Memories of Mrs Slocombe

The trouble with blogging is that if you stop you fall behind. I stopped over the weekend, fell behind, caught up Tuesday night but not Tuesday's adventures themselves and them last night I got distracted. So here I am in a bar Thursday tea time three days behind.

At least all 3 days have been in Edinburgh so I can run them all into one or two posts. First things first, let's get this out of the way. Edinburgh is not my favourite city. The architecture is either modern and boring (OK so the Scottish Parliament building is the exception that proves the rule) or is stolid Victorian granite lacking any finesse or charm. Add to that the fact that to get anywhere in the city you have to either fight throngs of tourists in Princess Street or fight throngs of tourists in The Grassmarket. Searching for real non-tourist Edinburgh is a challenge - more of that later. Oh and the beer is bloody expensive! Strike 3!

Let's have some pictures of a couple of artworks I found en passant

OK that's got those over and done with, so guess what? It's daily rant time (c'mon you know you've been waiting for it). Edinburgh has probably more than its fair share of down and outs, beggars, and homeless. Dispossessed people trying to survive a period of austerity enforced by a government that doesn't care. So naturally I found this more than a little obscene

You can just about make out two pampered pussies, one under the couch and one on it in this photo

I know many gentle readers share a greater passion for our feline friends than I do but can we really justify this when so many people are going cap in hand to food banks. Perhaps sometime should open a homeless cafe where people with too much surplus cash can pay for the unfortunate to lounge around on fine sofas all day. Come the revolution the owner of such pussy pampering parlours will be first against the wall!

Oh, I suppose I ought mention the cultural highlight of the day, The Scottish National Gallery. Would have been a better visitor experience were I offered somewhere to stow my backpack not just told to take it off and carry it. Some good paintings, pleasing to see Constable's Salisbury Cathedral (and the original working sketch) but I was surprised Landseer's Monarch Of The Glen was a recent addition. I can't believe that such an iconic Scottish image hadn't been in this major gallery for decades. Lots of other big names but Constable was pretty much as late as the collection got. Must try time time to visit the modern art gallery.

Well that was Tuesday, a gentle ramble amongst the tourist ridden pampered pussy excesses of downtown Edinburgh