www.list.co.uk/aroundtown
Edinburgh Activities & Events FREE Out and About – ‘Within These Walls’ Sun 13 & 20 Sep, noon–3pm. Holyrood Park, 652 8150. Follow the 5km wall that surrounds Holyrood Park and hear the stories this 500-year-old boundary has to tell. Sturdy footwear and warm/waterproof clothes are recommended. Booking essential. Usquabae – the Water of Life Fri 11 Sep, 6–8pm. £5 (£4; members free). National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, 225 7534. Explore our love of quaichs and other curious cups with George Dalgleish, principal curator of Scottish history, and delve into the complexities of whisky tasting with Glenmorangie’s Dr Bill Lumsden. Booking essential. Part of Homecoming Scotland 2009.
✽✽ Amazing Zipslide in Inverleith Park, Edinburgh Sat 12 Sep,
10am. £20 to register plus minimum £120 sponsorship. Inverleith Park, Arboretum Place, 07901 555352. 600 foot charity zipslide to raise funds for a Teenage Cancer Trust unit at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh. See Hitlist Ladies Driving Challenge Sun 13 Sep, 9am–5pm. £95 minimum sponsorship. Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, 0845 450 2000. A chance to have a go behind the wheel of a fire engine, double-decker bus and articulated lorry and more. In aid of Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland. FREE Doors Open Day Sun 13 Sep, 10am–5pm. National Museum of Flight, East Fortune Airfield, 247 4238. Explore the museum for free as it opens its doors for the day. Waterwalks Edinburgh Sun 13 Sep, 10.30am. Sponsorship. Colinton, 346 9040. For this sponsored walk along the Union Canal you can choose from 4 or 1.5-mile routes, and the minimum sponsorship is only £7.50. Easy peasy. Proceeds to Leonard Cheshire Disability.
✽✽ FREE Blackford Hill Festival Sun 13 Sep, 1–4pm. Blackford Hill, Observatory car park, 447 7145. The first festival on Blackford Hill. An afternoon packed with history, activities and fun for all the family. See Hitlist
✽✽ Cachín Cachán Cachunga! Tue 15 Sep, 7.30pm. £3 (£2). The Street,
2 Picardy Place, 556 4272. An interdisciplinary arts event with Afro- Cuban dance, spine-tingling poetry, a video and poetry-music fusion from both a Chinese-Canadian and a Scottish- Canadian/Venezuelan duo. Followed by DJ Lily. Free shot for the first 25 through the door. See Hitlist. Electric Tales Tue 15 Sep, 7.30pm. £6 (£4). Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. Comedy meets storytelling as the Stand and the Scottish Storytelling Centre let their worlds collide. Featuring funny yarns from Stu & Garry, Derek Johnston, Siân Bevan, Lari Don, Gerry Durkin and Tony Bonning. Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat Fri 18 Sep, 7.15–8.45pm. £4 (£2). Inveresk Lodge Garden, Inveresk, near Musselburgh, 08444 932124. In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy the NTS invites you to take a look at the stars and, hopefully, bats.
Fairs FREE Gap Fair Tue 22 Sep, 4–6pm. George Heriot’s School, Lauriston Place, 229 7263. Find out how to take a gap from study, work or retirement from over 30 gap organisations.
Food & Drink Men in the Kitchen Mon 14 & 21 Sep, 7–9.30pm. £40. Cookingmania, 75a Main Street, Davidsons Mains, 336 2012. Men- only practical cookery classes. FREE Edinburgh Farmers’ Market Sat 12 & 19 Sep, 9am–2pm. Castle Terrace, 652 5940. More local, quality, ethical produce than you could shake a stick at.
Around Town
The Bowery re-opening After a summer being requisitioned as a Fringe venue, Edinburgh’s prettiest little NYC-style hipster joint reopens this week. Over the next
fortnight, look out for everything from anti-folk gigs to badge-making workshops, writers groups to Ukeboogie, an open mic ukulele night (we know - great, innit?), and of course, many many more of those cocktails in teacups. Here’s to a great autumn underground, chaps. ■ The Bowery, 2 Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh. See www.thebowery.org.uk for full listings.
Beyond the Bean Until Sat 12 Sep, 10am–4pm. £300. Cookingmania, 75a Main Street, Davidsons Mains, 336 2012. Cookery course for those leaving home and having to cook for themselves. Wine School at the Fringe – Best of the Fest Sun 13 Sep, 4.30pm & 7pm. £14. Case Studies Wine School, 8 Lower Gilmore Bank, 228 8366. Taste the favourite wines from Wine School at the Fringe 2009. Tesco Wine Club Fair Sat 19 & Sun 20 Sep, Sat 11am–5pm; Sun 12.30–5pm. £10. Corn Exchange, 11 New Market Road, 0845 330 5072. Taste over 250 wines from around the world, meet the winemakers and experts behind them and learn a bit more about what’s in your glass.
Politics FREE Votes for Women Until Sat 9 Jan (not Sun), 10am–5pm. Museum of Edinburgh, Huntly House, 142 Canongate, 529 4143. An exhibition charting the women’s suffrage movement in Edinburgh. FREE Another World is Possible: Get Inspired and Get Involved Sat 19 Sep, 10am. Augustine’s, 41 George IV Bridge, 0207 793 2730. Mike Bonanno, from new film Yes Men Save the World talks about the financial and climate crises. Talks FREE Something Unseen Thu 10 Sep, 6–7pm. National Gallery of Scotland: Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, the Mound, 624 6200. Alison Watt discusses Zurbarán’s remarkable Saint Francis in Meditation. Centenary Hoof Stock Talk Thu 10 Sep, 7.30pm. £6 (members £4). Edinburgh Zoo, Corstorphine Road, 314 0350. Learn about the zoo’s hoofed animals (including pygmy hippos, zebra, and Malayan tapiers). Booking essential. FREE Darwin, Beauty and the Avant Garde Fri 11 Sep, 12.45pm. National Gallery of Scotland: Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, The Mound, 624 6200. Jane Munro discusses the links between notions of beauty and those of avant garde 19th century painters.
FREE ARTIST ROOMS: Ellen Gallagher Mon 14 Sep, 12.45pm. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, 75 Belford Road, 624 6200. Fiona Bradley explores the use of repetition and revision in Gallagher’s DeLuxe and the two paintings in the ARTIST ROOMS exhibition. Cosmic Dawn: The Search for the First Galaxies Mon 14 Sep, 7.30pm. £3 (£2). Symposium Hall, Royal College of Surgeons, 9 Hill Square, 473 2000. Prof Richard Ellis describes our very limited understanding of the early phase of history in which the first celestial objects began to shine after an extended period of darkness that astronomers call the Dark Ages. FREE British Travellers to Spain in the Early 20th Century Tue 15 Sep, 12.45–1.30pm. National Gallery of Scotland: Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, the Mound, 624 6200. Dr Michael Jacobs reveals where early 20th century British literary and artistic travellers went off the beaten track. Namibia: Ocean, Desert and Savanah Tue 15 Sep, 7.30pm. £2. Napier University, Craiglockhart Campus, 466 7163. An illustrated talk by Ray Murray. FREE Understanding Technology: The Tools of Terror Thu 17 Sep, 3pm. National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, 225 7534. Professor Mats Fridlund of Copenhagen discusses instruments of terror. Andrew Graham-Dixon on the Art of Spain Fri 18 Sep, 6–7pm. £6 (£5). National Gallery of Scotland: Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, the Mound, 624 6560. The art historian and critic gives an insight into the BBC Four series, The Art of Spain. Booking recommended. FREE Goya, Wilkie and the Disasters of War Tue 22 Sep, 12.45–1.30pm. Weston Link, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, National Gallery, the Mound, 624 6560. Nicholas Tromans of Kingston University compares Goya and Scottish painter David Wilkie’s depictions of the Spanish War of Independence
Workshops Look and Talk About Art Thu 10 & 24 Sep, 10.30am–12.30pm. £5 (£4). National Gallery Complex, the Mound, 624 6200. An extension of the Art for Absolute and Not Quite Beginners course. Ann McCluskey leads these informal fortnightly sessions exploring parts of the collection. Experiment and Make Art follows at 1.30pm; same price. FREE The Drawing Room Thu 10 Sep, 5.30–6.45pm. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, 75 Belford Road, 624 6410. Explore different ‘mark-making’ processes in these monthly experimental drawing sessions. Ages 15+. Book in advance. FREE Badge Making with Sandy Christie Thu 10 Sep, 6.30pm. The Bowery, 2 Roxburgh Place, www.thebowery.org.uk. Bring your own designs or small bits and pieces to create badge-tastic accessories. Garden Willow Animal Sculptures Sun 13 Sep, 10am–12.30pm & 1.30–4pm. £15. Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South, 529 3963. Give your flower beds something extra by creating original sculptural pieces to put in among your garden plants. Ages 16+. Book in advance. Imagining the Future: Scottish Culture and Scottish Learning Fri 18 Sep, 10.30am. £32 (£26). Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. A creative exploration of Scotland’s future cultural landscape. Drawing Class Thu 24 Sep, 7.30pm. £3. The Bowery, 2 Roxburgh Place, www.thebowery.org.uk. Take inspiration from one of the prettiest pubs around at this life drawing class. Bring your own materials; experience not required.
Got an opinion? You can now Comment on all our articles at list .co.uk 10–24 Sep 2009 THE LIST 35