Bistros and Graveyards in my backyard?

(By Chris)

I went out this afternoon to take a little walk and enjoy the first blue sky I'd seen so far, and ended up finding an amazing Italian bistro and seeing some early 17th-century gravestones. Didn't bring the camera, unfortunately, but absolutely should have.

The bistro was, like, actually Italian, for starts. All the staff and about 2/3 of the clientele spoke Italian with the most excellent waving of hands, and their paninis (parma ham, basil, and fresh mozerella) + espresso were to die for. I grabbed a newspaper so that I could have an excuse to hang out there longer, but the destruction in Haiti sprawling across the pages gave me one of those "I'm-so-lucky-and-ungrateful" sort of moments. Those are always good to have every now and then.

Across the street, I ducked into Greyfriar's Kirkyard, a cemetary with all sorts of dignitaries of old Edinburgh from about 1500 on. It started snowing as I went in, and I was wearing a black coat, so I could see the snowflakes in very high contrast before they decided it was time to melt.

Around the edge of the yard were the most impressive grave sites, with ornate carvings of skulls, bones, hourglasses, and bells (recurring symbols for death, I assume?) surrounding the deceased's family history. They were written in Latin, as I suppose that would be the classy way to document ancestry. Many of them were from the first half of the 1600's, and the whole thing was just stunning.

So now I'm back inside, the blood has returned to my fingers, and I'm waiting on this adorable little single-serving coffeepress that my flatmate has loaned me. Yessss.