The city and the tower

A couple of weeks ago I went up to Edinburgh to visit my sister Isabel. We wandered around the criss-crossing streets, ate haggis for breakfast, climbed up to the view across the city - and I got a shock from just how close to the sea we were when I turned around suddenly - and drank enough whisky for me to run late and miss my journey back.

It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time

We spent the afternoon at Ralph's wandering through the endless rooms hung with paintings and stuffed animals, and then laid the table with a stretch of cutlery and a different glass for each course, with great spaces between each place in order to fill the entire grand dining table. Molly and I baked bread which we ate the following morning before walking into the sprawling grounds of the house, staring out at the fields all around us. It felt strange when we finally had to pack up our things again and drive back to Cambridge to begin another week of late-night essays and days spent in the library.