Bookish Edinburgh

 

Here the small press, the untold story
The hesitant pen- can all jostle in and find
A space to breathe

And bask beneath the delighted gaze
Of avid browsers gleaning the shelves
To claim the power of words.

- Bashabi Fraser

You probably know that when I travel, the first thing I look for is used bookstores to browse. There is something different about every place, every city, every selection of books. Every store displays and focuses on different books and has a different feel. I love that. It's like discovery, wherein you never know what you will find on those shelves. It's a treasure hunt.

When I find used bookstores, usually coffee shops and charming neighborhoods easily follow. In Edinburgh, a walk down the famous and beautifully curved Victoria Street lined with colourful shops on the lower level, and tall historic stone on the upper levels, leads to the Grassmarket, which in Medieval days was a grassy, open space where the farmers would bring their livestock to sell. This area is lower in elevation than all the neighbourhoods around, so you feel surrounded by views. This is where my favourite view of the castle can be seen (details forthcoming in next section). The dominating stone castle perched on top of the ancient rock.

Along the way to the bookshops, walking through Grassmarket, you come to a set of stairs. It's not unusual to see stairs leading up somewhere mysterious in Edinburgh, but if you take these stairs (called the Vennel), you will get to the best views of the castle, in my opinion. And best of all, it is not touristy. There were a couple of young girls up there taking photos, but that was it. All the views, and no crowds. 

Back down the stairs, and onto the bookshops, a few blocks away. A perfect accompaniment to book browsing is of course some cake and tea. The perfect spot for that was Lovecrumbs, a coffee/tea shop that had delightful Victoria sponge cake with rose, and violet petal tea. This was a local spot, filled with students and friends meeting up with each other to catch up.

After tea and cake, you see, you have the energy to browse two lovely bookshops, and come away with a tote bag heavy with old books. Actually, I had purchased so many books from Edinburgh Books that the owner saw how many I had, and brought the tote bag over for free. I am one grateful booklover.