The Royal Mile 1 - Old Fishmarket Close

I have decided to do a theme on the Royal Mile, since it's on my way to work and has lots of history and things happening on it.

My first entry is the Old Fishmarket Close. I really like the detail of the fish on the portal. The Royal Mile is full of closes, there are about 60 of them, plus a few courts and wynds. They are very narrow and steep, but most of them haven't been preserved in the same way as they used to be. The buildings around them used to be very high, some of them even 14 storeys high, the higher floors beeing for the upper classes. There could be as well as many as 300 people in one block. On top of that, in the old days there wasn't a proper sewage system, so there was a specific time where everybody had to throw their slops from the window (not a good time for a stroll along the streets). they used to shout "gardyloo!!" beforehand, which comes from the French expression "gardez l'eau" (something along the lines of be careful with the "water"). This stuff then run all the way along the streets to a (very dirty and stinky) canal. So, these closes weren't the cleanest of places, as you can imagine. So, this plus the overcrowding of the Royal Mile led to really precarious sanitary conditions and the famous plague.

The Old Fishmarket Close must have provided a nice "fishy" stench on top of that! It used to be the home of the City Hangman or "Doomster" as well. He must have been a very stinky man, hahaha!

Never mind. Feeling like I'm losing a bit my motivation for blipping. Hope it comes back soon.

Work the same as usual, shower works not finished yet. Still staying at my friend's. Just looking forward to go back to normal, since this situation is making me feel really tired.

Thanks very much for all your comments on my bike. Claudia was her name when I got it and decided not to change it, because I like it. I hope you all had a nice Monday! :)