on taking a walk

They do celebrate halloween here in the UK. I was too busy to come up with a proper costume, so just walked to a little party at my friend Alice's house and had a glass of mulled wine. Just in case everyone was dressed up (they weren't), I put on my dance uniform and pulled my hair into a topknot bun, and called myself a ballerina.

I've put more thought into 26 years of halloween costumes than most would bother, so feeling pretty ok with missing a year.  

But, I did have a nice October 31st. The weather was, shall we say, perfectly autumnal, so I walked into the center, spent a few hours at the National Gallery of Art visiting with Velazquez, el Grecco, Vermeer, Zurburan, Rembrandt, and making acquaintance with Scottish painters that I'd never studied before. Good place. I will return. 

I continued on, pitt-stopping at campus where I saw some fellow artists and chatted about our upcoming study week excursion to the west coast, then kept on walking on through the cute neighborhoods of Tollcross and Morningside in order to reach the Blackford Hills.

Purchases along the walk:

- book "A Small History of the World" (impulse buy)

- chili pepper flakes (hard to find)

- whole dried chili peppers (also hard to find)

- manchego cheese (tastes like Spain, couldn't resist)

- box of cinnamon sticks (to reach 10 quid minimum at Lupe's)

After my purchases, I reached my destination, a nice patch of nature on the south side of the city where I found some elevation, some fresh air, some peace and quiet. I hiked up a bit, not too far, as it was already getting dark.* 

*Note that I didn't write " as it was already late", because getting dark DOES NOT = late here in Edinburgh. The sun has been setting around 4:30pm. omg. 

It was a good day. I rode a double decker home, listening to my ipod and trying to match my mood to a song. The best I came up with was Coldplay's Violet Hill, don't ask me why. Maybe cause they are British.

Oh, one more purchase before I turned in - a small roller suitcase from John Lewis (kind of like an upscale Target, or maybe Macy's) for upcoming mini trips - I've got 3 to look forward to in the month of November.