocking back a mojito.”
BUZZ 58