Princes Street

For me growing up, Edinburgh was Princes Street.

It was another world, although we never really went further than C & A with its escalators and moving doors.

It was exotic too, with the castle on its rock and Sir Walter in his monument.

Princes Street fronted up the New Town, all enlightened modernity in marked contrast to Auld Reekie over the way.

I never belonged in this Edinburgh of conceited bankers and smug corporate headquarters. Polite chat with strained vowels in Jenner’s Tearoom wasn’t really my bag.

I was attracted to the dark, seedy, vibrant underbelly of another Edinburgh.