Tag Archives: cafe

Dark nights, bright lights

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Dark along the Union Canal, by Harrison Park, but the night lit up by the festive lights strung along the lovely, old boathouse, reflecting in the dark, nocturnal waters

Festive Boathouse 03

Vid - Two Wheels In The Night

Coming out of the side doors of the National Gallery of Scotland, which opens out into a lower part of East Princes Street Gardens – the festive market was going on up on the higher path levels, and the colourful lights of the giant Ferris Wheel were reflecting on the wet paving stones in front of me, in a smeared, rainbow reflection, like an oil slick on a puddle

Colourful Reflections

Looking across the open square in front of the Usher Hall, towards Lothian Road, just after winter sunset. You can see the curving glass wall of the modern extension to the Hall on the far right, reflecting back some of the scene

Lothian Road, Dusk 07

Waiting on the night bus, Lothian Road

Lothian Road, Dusk 06

Sitting in front of the Usher Hall – I was just setting up this pic, using the tiny, mini tripod (only 3 inches high, with bendy legs, fits right in my satchel), when this couple sat down on the stairs near me. I actually quite like the way they add to the scene.

Sitting Outside The Usher Hall

Autumn arrives

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Autumn is really making itself felt as we move into late September; chillier in mornings and evenings now, although still quite pleasant temperatures in the main part of the day. Glorious, golden autumn sunlight quite often, and on those days it brings out the colours as the trees begin to turn, and it’s just utterly beautiful.

The Red And The Blue

Autumn Arrives At Holy Corner

With such lovely autumn sunshine, people were making the most of it, enjoying pavement cafe culture in Bruntsfield, before the weather and temperatures slide further and it becomes too uncomfortable to sit outside the cafes and bars (at least not without a coat on!).

Bruntsfield On An Autumn Afternoon 03

Bruntsfield On An Autumn Afternoon 04

Bruntsfield On An Autumn Afternoon 02

As always, you can click on the pics to see the far larger version on the Woolamaloo Flickr stream – now well north of 24, 000 photos!

City of Night

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Being December, it is now dark here well before four in the afternoon; while most people bemoan the very few, short hours of daylight we get in our wee northern kingdom at this time of year, I rather like it and tend to use it to get some nocturnal shots of my city.

Project Coffee After Dark 02

Project Coffee After Dark 01

Cafe Grande At Night 01

Cafe Grande At Night 02

Project Coffee and Cafe Grande after dark, in the Bruntsfield area of the city. There’s something about the dark, winter night outside and bright, warm lights and people inside the cafes and diners and bars that just cries out for a good black and white photo. Slightly rough as these were all taken freehand on the way home from work, so no tripod with me.

Fountain Bar After Dark 04

Fountain Bar After Dark 02

Fountain Bar at night, Fountainbridge

Blue Note

Blue note: corner shop lit up brightly against the winter night, Fountainbridge.

Ghost By The Steps

“Ghost” strolling near the benches by the Union Canal. I love the way long exposures capture the surroundings clearly, but a moving person or object becomes blurred and translucent, like a ghostly, spectral figure, which sometimes quite suits the photo.

Festive Barge 01

Festive Barge 02Homes With A View

Golf Tavern At Night

Tenements overlooking Bruntsfield Links, one of the ancestral homes of the game of golf (there's still a putting green there right in front of the apartments). Always coveted one of these flats, but way out of my price range. The old Golf Tavern can be seen on the far right of the upper pic, and a closer view of it in the second pic.

Tollcross At Night 02

Theatre Crowd

Busy junction at Tollcross at night, and the King's Theatre, with a crowd waiting to go in for a show.

Cinematic Nocturne

Cinematic Nocture: people waiting at the bus stop under the marquee over the entrance to the lovely, old Cameo Cinema. I miss marquees on most moden cinemas, to me they were always part of the magic, all lit up, the regularly changing signs telling you what films were screening, I like that the Cameo still has it.

Castle Of Lights 01

Edinburgh Castle during a light show, seen above and behind the old Victorian tenement buildings around Bruntsfield Links and the Meadows, because you just get views like this in Edinburgh as you casually stroll across a park path after work...

Life by the Canal

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The last couple of months have seen the usual yearly increase in wildlife along the Union Canal, not far from my flat in Edinburgh. Ducks with fluffy wee ducklings, the Moorhens and their little chicks calling to them among the reeds, and of course our resident breeding mute swan couple who have been on this stretch for some years now, with their 2021 brood of cygnets, which have gone from smaller than my hand a few months ago to almost as big as Mama Swan now. As ever click the pics to see the larger sized versions on the Woolamaloo Flickr page.

Ducklings 02

Ducklings 03

It’s rather wonderful to have all this, right in the heart of a major city, we’re very, very fortunate to have it on our doorsteps, little slices of natural beauty in the middle of the urban jungle, a once polluted, dirty, industrial waterway now home to pleasure craft, houseboats and a great refuge for wildlife.

Moorhen and Chicks 01

Moorhen and Chicks 03

Swan Family 011

Swan Family 013

Swan Family 010

Swan Family 03

Of course, all this wildlife attracts the attention of the local apex predators!

The Hunter Watches 03

And naturally it is a great place for Edinburgh citizens to enjoy a stroll by the water and to see the wildlife (always makes my day a little better to see the swans and ducks and their young). Some don’t even just stroll by the water – this chap stretched out in his canoe and let it idly drift while he snoozed happily in the warm sunshine!

Summertime And The Living is Easy 03

Summertime And The Living is Easy 04

Others prefer to walk, cycle, or run alongside the canal, or simply sit by it in the sunlight, or read. I like to walk along to the floating cafe-barge, The Watershed, and get a coffee and flapjack there, sit by their open air tables by the water with my latte and a book before walking home. Great stretch for a wee promenade.

In The Sun By The Bridge 02

Tired

Hand In Hand 02

The Thinker

Sailing Talk 02

Marching In Masks 02

I Can Teach You 01

I can teach you to skateboard!!! I love the look of joy on their faces.

I Can Teach You 02

Serious Cyclist

Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades

Pause the walk for a rest and coffee and a read at The Watershed, the floating cafe-barge by the old Leamington Lift Bridge.

Coffee, Camera, Book

The Watershed at Dusk 01

The Watershed at Dusk 03

The Watershed at Dusk 04

Tollcross by night

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Tollcross at Night 05

Walking home the other evening, taking some night shots as I did, this batch were around Tollcross, like the lovely old Cameo Cinema (seen above), with people waiting at the bus stop in front of it, standing under the marquee, or this cafe and neighbouring shop, still busy with people (had to take quick shot between the traffic flowing by this busy area):

Tollcross at Night 02

And here’s the distinctive red sandstone facade of the King’s Theatre at night, the green building on the lower right of the theatre is Bennett’s Bar, one of my favourite watering holes for many years (good real ales, has cool old tables decorated with OS maps, and it’s dog-friendly):

Tollcross at Night 07

Pavement cafe

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In recent years pavement cafes and bars have become much more common even in Scotland, partly being a bit more Continental but also, I suspect, fuelled by the smoking ban inside bars and restaurants (and what a difference that made, nice to be able to enjoy a pint without leaving smelling like an old ashtray from second hand smoke). For the most part its rather nice sitting outside to enjoy a beer or coffee though so its a change I like, except when some establishments put out chairs and tables in very innapropriate places (like fairly narrow pavements, there are some places they just shouldn’t be) or when you get ignorant folks who keep dragging the chairs out further until they’re blocking too much pavement and forget folks actually need to talk past them. But on the whole its quite nice we’ve got a lot more of this now. This was a quickly fired off snap in Edinburgh’s New Town; I especially like the young guy sitting on the steps nearby looking over at the tables.

New Town in spring, pavement cafe

Magic!

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I had one of those really great Sundays this weekend. Melanie and I met up at the fabulous little pastry shop/gallery near my flat I mentioned back in December, the Old Bakehouse. Scrumptious cakes and a wee art gallery, what a brilliant combination. Choux pastry filled with fresh cream and dusted all over (actually covered) with chocolate flakes…. Mmmmmm, choux pastry….. Lovely little independent gallery in the basement. Down the spiral staircase where you can slurp your coffee and harden your arteries with fresh cream in among the artwork. Terrific. The nice gentleman even gave us a goody bag of some fresh pizza slices since he was about to close and didn’t want to waste them. Result.

Skipped off through the nearby subway (newly decorated with cool stencils and art which I must photograph sometime – sure Olly would like it)to the cinema afterwards, full of coffee and cake and arrived in time to watch an amazing film filled with the cream (oh that word just keeps coming up today, doesn’t it?) of British thespian-hood: Sir Ian McKellen, Jim Broadbent, Tom Baker, Joanna Lumley…

Yep, Mel and I went off to enjoy The Magic Roundabout! And it totally and utterly rocked! It was far too good for the kids who were there and I suspect they were left bemused as to why we were so amused by Dylan the hippy rabbit’s references to grass and hot rocks. And Tom Baker as the Zebedee’s evil nemesis Zeebad was perfect, but then Tom is madder than a hedgehog on a motorbike (but we love him for it). Totally groovy – the only fault was they didn’t play the classic Magic Roundabout music! Why ever not??? I was all ready to dance around in a little circle to it. Oh, wait a minute, perhaps that’s why they didn’t play it…

Continuing our perfect timing we skipped back here through the rather chilly evening and caught the opening two episodes of Joey. Mel and I used to watch Friends together so this worked perfectly – comedy is always funnier when you share it with chums. And of course it is even better with chums with wine and popcorn. I thought Joey was better than I expected although his nephew/room mate does seem to be an amalgam of Chandler’s smart but hopeless with girls character and Monica’s neuroses, but we’ll have to see how it goes. And yes, I’m sure some of you will slag me off for liking Friends, but what the smeg…