Edinburgh in December
[♥ Coat: J Crew ♥ Bag: Kate Spade * ♥ Boots: Dune ‘Sandhurst’]
Last Sunday, Terry and I headed to Edinburgh to do some Christmas shopping. As it happened, though, we ended up abandoning the shopping in favour of a walk around the Christmas market, which always sets up around this time of year, with lots of stalls and rides. We also ended up taking about a millionty-one photos, because although Edinburgh is a beautiful city at any time of year (she says without a hint of bias), it was looking particularly lovely that day, with the sun going down, and the Christmas lights coming on.
“Let’s take photos!” I said to Terry excitedly. “Let’s take photos of EVERYTHING!” And so we did. And now I will show you them, because everyone likes looking at tons of photos of pretty much exactly the same thing, don’t they?
No, we didn’t go on any of the rides. I’m scared of… well, I’m scared of just about everything, to be perfectly honest, but I’m particularly scared of things that take you up to a great height, and then spin you around. I was prepared to consider a trip on the ferris wheel, but it was £8 per person, and by that point we’d spend all of our spare cash on food. Speaking of which:
We ate a LOT of food. In the photo of Terry, he’s eating a lamb burger made by Tony Singh, who I didn’t recognise, but whose stall Terry insisted on returning to three times, at which point the poor man probably thought we were stalking him.
The market was lovely, and only slightly marred by The Others, who had crammed themselves into every available space, until you couldn’t move without falling over someone. At one point a very charming American lady screamed at Terry to “OMG JUST MOVE!” and all we could do was laugh (and silently curse her, obviously), because we were so hemmed in by people that unless we’d magically grown wings and floated up into the air, there was literally nowhere to move TO. So, you know, Happy Christmas to you too, Others!
I didn’t get to ride the carousel, either.
I totally will, though.
Amber McNaught (@foreveramber)
New blog post, featuring my visit to Edinburgh’s Christmas market: http://t.co/uiyGQ6IoUh #Edinburgh #scotland #christmasmarket
Roisin
Edinburgh certainly is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been as well, and these photos are really lovely! They have Christmas markets in Birmingham every year too but I usually avoid them because of The Others, as well. Your story of the American lady reminded me so much of something that happened to me in Tottenham Court Road tube station a few weeks ago – there was some sort of bottleneck on the walkway leading to one of the platforms, and I got stuck behind a big scrum of people who weren’t moving. The guy behind me bumped into me then muttered – but loudly enough for me to her – “oh, GOOD place to stop”, to which I replied “You can see I can’t go anywhere, there’s no need to be a dick about it!” and then he got all angry (and I think, embarrassed) and claimed that he hadn’t been talking to me, but finished it with by telling me “Well, fuck you then!” !! What. A. Winner.
Amber
Oh God, The Others are just the worst! My dad actually had an almost-identical experience last week, but in his case, the guy COULD have just walked around him, but instead chose to stop behind him and do the “deliberately talking loud enough for you to hear me, but I will pretend I wasn’t if you challenge me” thing. (And my dad DID challenge him, and the Other was totally astonished: they can’t BELIEVE it when someone actually speaks back to them!) On THAT subject, while Terry was taking one of the photos of me, two girls walked by and made a big show of laughing at me, and going, “Well, it isn’t a very nice backdrop, is it?” (again, loud enough to make sure I heard, but in a way that made me sure that if I’d said something to them, they’d have been horrified… you’re supposed to just let them talk about you and say nothing, apparently!) This is why I’m antisocial.
Roisin
I can never believe how rude people are when they see you having your photograph taken. You’d almost think that it wasn’t 2013 and that cameras aren’t commonplace, the way people stop what they’re doing to point and gawp at someone having a photo taken! I’ve never had a nasty comment though, or at least, not one that I could hear. I think, much like the guy your dad challenged, this dick on the tube wasn’t expecting me to react. Admittedly, I could have been a bit less aggressive, but there hadn’t been any nee for him to even bump into me, so he was already being a dick about it even before he opened his mouth. Bah humbug to all of The Others!
Amber
I know, I was actually really surprised to get comments (plus people almost falling over themselves because they were so busy staring at the OMGCAMERABOX) in Edinburgh of all places because, you know, it’s Edinburgh – it’s chock full of tourists with cameras, all taking photos of the castle, so you would think people would be a bit more used to the idea that “sometimes people have their likeness taken with a newfangled photo gadget here”, but nope, it’s just ASTONISHING to them! As for The Others, they totally don’t expect to be challenged: my dad said when he turned around and politely asked the guy if he was in the way, the Other just started spluttering and didn’t know what to say. It really annoys me: I mean, either talk about me behind my back, or talk about me to my face – don’t do the talking behind-my-back-but-making-sure-I-hear thing!
Sarah
Edinburgh looks so lovely, it’s definitely a place I want to go to one day! The Others are pretty bad in London too, I had a woman mutter “just push in why don’t you” when the train doors stopped directly in front of me instead of her. When I challenged her she insisted I was pushing in and tried to push me. I had the last laugh though as I’d injured my knee and was all banadaged up so as I limped onto the train she got very flustered and embarrassed.
Amber
Aargh, that’s awful! It’s particularly annoying in situations like that, where everyone’s in the same crush, and there’s literally nowhere to! I overheard quite a few people at the market saying, “Why can’t people just be patient?!” so at least we’re not the only ones annoyed by it!
Kelly
The hour as the sun is going down is always the best time for photos! I haven’t had a chance to check out the Edinburgh celebrations yet as we’re on holiday, but I love The Dome lights. Do they have a snow machine on the roof again this year?
(Edinburgh moan – I don’t like the tram wires in the city centre.)
Amber
I didn’t notice if there was a snow machine, but it was looking so lovely with the lights on!
I’m not keen on the tram lines either: it’s almost impossible to take a photo of the castle/old town now without them getting in the way. I mean, won’t someone please think of the bloggers?!
Rachel
We have Christmas Markets in Manchester too, which I’ve never been to. The look I get when I say I’ve never been makes me think I should go, but then you see all the pictures on facebook and there’s just too many people, I’d hate it. So I’ll have a mulled wine at home thanks in front of my fire without my personal space being so thoroughly violated.
char
I say a lot of these kinds of things to The Others. Today, I was in the parcel office in town and a man came in with a scruffy dog on a lead. I’m quite scaredy when it comes to dogs, so I backed away a little bit, but the dog still came over to me and began licking my shoes. Um. MY SHOES. It’s owner was laughing away, until I told him that these Irregular Choice would cost him about £70 to replace, and it was really up to him whether he’d like to replace them or dissuade his scruffy dog from licking them. He got all affronted, but removed the dog.
You Christmas market photos are lovely and I’ve never been to Edinburgh – but it looks lovely and will definitely be added to my “places to visit in 2014” list.
Amber McNaught (@foreveramber)
New blog post, featuring a trip to Edinburgh’s Christmas Market:
http://t.co/gUB9eaSPyy http://t.co/WFOheBpjmC
Maria
I hate the Others too (when they’re rude, if not I simply don’t care about them when I’m going out)…
For example the other day I was at the postal office to ship a package and there was a nice man offering me a numbered ticket that was at least 10 places ahead of my ticket (I was like 40th in the queue, and the ticket was like a 30), and he loudly asked if it could be useful to me, since he had two tickets… I didn’t even have the time to process this information in my brain, that another guy sitting on my right reached out and stole the ticket from Nice-guy’s hand whilst claiming ‘Yeah thanks I could use that!’… And of course when I asked he refused to give it back to me like it was meant from the start, and the woman next to him piped in saying ‘But he was here before you, he’s more entitled to it!’, and when I finally let it go (I don’t like arguing with strangers), she got all ‘Ah youngsters this days, so rude and arrogant!’. Yeah, she totally said that. And that’s just one of the many absurd things I’d have to tell on ‘the Others topic’…
By the way, I love yours (Terry’s?) photos of Edinburgh, it really is a lovely city! I’ve been here when I was 15, and I still regret of not having visited the castle because my entire group of friends claimed ‘Visiting the castle like the teacher is for losers!!!1 Ahr ahr ahr!’. But the funny thing is that we had payed the ticket to enter the castle, and we wasted the money by hanging in a bar for 2 hours, so in the end I realized we had all been losers in the end… So yeah, like I said, Others can be dumb, you just have to build antibodies to them and strengthen yourself!
Tracey
Aside from The Others, you look fab. I have never been to Edinburgh but I would very much like to visit one day, it looks so pretty!
Katie
Please can you tell me what those puddingy looking things are, and whether they will post them to Brighton from Edinburgh? If not, I will simply have to revisit Edinburgh soon; because it is ruddy lovely. xxx
Amber
I’ve no idea what they’re called, I’m afraid, but it’s like a kind of chocolate-covered shell with a marshmallowy centre, if that makes sense? If you’ve ever had a Tunnocks tea cake, they’re a bit like that, but they come in lots of different flavours!
Call me M
Others are the worst! I get really annoyed when I’m somewhere with big crowds of people.
You look so cute here! Love your green coat! And I’d love to visit Edinburgh some day. I hope, soon.
Erin
Can’t wait! Will be there so soon 😀
Charlotte (@makupbcandlelit)
Edinburgh is so lovely, I haven’t been since I moved away from Scotland a while back and the photos make me want to go back – maybe for Hogmanay :o). Xx
Makeup by Candlelight
aida
ummm…. i hesitated to comment coz i have too many weird stories to tell and not sure how it make you feel, better or worse
(lets see, i have strangers pooping on the street, stranger running at me yelling that i stole his dog, neigbours upstairs dancing to the sounds of russian 80s and 90s prison folklore mid afternoon to name a few)
so i thought i’ll just say: others being others coz they don’t care about you is ok, that’s how the world works, i guess (at least where i live)
it’s the other others i’m on the look out for. the ones that want to hurt someone…..coz their demons tell them to do so or whatever it is that makes a guy decide my 6 year old female dog is his 6 month old male, and that i could possibly steal someones dog (!), you know 🙂
and personaly i think i’ll never guite get how anybody can be a jerk to someone looking like a movie star, but what do i know….
aida
and we call the puddingy things “krambo”
rhymes with rambo