edinburgh two

Day Sixteen - Edinburgh - Dean Village, Water of Leith & Royal Botanic Garden

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look for Charlotte Square, Dean Bridge & Water of Leith, all on the left side

My wife stayed behind to rest so only three of us ventured into the City again.

From Waverly Station we walked a mile northwest to Charlotte Square, in upscale New Town, circa late 1700s Georgian architecture, with Palladian characteristics. Robert Adam (of Culzean Castle fame) was the main architect then, and set the standard for New Town neighborhoods.

History says that by the mid-1700s, old Edinburgh had increasingly become an over-crowded & unhealthy place to live, with its own smog, consisting of smoke plus sewage and other foul odors, earning the name "Auld Reekie". If you could afford to escape, you did, to New Town.

Once we reached Dean Bridge, we dropped steeply downhill on a side road to the Water of Leith trail. Heading upstream brought us to Modern Art One, in Dean Village. Heading downstream later took us to the Royal Botanic Garden.

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again.

Waverly Station		heading west on Queen St. to New Town		Royal Society of Edinburgh		statue & castle
	Charlotte Square area		Georgian style New Town		elegant entry w/olive trees
'British Sunrise' window style		Water of Leith is below		topography seen from Dean Bridge		River Leith
	in Dean Village		heading upstream

On the way to the Scottish National Gallery Modern Art One museum, we encountered a trail closure, but two locals showed us a shortcut to take, through Dean Cemetery, another Dean connection....

					R & L
		Celtic cross for a Kennedy		Scottish National Gallery Modern Art One

Once at Modern Art One, we went to the cafe. For me it was another scone w/butter & jam, and Americano experience, in a really nice setting. We had a view of a garden with sculptures & a fountain. Um, yes, this is why we travel.....to enjoy coffee & scones in interesting surroundings.

Modern Art One has a permanent collection of prominent European artists of the vibrant 1930s. It is today considered a "classic" collection of early 20th Century modern art. We did a brief walk-through at this modest-sized collection, in about 30 minutes.

samples of modern art from 75+ years ago

Picasso, Woman lying on the Beach, 1932

Paule Vezelay, Composition, 1933

Merlyn Evans, Day & Evening, 1932

The building interior is pleasant, and, aside from the art works, careful use of lighting & wall coloration created great atmospheric spaces in these high ceiling rooms.

Out in front of Modern Art One is another Charles Jencks' cosmic landscape, named Landform Ueda, about 2 or 3 acres in size. Ueda was a Japanese mathematician with cosmic speculations, who Jencks closely studied. Rich and I walked the contours for maybe ten minutes.

Chas. Jencks' Landform Ueda

Modern Art Two

Modern Art Two, a Museum we didn't go to, has up to date modern exhibits, which often change, we were told.

Dean Village - As early as 1145 there's mention of the "Mills of Dene" and for the next 800 years, grain mills here were successful, with up to eleven mills operating on water-power. If you go back 150 years, Dean Village was northwest and separate from Edinburgh.

The City eventually assimilated the Village and what used to be modest lodgings for Millers and their working-class families are now upscale homes & condos in a desirable part of Edinburgh.

Once back on the Water of Leith trail, we headed downstream, towards the Royal Botanic Garden.

nice home on the detour

Dean Village

Well Court Hall

built in 1880s & renovated in 2007

Dean Bridge from below

walking to 'the Botanics'

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN

this rough map shows where the RBG is (top-center)

Leaving the Water of Leith trail we came up to surface streets and helpful locals pointed us towards the west entrance to the Royal Botanic Garden. Turns out, had we stayed on the Water of Leith trail we would have arrived at the same place, as LCB had suggested.

Once in the Royal Botanic Garden, we booked a 2 pm guided tour, starting an hour later, so R&L and I figured we had time for a quick lunch, on an attractive rooftop cafe, perhaps leaving time for a preview walk of our own in the Garden below, before the tour.

Instead, we had an unexpected and comical lite lunch experience. Whereas R & L got their food pretty quickly & consumed it, I sat and waited and waited and the soup I ordered took 45 minutes to arrive, but it was not the soup I ordered. It was good and I enjoyed it, but we couldn't figure out why the servers had taken so long to make a simple soup substitution. The consequence was that I had squash soup instead of mushroom soup.

Here's the oddest part - two or three times during the delay we saw restaurant staff, like 60 feet away, huddled & looking at us, speaking in low tones, as if something of great consequence was afoot....for three of us it was a real puzzle.

We enjoyed a chat with a pleasant British woman at an adjacent table, who had taken a 5 hour train ride from London to see her son, an investment guy in Embru'. She said she keeps active, and was spending her whole day at the Botanics. Later she planned to cook her son's favorite meal, so like a Mom.

Once we were out on the Garden Tour, the Docent was witty & knowledgeable and said she has given tours here for decades. We had about an hour's walk with her. There were three visitors from Sweden in our small tour group,

	on the Docent- guided tour		our tour guide		the hedge
one of the top 5 gardens in Europe, she said		old building
rare Himalayan clematis					classical elements
talking about the trees		outdated tropical habitat buildings..		creative exit gates

While we'd paid for a 45-minute tour, once we reached the East Gate, it had already been an hour's walk, with another hour to go, to get back to the west entrance. I wish we had seen the entire garden, but, buses back to center city only run along the east side of the RBG.

So three of us bailed from the tour group, bidding goodbye & thanks. We hopped on the #32 bus and 15 minutes later were at Princes Street, where we had different missions, R & L in search of a small luggage item, while I took a walk in Princes Street Garden.

The west end of the garden extends just beyond where The Mound ends. In the hollow below the Castle, I found a kiosk and had an excellent Americano and cranberry scone, with butter & jam, and another scone to go, for my wife.

I was pleased to get the last two photos as the final Edinburgh images. The turquoise fountain is a Napoleonic gift from the early 1800s, and contrasts nicely with the Castle, looming above, as do the Pistache trees in fall color, in the last photo.

					Princes Street garden		the Castle
		the gardens		turquoise fountain		farewell to Edinburgh

Once back at the Hotel in Linlithgow, my wife said the Hotel staff brought her a terrific lunch of lentil soup & coarse bread, with butter.

At 5 pm she enjoyed the cranberry scone with an in-room French roast. Three of us went out for dinner at The Four Marys, a short walk up the street, near the Palace.

the Four Marys

Once we returned to the Hotel, my wife had ordered a room service meal, and was feeling better. Thus, our 16 day road trip came to a quiet end at Linlithgow, Scotland, a small town in the shadow of Edinburgh.

We were up early the last day for a flight from EDI to DUB. At DUB we parted ways, my wife & I heading part-way home, to Minneapolis, while R & L stayed in Dublin one more night before their non-stop return flight to SFO.

They spent their day off on a trip east to Howth for lunch & a walk along the North Sea.

See the epilogue page for additional trip comments

Info sources related to this trip are on the bibliography page

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Photography dept. - photos were taken with a Canon G16.