weekend in town

The weekend of 16th / 17th May we decided to run about town. Or it was decided for us by lockdown. Which doesn't make a huge amount of sense. Because unless you are really careful (and generally we are) you will come into closer contact with more people than if you left town to some remote unpopulated area. The weather was okay but nothing special as far as I remember. (Pretty much sums up quite a lot of the weekend. But nice to have company for something I wouldn't have bothered with if it wasn't for Mary getting us out the door with more enthusiasm than I would have mustered alone.

Gav at the lights on a Pista single speed

there is a certain freedom and delight about running

down the middle of a normally busy street

bear back riding

After, earlier that morning, watching a very impressive (lockdown) drone flight through the centre of classical Rome streets (empty of tourists) flying in between columns and statues, it is rather disappointing to see the only investment in Edinburgh town centre are these expensive but low end amusement park extras. The Oor Wullie ones were particularly depressing as they seemed to have taken on the obesity pandemic and looked a little overfed. And not much like the original. Badly done clutter in a capital city. I have to keep reminding myself the festival is not happening this year and I get a small warm glow of cheer which offsets these otherwise depressing blots on the landscape. Maybe with luck (fingers crossed) the Trams extension will fall through as well.

I can't remember how we got over Slateford way (out Dalry Rd?) but went into a couple of graveyards about there. First was Dalry Cemetery and second was North Merchiston Cemetery and like a few I've been in recently they have both been adopted more for walking, dog walking and hanging out in, rather than mourning. In fact it was really quite pleasant saying howdie to folks as we went round taking photos. Quite good havens for wildlife in the city centre that aren't likely to be developed and turned into student flats any time soon.

ghost in the graveyard?

Jim's hoose (and Chris's) near here.

Didn't call past - not allowed. 😢

Reminds me of that story of the woman who confused Clematis with chlamydia,

telling her friend she hoped to fill her front garden with chlamydia.

We got to Bonaly and I suggested we go up Nasher's street as it eventually leads into the Pentlands. Unfortunately by that point we had done about 8 miles and Mary's feet were hurting. She stopped at the top of the road and decided we needed to head home. It was sort of the right decision but disappointing to get so close and have to turn back. 

At such times I often recall a massive cycle myself, brother and a few friends did when really very young (and stupid). Possibly just into secondary school though I have no clear memory. We had always biked but never seriously. One day we headed over the bridges into Fife (and bikes would have been 2nd hand old wrecks) and kept getting further North until the signs for St Andrews were saying 20 miles; 15 miles; 10 miles. The draw to go to somewhere of note before turning around took us all the way into St Andrews where we had to turn around and head back. Of course the second 50-odd miles is always much harder than the first and I think it was probably the middle of the night by the time we got home. It was a really daft decision to go all the way but you never really appreciate the length of the return journey when you are young and stupid. We were lucky nobody was killed in the dark along the dual carriageway back into Edinburgh. That was in the days long before people had mobile phones and called the emergency services to rescue them from the top of Nevis or Cramond Island etc. If you fucked up, you paid the full price. We wouldn't have had the train fare back either. 

So just seconds after me saying to Mary, Richard and Christina and baby Ben live just over there, who should appear but themselves, off out for a constitutional towards the Pentlands. We remained on one side of the road and shouted across greetings and some chit chat before leaving them to it and heading back into town. Richard was saying the facial hair was probably coming off later so we had done well to catch it on its last day out!

Mary giddy and low blood sugar much amused

by a fisty bush.

Mary opted for one of these.

I had already had 2 coffees so avoided further caffeine

and had these instead, something I hadn't had since Spain last year.

I kept telling Mary we would never get 17 miles in if we went directly home. However she had other plans and took us quite a convoluted route home. I would have found this unnecessarily tedious, only town is fascinating under lockdown and we kept seeing things somehow unavailable when there is traffic and humans milling about. So we ran around taking photos and the last handful of miles whizzed by as the sun began to shine and everything looked rather nice! Spirits rose and we stopped bickering and really enjoyed it.

looking North from the Esplanade

I think this is the town council deciding how to turn a 20 mile £375M tram project

into an 8.7mile £776M fiasco. That bloke pointing is saying

"how many times can we dig up Leith Walk and keep a straight face?"

This worthy is contemplating how to punish Greyfriars Bobby

for eating the last of his Dairylea triangles.

17+miles

Not yet sick of the lovely town centre nor able to come up with a better plan we set off Sunday 17th to do more of the same. It must have been crappy weather as I would have been off butterflying otherwise. Again I have Mary to thank for having the discipline to get us out the house, rather than just dicking about on facebook looking at people slagging off other people for infringments of the lockdown guidelines. 

magpie bathing in the Ross Fountain

robin in Princes St Gardens

camera obscura mirrors

looking North from the esplanade
deja vu?

this very much reminds me of that infamous and hilarious

amateur restoration in that Spanish church

St Cuthbert's

So we could see some distance away a couple of blokes enjoying the solitude of the graveyard. They were looking over to see if M and I posed a threat to their peace of mind. I had to pretend I was taking a pic of Mary but really I was zooming in over her shoulder because these 2 had a barrel of beer and were pouring themselves pints. Hence the shifty looks. We departed before things escalated.

7.6miles

sprintervals at the East End