A Day Off from the Edinburgh Book Festival

Image: Porto & Fi

I had a day away from the Edinburgh Book Festival yesterday, the first of only two days off from the 17 that make up its run. There was no particular reason for this other than a planned meal with my wife and some friends down in Newhaven and the fact I had to show face at the day job.

In the end though, it was a welcome break. It allowed me to catch up on much of the blogging I had to do, as well as enjoy some wine, food and company, although to be honest, my mind was never really that far away from Charlotte Square.

Anniversary
Just to clear something up before I continue: as some of you will be aware, yesterday was my wedding anniversary, and yes, I was at the book festival, live tweeting and photographing the events surrounding the Christopher Brookmyre event.

Do not worry in the slightest—my marriage is not on the rocks! Gail and I shifted our 8th anniversary celebration to this coming weekend in order that a) we can have a right good bevvy and b) it doesn’t clash with the first day back at school, which yesterday was for most kids in Edinburgh.

Thank you, however, for all your emails and tweets of concern. 🙂

Dining Out
Speaking of my wife, last night we met up with Carol and Ian from the Borders. You’ll maybe remember them: they have two gorgeous Collie dogs, Carol is an awesome cook (legs of lamb a speciality) and they had a hot tub in the back garden overlooking the fields and hills. Yeah, that’s them!

I say “had a hot tub” because they’ve moved now so those luxury visits have now gone—well only the hot tub has, the cooking and the dogs are still there!

We ate in the small and cosy venue of Porto & Fi, overlooking Newhaven harbour and conveniently located at the right side of town for Leith. I never knew the place existed but if you are looking for somewhere away from the hectic pace of the city, with great food and very friendly and cheery staff, you won’t do much better.

Book Fest
Today at the book festival will be monumental fun. Why am I able to safely predict this in advance? Simple: a long time writer friend of mine is coming to Edinburgh for a few days and to Charlotte Square. Diane Parkin will be arriving into sunny Edinburgh for a few days of fun. Can’t wait to finally meet her!

Even though I wasn’t there yesterday, I have posted a whole bunch of reviews and articles on my sister site, the Edinburgh Book Festival Blog

For visual enjoyment of the Edinburgh Book Festival, click over to my constantly updated photograph feed at flickr.com/colinthewriter

For audio enjoyment, why not subscribe to my Book Festival podcast on iTunes or listen to the stream on SoundCloud.

Ciao for now!

Oh, one final thing. My new computer arrives today: an Apple iMac. 🙂