What Lies Beneath

One of the nicest things about Edinburgh (or at least its architecture) is the number of sweet-looking basement flats tucked behind glossy iron railings, like secret spaces under the elegant buildings whose grand doorways look onto the street. Combined with my innate inquisitiveness (ok, nosiness) these charming homes make for particularly pleasant perusals on a sunny day like today.
Not everyone seems to make the most of the small courtyards that lie down the gated steps, but when they do, the efforts, (lanterns, tables and chairs, flowers) add more than a touch of "curb" appeal.
Walking around having a peek at the flats and in their windows (I even saw a man making a violin) makes the sometimes never-arriving lunch hour all the more pleasurable.
They can make the perfect subjects for some rather nice photographs too, even if I do say so myself...