Late night shopping eh? It takes on a different edge in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Crowds five deep, an air of slight panic among the shoppers – and the shop staff, who are piling on the discounts to get people through the door.
But this is Edinburgh, and the setting is a definite incentive – even if only to find a safe place to stand in order to look at the lights.
Edinburgh has its light switching on evening at the end of November – although I’ve discovered that in fact it has several of these, beyond the one that puts on the lights on the Christmas tree on the Mound. The Grassmarket has its own; Leith seems to have one too.
But the one I’m looking out for is the star on top of the City Chambers. It’s of the ‘lots of sticky out lines’ kind of star that you learn to draw when you’re small.
It’s not the most modern or distinctive of items, but I realised the other day that you see the star on the horizon, all the way to the north at the top of Inverleith Row. This means that you feel slightly like a wise man, ‘following the star’, while on the bus heading to work.
I’m also keen on the ‘bare tree branches covered in lights’ kind of decoration. Most years, they brighten up the edge of Princes Street. This year, they’ve added them to trees in St Andrews Square – a sign that someone is determined to keep one of the better redone parks of Edinburgh sleek and beautiful, by night as by day.
But my other favourite Christmas decorations are a little more of the regular shopping track. They are, again, to be admired on my bus route, this time heading home.
Close to Tesco’s by Broughton Street, there is a car park where you can buy Christmas trees. That’s not the sight – it’s all the lights strung down the big stone wall by the car park, along with the conveniently placed ivy which grows there all year long.
And just at the bottom of that hill, as the wall stops, there’s a little church building, which looks more like a house, but puts up the most fantastic nativity picture, in a slightly Russian Orthodox style around the eyes of the figures.
Having lived close to there in our previous flat, I’ve had the privilege of looking out for these for around 8 years now, and that’s good enough for a Christmas tradition for me.
Beyond these familiar sights, coming across them means I’m heading home – and for all of the distractions of a big wheel and carousels, back in town, it’s home that’s our favourite sight at this time of year. Mine, anyway.