Edinburgh: Waterstones bookshop & Calton Hill

Having visited Edinburgh on a few occasions last summer I can already identify with the late Alan Rickman's experience of the Scottish capital: 'I always feel that when I come to Edinburgh in many ways I am coming home' (source). We were there during the Fringe, when the city is bursting with life and culture, and created unforgettable memories. Waterstones on Prince Street, their West End branch, made it to our list of homes away from home: This four-storey bookshop is the bibliophile's Promised Land: it has a fantastic collection of books and a relaxing atmosphere, not to mention the W Café with its stunning view of the Castle Hill.

The Castle Hill seen from the W Café

To escape the crowded streets, we walked through the Princes Street Gardens from the Waverley station to Waterstones, enjoyed refreshment and stayed longer than we intended - we found time for Waterstones on each of our trips. Just behind the building, running parallel between Princes St and George St, is the charming Rose Street, a narrow street free from traffic with what seems like endless pubs and restaurants.

W Café, a coffee house within the Waterstones bookshop

Victoria Street in the Old Town

In Edinburgh we walked all over the city centre: up to the Castle and down to the Grassmarket, up Victoria Street, along the Royal Mile, where we explored some of the courts, and off in the direction of Calton Hill. Up the stairs to Calton Hill we went to enjoy the spectacular view of the city. We even climbed the stairs to enjoy the view from the Nelson Monument. It was worth it.

The clock tower of the Balmoral Hotel on Princes Street, seen from Calton Hill

The Castle seen from Calton Hill, and to the right, the gothic Scott Monument

A walk on a Scottish beach

One of the perks of moving to Scotland is that it now takes me less than twenty minutes to walk down to the beach. It's a real sandy beach where people come to enjoy the sun in summertime, something I'm looking forward to enjoying in a few months. Today, however, it was a slightly cold February day and people were walking their dogs. From the beach I could see the snow-capped peaks on the Isle of Arran but apart from that spring was definitely in the air.

Life … in Scotland

I have been silent for a month and during this time I somehow managed to pack our things and move to Scotland. I will give you a moment to digest that … or perhaps read again. I am now living on the west coast, southwest of Glasgow, within walking distance from the town's centre and the beach. A real beach. On my first day I woke up to the sound of seagulls and immediately felt at home. I love the closeness to the sea; I was brought up with it in Reykjavik, Iceland. Our new home is an old, renovated house with soul: it has French windows, a high ceiling, original wooden doors and stairs, and both old and new floorboards. It speaks to me. I even have a garden with hydrangeas! During our no-Wi-Fi-yet period, I would sit in this corner in the dining room with my coffee and play solitaire, with actual playing cards, when taking a break from the unpacking. Very old school and calming.

These days life mainly consists of unpacking and arranging things, getting the children settled in their new schools and allowing the ear to get used to the Scottish accent. I thought it would be more difficult to understand the Scots but I was wrong. As I have only been living here for a short time, I cannot really make any general statements, but I have to say that I find it astonishing how one line on a map can change people. The Scottish are very different from the English in temperament; nature and climate must have something to do with it.

Kember & Jones deli café in Glasgow

Yesterday we took a trip to the Scottish city of Glasgow and I fell head-over-heels in love with its West End district. Somewhere in the heart of this beautiful and laid-back district, with cafés and restaurants on every corner, I turned to my husband and asked him: Where has this city been all my life? At 134 Byres Road we found Kember & Jones deli café and when I opened the door I was home. We got a table upstairs with view over the ground floor where we took in the wonderful atmosphere of this place.

I never write any of those 'my week in Instagram' posts on my blog (sorry folks, I find them pointless) but when I took the camera out of my bag to snap photos of the West End district to share on the blog, I realised that I had left the battery in the charger at home ... duh! Luckily my husband had his phone with him so I was able to snap these two at Kember & Jones and share them on Instagram. This only means that I have to return to Glasgow one day.

Back to the café. Personally, I cannot stand it when my latte is served in a large glass. Dazzled by the café's rustic interior style, I forgot to ask how they served it at Kember & Jones and it arrived in a medium-sized, vintage-looking glass, which didn't bother my latte-soul at all. More importantly, it was good! I ordered a sandwich from their menu with roasted vegetables, hummus, spinach and harissa chilli dressing, with beans and salad on the side, and it was heavenly. When I thought this café couldn't enchant me anymore I found pretty much all the cookbooks on my wish list on display on the ground floor (Sunday Suppers by Karen Mordechai and A Kitchen in France: A Year of Cooking in My Farmhouse by Mimi Thorisson, just to name a few, and I added to it The River Cafe Classic Italian Cookbook by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers). This café is simply a charmer.

As a final note, let me just say that if you ever travel to Glasgow or have a stop-over, don't make the mistake of staying only one day. I could spend days in the West End district alone. In fact, I think I could spend days just enjoying the cafés, restaurants and scenery on Byres Road.