Hip Trip Edinburgh Published in Fused Magazine

Edinburgh. It’s a culture vulture’s paradise with a festival for every fandom. Bookworm? Check (Edinburgh International Book Festival is on 15^th – 31^st of August). Comedy fan? Check times gazillion (The Edinburgh Fringe Festival falls on 7th – 31^st August) Ghost hunter? They got the ghosts busted all year round (The Edinburgh Dungeons). Punctuate your trip with great food and drinks, and decorate with some of the world class art on display at one of the galleries or museums – the blue and white cross flag doesn’t seem to do this bright and colourful city justice, but the Fused Hip Trip guide should highlight some of the best it has to offer…

WHERE TO STAY…

Wallace Art House Surround yourself with art at this reasonable priced, unique B&B and enjoy the company of Wallace Shaw, the charismatic owner. 41-4 Constitution St, Edinburgh EH6 7BG 07941 343714
The Royal Britannia Less than 2 miles from Edinburgh Castle, this west End hotel is nestled on a riverside and just across the road from the National Museum Scotland. It’s also one of the few hotels in the UK where you can still enjoy smoking rooms. Behold and inhale! 69 Belford Terrace, Edinburgh 0871 221 0243

WHERE TO EAT…

Nonna’s Kitchen Established by Gino Stornaiuolo and family, Nonna’s Kitchen offer great food with a highlight being the pumpkin ravioli in gorgonzola and hazelnuts (drool at the thought). It’s modern and airy yet homely and intimate space plus the waiting staff have an uncanny knack for reciting long specials lists off the top of their heads! 45 Morningside Road, Edinburgh EH10 4AZ 0131 466 6767.

WHERE TO DRINK…

Treacle Head here for the best Edinburgh cocktails and a drinks menu that features an eclectic list of ingredients such as egg whites, sherbet with dipping lollipops and Hibiscus. 41 Broughton St, Edinburgh EH1 3JU 0131 557 0627

THINGS TO DO…

The Edinburgh Dungeon Shiver through an 80 minute journey of 1000 years of Scotland’s haunted history with actors, storytelling, exciting rides and thrilling special effects. Features the tale of murderous twosome Burke and Hare as well as gruesome details of the plague in the city’s “Streets of Sorrow”.  31 Market St, Edinburgh, Midlothian EH1 1DF 0871 423 2250
The Fruitmarket Art Gallery Be sure to check the current Phyllida Barlow show (on until 18 October 2015) – it’s a dreamy, pink-tinged installation that brings the artists memories of the space to life and it gives you the feeling of entering the private parts of a woman’s brain (men take note!) 45 Market St, Edinburgh EH1 1DF 0131 225 2383
The Scottish National Museum of Modern Art Don’t miss the important paintings of modern art history on display here. Of note is Expressionistic artist Oskar Kokoschka’s Self-Portrait as a Degenerate Artist (1937), a long-term loan from a private collection. It was painted in response to the Nazi’s attack on modern art, which had deemed Kokoschka and others as “degenerates”. 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3DR 0131 624 6200

TIPS

The kindness of strangers Allow the friendly locals to show you around: ditch the guidebooks and official tours and let one or two kind strangers be your tour guides – they’ll have insider tips, doused in humour, to impart.
A Scottish tipple Get into the Edinburgh spirit with, errr….. a spirit! Try a highland dram of whisky such as The Ardmore Legacy, the perfect introduction to peated single malt whisky with notes of creamy vanilla, followed by smoky charcoal and savoury spices. Available in multiple retailers including Tesco and Morrisons (RRP £29.99).

Advertisement

Make A List & Make It Happen!

For me the “to do” list is an important way to track ambitions, and weekly goals and make them happen! I keep them in a handwritten journal.

Today I got a lovely chocolate croc leather notepad from Pen Heaven to do just this. I have leather journals going back to January 2011 to track my progress and it’s great to look back over the years and see the goals and ambitions I’ve achieved and what I still need to do.

According to many studies, just a few minutes of handwriting a day, collecting your thoughts and jotting them down, can be an effective way of relieving stress and helping you unwind.

I chose Pen Haven for my new journal as they have a wonderful campaign on right now – they’ve just launched a new Handwriting Matters campaign to proliferate handwriting and the teaching of it in schools (Finland has already agreed to drop teaching handwriting from their curriculum next year!)

So here’s to my new journal – as yet a blank canvas. I can’t help but be optimistic about what ends up filling these Italian leather pages!

Sure of you: book review in the Lancet

 

If home is where the heart is, it makes sense that Pretend Friends is set in a home with a verdant garden, furnished with a picket fence, where conversations take place. It’s a book born of love by author Alice Hoyle and illustrator Lauren Reis. Collaborators include Katy Gray, who has schizophrenia and has consulted on the book. Sale proceeds go to the Rethink Mental Illness campaign to help with their work in reducing stigma and raising awareness of disorders such as schizophrenia among people of all ages. The power of metaphor is used to describe the schizophrenia experienced by Big Jay, an adult, and the imaginary friends of Little Bea, a child. Little Bea wants to make her pretend friends big so Big Jay’s pretend friends—that is to say, distressing hallucinations and delusions—can’t hurt or scare him anymore.

As someone with schizophrenia, who is an auntie to two-year-old Archie, I wonder if he’s old enough to understand the story when he reaches four. Yet a children’s book using metaphor to introduce them to the different experiences people have is a worthwhile concept. It’s been observed that Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh has symptoms of depression, yet his friends still love him irrespective. That’s a very important message to drive home for children. Pretend Friends projects AA Milne’s philosophy further, and says that Big Jay needs “special medication” for his pretend friends. But in my own childhood, the very notion of this as a reality for a loved one would have been terrifying. However, there’s a section for adults at the back of the book that address any fears a child might have. It gives example questions about Big Jay with thoughtful responses that foster greater understanding and compassion. Causation and cure (or lack of it) are all covered, and the message is conveyed that, with the right help and support, Big Jay is going to be okay. It’s also stated that psychosis is no-one’s fault and not the child’s responsibility.

Conversations such as this one are very important. Once over dinner with two adults and their 15-year-old son, I brought up my schizophrenia and the 15-year-old laughed in my face. It illustrates how we must tackle misconceptions early and bring such a stigmatised illness in the open, rather than pretending that it doesn’t exist. Regarding my relationship with Archie, I’m keeping the book to give him when he’s just about tall enough to have a conversation over the beautifully illustrated brown picket fence.

Published source: Lancet Psychiatry online