I loved growing up in Barcelona.
22.08.2024 - 21:42 / lonelyplanet.com
Aug 22, 2024 • 3 min read
Despite its infamous seven hills (it doesn’t matter which way you turn, you’ll always be going uphill), Edinburgh is a very walkable city. Scotland’s capital city is by no means its biggest, but and its metropolitan feel – so many characterful neighborhoods, busy streets and things to do – and compact size mean you can take a short stroll and get a sense of its diversity and vibrancy within minutes.
Another distinctive feature about Edinburgh is there is an extinct volcano right in the middle of it. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh’s extraordinary geological landmark that sits at the center of Holyrood Park and looms over the rest of the city with an ancient grace. And while lots of people just take a walk just around the hill or, god forbid, up it, I love using it as a transition space between Edinburgh’s north and south neighborhoods.
So with that in mind, let’s start on Easter Road, the famous Leith Walk’s more lowkey sister, running just parallel in the north of the city. This is a real locals' neighborhood, lined with Edinburgh’s characteristic Victorian tenement flats and plenty of independent cafes and dinky shops. Stop at Twelve Triangles for a coffee and a perfectly laminated pastry, and then head south towards Abbeyhill. Cross London Road, cut up the violently steep Abbey Mount (what did I tell you), and through the semi-industrial, semi-pastoral shortcut of Croft-An-Righ.
Coming out the other side you should get your first glimpse of Arthur’s Seat and it’s a doozy, all sharp crags, barbed gorse and impossible wilderness in the heart of the city. Head towards it and then take Queen’s Drive round to the south (although go up the opposite way for a minute for a quick peek at St Margaret’s Loch and its resident grumpy swans). It’s a majestic walk with the sheer hill face on one side and stacks of flats on the other, a clash of ancient and modern that undergirds Edinburgh’s entire charm.
Soon on your right you’ll glimpse a path and steps leading sharply upwards through the trees. Say goodbye to the volcanic phase of your walk and head up to Edinburgh’s Southside, a vibey student neighborhood which houses both the University of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Walk down St Leonard’s Lane, left down St Leonard’s Street and straight down Bernard Terrace and Hope Park Terrace to find yourself at Summerhall, Edinburgh’s coolest arts venue. The university’s old veterinary school has been transformed into a multipurpose hub, with some of the Fringe’s best shows in August and excellent music, theater and exhibitions all year round. Pop your head into their wee galleries for some experimental art and then head to The Royal Dick at the back of the
I loved growing up in Barcelona.
Putting together an Ireland packing list means preparing for the unpredictable. “The old cliché of four seasons in one day in Ireland is true,” says Cathrine Burke, co-owner of the modern luxury boutique hotel Breac House in Dunfanaghy. Navigating this beautiful yet capricious weather requires a thoughtful approach. So I sought out professional packing tips from experts like Burke, and Sara Banks—founder of Dublin-based SteamLine Luggage and 20-year Ireland resident. (Her collection of vintage-inspired luggage and bags would look right at home inside Irish castles and historic boutique hotels.)
Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, August 30, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Scotland will be getting its first tourist tax, a levy in Edinburgh, but the local tourism industry is concerned it will make the destination less competitive.
Aug 28, 2024 • 7 min read
A version of this article originally appeared in Condé Nast Traveller India.
The 53-year-old multimedia artist Yto Barrada grew up in a blue two-story house in a verdant Tangier neighborhood that overlooks the Strait of Gibraltar. About a decade ago, the Moroccan French artist, who also lives in New York City, transformed part of the family compound — including several small structures, as well as an expansive botanical garden that provides the flora she uses to make natural dyes — into what she recently named the Mothership, an experimental arts center where she offers textile and other workshops and hosts artists’ residencies. One of its newest additions, in another small garden up the path from the main street, is a 95-square-foot single-room pinewood caravan, a 50th-birthday gift to Barrada from her husband, the American filmmaker and actor Sean Gullette. “It’s my favorite present ever,” she says.
By the time we reached the third waterfall on the Kahunira trail, my wife, Kiki, and I had been walking through the forested backcountry of Kiambu County, Kenya, for nearly three hours. Along the way, we had tasted sweet lady finger bananas in the market town of Githunguri, sipped a sour Kikuyu home brew called muratina proffered by laborers at a rural gravel quarry and made a heart-pounding shortcut across rust-flecked irrigation pipes that traversed a steep gorge fringed with tea plantations.
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