Georgian House

Today Olga and I went to the Georgian House on Charlotte Square Gardens, yet another private garden*. As a National Trust member and a volunteer there, Olga got me in for free. 

I spent a few hours there, chatting with the volunteer in each room. Some of them seemed eager to talk; I could barely understand a couple of them. Although I was interested,  it almost seemed like I was moving from room to room doing talk therapy, depending on their needs. Some were very knowledgeable,  others just friendly. 

(More photos will appear but I'm having technical difficulties) 🙄

I also took a half hour to check out the protest next door: health workers for Palestinian rights at the First Minister's building, like 10 Downing Street.

Of course, the horrors of the Georgian era (1714 to 1830), of illiterate girls working 12 hours a day for rich families and having to empty their chamber pots (or with "lower" classes, a warning,  “gardez l’eau,” an old Parisian shouted warning for a chamber pot being emptied from upper story windows into the streets) are entirely different from the Israeli bombardment and starvation of children in Gaza...(or is it that different?)

Then I was hungry (cruel irony) and went to an Italian restaurant called Bar Napoli, based on a volunteer's recommendation.  It was good but noisy, one of the problems with dining alone for me: it's not easy to block out the sounds of others talking. There was a table of 12 next to me!

Then I went to the Portrait Gallery, part of the National Galleries of Scotland,  but only had an hour so I only saw the modern portraits. A bust of Sir Alexander McCall Smith! 

A painting of Tilda Swinton by her former lover, John Byrne!

And the Great Hall!

*"Edinburgh is the only place in Scotland where the middle of the city is full of huge massive parks that are completely off-limits for the general public and often even for people living in the same area."

https://openparks.co.uk/