A tourist's view of Edinburgh #blogmanay

There are lots of travel bloggers making their way to the capital of Hogmanay - sharing experiences and telling the world about Edinburgh being the best place to bring in the New Year.

For those reading this who don't have a Scottish dictionary to hand, Hogmanay is our word for New Year's Eve. And #Blogmanay is the tag being used by the travel bloggers to spread the word about the fun they're having here.

As one who blogs for the benefit of visitors to Edinburgh, I'm really looking forward to hearing their travellers' tales and meeting up with the group before the Torchlight Procession on Sunday.

I do hope that they have some time to see some of the glories of Edinburgh - such as the architecture of the New Town as well as the things which are on the official itinerary.

I was wandering through Charlotte Square today and looking at the iron work on the buildings. I'd seen a snippet of information about the horn-shaped iron pieces on the Edinburgh and Lothians Facebook page, and I wanted to take a pic:

The trumpet shape present in the railings was used to snuff out the torches carried by 'link boys' who would light your way home at night. Many of the front steps have iron boot-scrapers so that visitors could remove mud from their boots before entering the exclusive houses.

It's only by slowing down and taking time to look with new eyes at some of these details that you really appreciate them. I hope our visiting travellers don't rush too much.