Scotland doesn’t just do good rural landscapes, but good urban ones too, particularly Edinburgh. A half-hour stopover in Waverley station on the way home allowed a glimpse of this. For once, I don’t mind the lamppost, it seems to fit in just right, as if the light is responsible for the shadow in the gap below it.
No apologies for putting up the cheesy-grin family shot today as the day was all about Clare, who ran her first ever marathon in a time of 6 hours and 1 minute. The Edinburgh marathon started in the city, headed out along the coast, turned around and came back as far as Musselburgh. This is Longniddry, where Joe and I caught up with her at about the 20 mile mark. She looked, as you can see, fresh as a daisy, and from this point on I had absolutely no doubt that she would finish. I know what this has taken in terms of training — an immense effort! And I am very sure it won’t be her last. (Will I be taking up the challenge? No chance.)
This is a fine building — or, rather, a complex of buildings. Taken, with a long zoom, from the slopes of Allermuir Hill, the north-eastern terminus of the Pentland Hills. Behind, across the Firth of Forth, the shore of Fife. It’s somewhere other than home, anyway.
Sighthill is a part of Edinburgh that I doubt most tourists ever see, and I wouldn’t have, had I not come here for work today. About that, the less said the better, but the view to a distant Arthur’s Seat establishes my location for sure. And yes, it was nice that she looked around at just the right moment.
When I said yesterday that I was close by friends, I meant Pegs and Dan, who live in the highly attractive place that is Aberdour, and which we last visited in May, when the views were just as good as they were today. That’s Edinburgh over there — see Arthur’s Seat to the left, the castle in the centre. A hard place to just walk away from, but I have to go home, and will be back some day.
I’m travelling again. Like with my trip to Sussex and London two weeks ago (but hopefully this time without the day ill in the middle of it), this is a writing retreat — I have things to get down on paper, and sitting on my arse at home for days on end is not conducive for this. Hence, Scotland, today and for the next four days as well.
This clock is inaccurate, by the way. I promise.
Another trip to Scotland, this time for a conference in Aberdeen. Another long train journey north, which took hours but was mostly worth it thanks to the views, including this one of Arthur’s Seat — its second appearance on the blog (after this more close-up shot in April 2014). Not a bad shot considering it was taken from a moving train through a very grubby window.
Edinburgh, like Hebden Bridge, is a place of vertical contrasts, and it is easy enough to look down on the vast glass roof of Waverley station from above. The shot also symbolises the fact that this was the last of this trip to Edinburgh; I wish I could go there more often.
Among Edinburgh’s many endearing qualities is the fact that it has a mountain right in the middle of the city. OK, so Arthur’s Seat is only a little mountain, but it’s rugged and you have to do some scrambling to get to the very top. It’s great to get up to somewhere like this and still be down again in time to start work by 10am, which is what I did this morning.
Tim, Martin and Lesley finish off the first day with their presentation. This is the event which has brought me to Edinburgh (and, two years ago, to Maastricht); one of the best and most interesting academic conferences. Pic taken from the floor, literally — while I was speaking just before these guys, someone pinched my chair!
Being 42 