Impulsively Reading Since...

I'm back! I've officially forbidden myself to go to another graveyard tomorrow if I don't finish this first. So here I am. Posting these pictures so I can take more pictures I don't have time to post. Sigh. I really had great visions of keeping up with this trip reporting thing this time around. It's not going very well so far. But I am having fun, and I'll have tons of stuff to slowly post once I get home...we'll go with that for now, see how far it gets us.

( and we're off )

For the sake of those who might be here strictly for the cemetery pics I'm going to do this slightly out of actual trip order - which bugs me a bit, but I didn't actually do too much in the morning; it's mostly a bunch of, 'huh, isn't that weird' and 'hee, that's sort of cool, isn't it?' pics. Also, due to constraints of time I haven't resized these so I apologize if anyone is having to scroll sideways.

( Necropolis is such a great word )

So now I've gotten all paranoid about the size and quantity of the pictures added to the new expand/collapse feature (plus time again) so I'll cut this into two pieces. There's a whole little area where the founders or some such paid tribute to themselves as their headstones, it's hilarious. So, more still to come!

Almost all pictures were taken by my Kurt Russell. All quoted text comes from A Walk Through Graceland Cemetery: A Chicago Architecture Foundation Walking Tour by Barbara Lanctot. Any errors or typos are mine alone.

Every year on my birthday we do ‘something’ and in 2011 we took a walking tour of Graceland Cemetery, self-guided by the above-named book. It was a lovely day and we took lots of pictures.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Right - first, breakfast was yummy.



On Monday I visited the Scottish National Gallery and the Scottish National Museum, neither of which I thought allowed pictures, but now I think the Museum actually does. I really wish places would put the little pictogram for either ‘no photography’ or ‘no flash photography’ on the map that most people pick up on their way into places. I was absolutely sure the Portrait Gallery couldn’t possibly allow photography, but the only way I could confirm it was to find the one sign at the entrance which stated that. I also hit the Museum on the Mound on this day and the cemetery across the way from Pilrig Park.

( Read more )

As chloris perfectly pointed out, no one but I will know that any of this is out of order. Still, for my own sanity I’ll have a go at continuing. I must still have a look over my Castle entry as there’s something in there causing an error. I’ll plough ahead now though. When last I left you, I’d visited the Farmers’ Market, then had a good book-buying interlude followed by a leisurely, rather posh, and consequently overpriced ‘afternoon tea’ in the Tower Restaurant at the Scottish National Museum, causing me to be kicked out rather unceremoniously at five – closing time – and necessitating an additional museum added to my list of – go back later. Both the Portrait Gallery and the National Museum feature free admission, making this a viable option. Right across from the museum is Greyfriar’s Kirkyard. Perfect. As you will notice soon if you haven’t already, cemeteries are a draw for me, the light was beautiful, and there was no rain threatening to deluge my camera.

( Greyfriar’s Kirkyard ahead )

Please forgive me if, at any point, you are someone who is trying to follow this chronologically. My post on Day 3 - when I visited Edinburgh Castle - is currently causing LJ to spit out an error. Out of frustration I posted the next installment which I’d already written to make sure I could post anything at all. I could. And since the last time I was amused by LJ correcting me - it turned out I was spelling ‘dalmatians’ incorrectly - well, I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt.

Day 5 got away from me just a little bit. The plan was to visit Edinburgh’s Farmers’ Market in the morning and the Scottish National Museum in the afternoon. A couple of things conspired to set me off schedule. My left knee had been seriously protesting all the down-hilling I had done on day 4 and it continued to do so all this day as well. This means I took a bus into the city and was moving quite a bit more slowly than usual. Also, disappointed at the dearth of used bookstores I was finding on my own - oh, I bought a copy of Tess of the D’ubervilles from a charity shop on day 2 - I had marked onto the map a shop which came up when I did a google search for the area I was going to be in for the market and museum. Now, I have no idea why only one dot came up, but there was a whole handful of good stores over there. I was moving slowly, but I managed to buy a lot of pretty, pretty books. Being delayed, I found myself being thrown out of the museum at five, making a second place I have to go back to before I leave. I did; however, walk through Greyfriar’s Kirkyard before I turned for home.
( Read more )

Almost all pictures were taken by my Kurt Russell. All quoted text comes from A Walk Through Graceland Cemetery: A Chicago Architecture Foundation Walking Tour by Barbara Lanctot. Any errors or typos are mine alone.

( Continue the tour )

Almost all pictures were taken by my Kurt Russell. All quoted text comes from A Walk Through Graceland Cemetery: A Chicago Architecture Foundation Walking Tour by Barbara Lanctot. Any errors or typos are mine alone.

( Continue the tour )

Almost all pictures were taken by my Kurt Russell. All quoted text comes from A Walk Through Graceland Cemetery: A Chicago Architecture Foundation Walking Tour by Barbara Lanctot. Any errors or typos are mine alone.

( Continue the tour )

Almost all pictures were taken by my Kurt Russell. All quoted text comes from A Walk Through Graceland Cemetery: A Chicago Architecture Foundation Walking Tour by Barbara Lanctot. Any errors or typos are mine alone.

Every year on my birthday we do ‘something’ and in 2011 we took a walking tour of Graceland Cemetery, self-guided by the above-named book. It was a lovely day and we took lots of pictures.

( Begin the tour )