Earl Grey Tea and Bookish Things
Last Sunday my good friend and I had a bookish day out in Edinburgh. It had taken some time to co-ordinate our diaries around work commitments, children’s events and the good old Scottish weather but here we were. We started with morning tea at the famous and very opulent Dome. Sat next to a glorious bookcase filled with leather-bound books, under a crystal chandelier, sipping Earl Grey tea from delicate china cups we felt very pleased with ourselves. We were, after all, fully functioning adults at 10am doing something we enjoy and generally pleasing ourselves.
Once we had put the world to rights we planned to visit some of the city’s famous independent bookshops and set off in search of Stockbridge. Edinburgh is a beautiful city and as much as I love the Old Town, the New Town has some absolute gems. As I was so busy taking in the architecture I wasn’t following the map and so we found ourselves on Circus Lane. A beautiful, whimsical little cobbled street that was originally a mews or set of stables and carriage houses but is now a community of artists and creatives. After a visit to our first bookshop, The Golden Hare, we continued to explore area. We took a break from the books to explore a producer’s market and then found a cocktail bar to pause at and put down our heavy book bags. The day ended with dinner at the Bonnie and Wild food market in the St. James Quarter. It had been perfect and best of all we had only explored a fraction of the bookshops meaning this could become a regular fixture!
Of all the gifts my love of books has given me this friendship is a treasure. As a student teacher, I bonded with my mentor over our shared love of Gothic fiction and the rest is (as the saying goes) history. It was lovely to have a whole day to just ‘be’ and explore. To slow down and take it all in. To enjoy spending time with a friend doing something we enjoy. 2024 needs more of this!
The book situation in my house is getting out of hand and there are books hoarded in every spare nook and cranny. I have suggested that we could install a garden room for my husband’s office and turn the current one into my library but he isn’t keen. He seems to think that is start of a slippery slope. So I’m having to settle for taking it over by stealth one book at a time. To save any panic I had set myself a book purchasing limit which I did stick to… if you don’t count the ones I bought the kids… or as presents… or the notebooks. Seriously though if my ‘to be read’ pile on my bedside gets any taller I’m in danger of being crushed to death if one of the cats topples it on me. As an act of self-preservation, I have made more time to read this week and am particularly enjoying ‘Legends and Lattes’ by Travis Baldree. I wasn’t sure how ‘cozy fantasy’ was going to work but it really does!
Photo Credit: Michelle Henderson
