Last views of Edinburgh - for now

The city is such an unending delight to the trained eye that my dear readers deserve more. As many photos as I could cram in during a few hours between seminars. No apologies for yet another post with Edinburgh pics!

Above: detail of the Balmoral Hotel, erected in 1902 by the North British Railway Company, whose logo is visible just below the clock, which traditionally runs two minutes fast to help guests and passers-by catch their trains.

Above: The Merchants Hall, on Hanover Street, built in the 19th C. by the Merchants Company of Edinburgh, now hired out for exhibitions and events. The building reflects Edinburgh's mercantile prowess. Columns - Corinthian.


Above: signs that Edinburgh once was also home to a thriving light industry. While Glasgow made steamships, Edinburgh made hat-pins, jewellery and beer.
This is the entrance to Old Assembly Close. The signage caught my eye; abandoned to its fate. The painted sign opposite had some new signboard wantonly fixed on top of it. Right: Šašek looked down here too, and also saw the wire-making establishment of Smith & Fletcher (probably still in business in 1961). You can see just how atmospheric these auld-school signs are in the top photograph, taken two and half years ago.

If Warsaw's most famous offspring are Chopin and Marie Curie, Edinburgh's are Adam Smith (who spent most of his life there) and his contemporary, David Hume, an Edinburgh man through and through. The philosopher is commemorated by a statue on the Royal Mile, though his headwear led me to recall Monty Python's Bruces' Philosopher's Song, which posited that when it came to drinking, "David Hume could outconsume Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel". Tourists loved it and were posing for photographs at Hume's feet. Conical hat-wearing statues? See more about this here!

Right: another building which I took from its architectural solidity to be a Temple of Mammon, but no, this is not a bank nor a chamber of commerce, but a real temple, erected by an American Evangelist, D.L. Moody, in 1883, and still active today, although it shares its premises with a pharmacy and kilt shop. Columns - also Corinthian.

The Royal Mile sweeps on, round the corner and down the hill, towards Holyrood House, once the palace of Scotland's kings and queens, though I ran out of time. Incidentally, The Economist's Eastern Approaches blog, has posted this article, written in Edinburgh, considering the impending referendum on Scotland's independence from an interesting Balkan perspective.

Left: Finally - before leaving Edinburgh (I shall be back!), there must be a photograph of the Sir Walter Scott memorial, which was built in 1840. Looking like a Victorian steam-punk space rocket, it is the city's most famous landmark and the largest monument ever built to a writer. Towering 200ft (61m) over Princes Street Gardens, you can climb 287 steps to a viewing gallery for magnificent views of this magnificent city.

Below: Edinburgh awaits - the entrance to the Scott Monument.

More information about travelling to and living in Edinburgh here, the BBC's Travel website.