Princes Street and Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh

Princes Street, named after king George III's sons,  is the major street in the centre of Edinburgh. It was a part of the plan of building the New Town in Edinburgh. The building of the street started in 18th century. 

Nowadays Princes Street is a shopping street with many popular shops along it like Boots, H&M, New Look, Primark, Next, Marks & Spencer, BHS, Debenhams or the oldest Edinburgh department store Jenners. 

Marks&Spencer

Princes Street

Hanover Street

Princes Street and Hanover Street

H&M and Gap

Tram tracks

As Edinburgh council decided to build a tram system, the street was closed last year after the festival and George Street became the busiest street in the centre of Edinburgh. Princes Street is reopened now, but only buses, taxis and cycles can use it. The tram tracks are still being built and the trams are planned to start operating in 2014. It will connect Edinburgh Airport with the city centre. 

To be honest I don't understand why they decided to build it. In modern world undergrounds are built in big cities to help commuters move around the cities. Trams do not sound to be modern, do they? I know that the Edinburgh council has spent a lot of money and there has been also a lot of criticism of this plan and I really do not understand why they are building it as the bus system here is really good. There are buses everywhere, they are frequent, not expensive and they operate also at night and I really think that they are sufficient. What is more, Despite the fact that there is a lot of traffic in Edinburgh, they are rarely late. 

Last year before Christmas Primark was opened in Princes Street. Can you believe that Edinburgh was the only big city in the UK without Primark? I was more than shocked when I found out about it. Before that people from Edinburgh had to go to Glasgow or Dunfermline if they wanted to do the shopping in Primark. Probably it is because of money, but no matter how much they paid for the location, it is always busy and I am sure they are making a great profit. I was not there the first day it was opened, but I went there few days after and believe me that the traffic inside the shop was even worse than the one in Princes Street during Festival time. You could hardly move. It is definitely better now, but if it ever happens to me to visit the shop there are always a lot of customers. 

Edinburgh Primark

I do not like Jenners. I think I have been there maybe three times, but depsite the fact that the department store inside looks quite unique, I am always lost and this place is so claustrophobic. I should not feel lost as I have a good sense of direction, but there is definitely something wrong with this place. 

Jenners Department Store

I am not a shopaholic at all and I personally do not like doing the shopping so I am not one of those girls who have to buy something every time they go to the town because otherwise they are sick. However, if you are in Edinburgh and want to buy some stuff Princes Street, which is full of shops, is waiting for you. At the end of the street close to Leith Street there is also St James Shopping Centre, which I like. 

There are shops on one side of Princes Street and on the other one there are the Princes Street Gardens, which is a public park. 

Eastern part of the Princes Street Gardens

The Scott Monument

The Street Princes Gardens in the summertime

The Scottish National Gallery

You can visit there the Scott Monument, a Gothic spire to honour Sir Walter Scott. There is also the Scottish National Gallery with many Italian, Dutch, French or Scottish paintings. In the eastern part of the Gardens, close to Waverley Station, Christmas Market is held every year. 

In the Western, bigger part of the Gardens there is the Scottish American War Memorial and the Ross Fountain which is so spectacular with the castle in the background.

Western part of the Princes Street Gardens

The Scottish American War Memorial

The Ross Fountain

The Princes Street Gardens in the springtime

The Ross Fountain

The Ross Fountain in the springtime

Close to the Ross Fountain there is a popular playground which is always busy when the weather is nice. Next to it, there is the Parish Church of St Cuthbert and its cemetery.

A playground in the Gardens

The Parish Church of St Cuthbert

A cemetery next to the Parish Church of St Cuthbert

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Remembrance Day in Edinburgh

Remembrance Day, also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day, is a memorial day celebrated in many Commonwealth countries to commemorate those who died in both world wars. 

A lot of British people buy red poppies from the Royal British Legion and wear them on their jackets or coats in memory of those who sacrificed their lives during the wars. 

I took some pictures in the Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh close to the Scott Monument where the grass was covered with thousands of crosses and poppies.

The holiday is celebrated in November, the same month when we celebrate All Saints Day (1st November) and Independence Day (11th November) in Poland. I personally have always liked All Saints Day. Going to the graves of your relatives, lightning candles, putting chrysathemum and praying make you stop and think about your life and its fragility. What is more, you show respect to those who have already died and if they are really close to your heart it is always a very emotional day. 

Let Us Hurry by Jan Twardowski

Let us hurry to love people they depart so quickly 
the shoes remain empty and the phone rings on

what’s unimportant drags on like a cow

the meaningful sudden takes us by surprise

the silence that follows so normal it’s unbearable

like chastity born most simply from despair

when we think of someone who’s been taken from us. 

Don’t be sure you have time for there’s no assurance

as all good fortune security deadens the senses

it comes simultaneously like pathos and humor

like two passions not as strong as one

they leave fast grow silent like a thrush in July

like a sound somewhat clumsy or a polite bow

to truly see they close their eyes

though to be born is more of risk than to die

we love still too little and always too late.

Don’t write of it too often but write once and for all

and you’ll become like dolphin both gentle and strong.

Let us hurry to love people they depart so quickly

and the ones who don’t leave won’t always return

and you never know while speaking of love

if the first one is last or the last one first.

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Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh

During my first visit to Edinburgh, I didn't have enough time to go to Arthur's Seat, which is the main peak of the group of hills located in the centre of Edinburgh. I could only admire it from the bottom standing close to the Scottish Parliament. I wanted so much to climb it, but there was no time so I promised myself that one day when I come back to Edi, I will climb it. 

Calton Hill

Castle

I kept the promise and on a sunny summer day I climbed Arthur's Seat. I enjoyed it so much. Not only was I happy to climb or rather walk and be in contact with nature, but also all those views around me were so amazing. Few more steps up and you can see more and more including the sea. Arthur's Seat is a great place to walk, climb, relax, take pictures, read books, listen to music, go jogging or even ride a bike. 

I walked a lot and I even reached the highest peak, but I didn't choose the hardest route to get there. It reminded me of my nightmares about driving when the road is so vertical that it is impossible to drive. So instead of giving up on the way to the peak, I chose another longer and interesting route and reached it safely. 

In a nutshell, you can see a panorama of Edinburgh with all attractions like the castle, Calton Hill, the Parliament, the Holyrood Palace, the sea and whole beauty of the city. 

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I'm back ..... in Scotland

That's just incredible, but I haven't written anything here for two years. Time flies too quickly. I will try to make up for lost time. Since I started writing this blog there have been a lot of changes in my life. I will not mention the most important one :), but I can tell you that I live in Scotland now and as a result I can call myself "a Pole in Edinburgh" (imitating Sting and his "Englishman in NY"). I haven't travelled too much so maybe I will write a bit about my Scottish life for a while.

I visited Edinburgh in 2009 and there is even a post about it in my blog, but I never thought I would live here. Edinburgh is absolutely beautiful and I am not surprised that it is so popular among tourists throughout the year, but especially during summer when the famous festival takes place here. Well, the city is so busy during the festival and it is a real nightmare to cover Princes Street at that time, especially if you are in a hurry and the crowd doesn't help you at all. You just have to accept it. The good thing is that you can cross the road even if there is a red light which you should never try in Poland unless you want to pay a fine. I learn quickly so once I understood what is going on the roads, I became a local and I cross the road when the tourists wait and are confused. It would be hard to write everything about Edinburgh in one post so I will finish for today.

Here are pictures taken last autumn along the Union Canal and in a kind of a forest which is close to the Canal. It is a great place for walking, running, riding a bike, reading books, feeding swans or just relaxing.

Going down ....

and real nature is waiting for you!

                               Going back .... and you can see the view from the Canal.

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Cornwall, England 18-20/07/2010

I always wanted to go to the region Cornwall in the south-west of England, which finally I managed to visit in 2010. 

Driving from Coventry to Newquay and beyond was a great fun in itself. During my stay in Cornwall me and my husband visited St Ives and Newquay, but we stayed in Plymouth.I know that there are many more places worth visiting in the region, but it is always better to see something rather than nothing. 

St Ives is a small town with amazing harbour and picturesque boats, blue water, beautiful blue sky and nice clouds. And the weather was great at least for a walk around the harbour.

It was the first time I saw the coast of England and it was impressive. I didn't feel like I was in England at all. I would rather say it was definitely a different country - maybe France. The town achieved the award "Best UK Seaside Town" in both 2010 and 2011. 

There is one thing you should watch out while in St Ives or Newquay - seagulls. They can be really dangerous. I will tell you  a story which I witnessed in St Ives. There was an old man sitting on the bench next to ours and he was eating an ice cream. Out of the blue there was a kind of a noise. Nobody knew exactly what happened as it lasted maybe three seconds. Will you believe that a seagull grabbed the man's ice cream together with the cone? Even the man didn't know what had happened. It was the first time I was eating my ice cream as fast as I could. Looking around and expecting seagulls from every directions made me feel like I was taking part in the Hitchcock's film "The Birds".

In the Newquay zoo there was a notice saying:"Don't feed the seagulls". I found it quite amusing after this accident with the ice cream and my opinion is as follows: You don't have to feed seagulls, they will feed themselves when they feel like doing that.

Newquay is a great pardise for surfers probably because of great waves and it is something natural to see people (especially young ones) wearing wet suits in the streets of the town. There is a sandy beach, but quite wet, not like in Poland. It was nice to walk along the beach and play with the waves like a little girl:-).

In Newquay we also visited a local zoo, but there are not too many animals so I was not impressed too much.

It was a great trip and it's great that the weather was good:))

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Zakopane, Poland 05/2010

Zakopane is a town located in the south of Poland in the Tatra mountains. It is called "the winter capital city of Poland" and is believed to be one of the most popular tourist destinations in Poland.

Here you can see the pictures of the largest lake in the Tatra Mountains Morskie Oko (The Eye of the Sea). The picture was taken in May but there were still signs of winter.

Here is a picture from the top of Kasprowy Wierch. You can take the cable car to get there. Even in May it was still possible to ski. I really felt like winter was still there.

Another photo of Zakopane was taken on the top of Gubałówka. You can take a cable car to get on the top of it or just climb the mountain as it is not too much complicated.

A bit of Zakopane wooden architecture - masterpiece which I adore a lot.

Na Pęksowym Brzyzku Cemetery

If you ever come to Krakow, don't miss going to Zakopane, too. You can spend great time in the Tatra Mountains, visit different places, experience mountaineous climate, culture, food and folk music. It is something absolutely different and I am sure you will enjoy it a lot.

A bit of Polish highland music: Andrzej Brandstatter - Nad Tatrami

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