The Edges of Edinburgh

When I came back from working so hard in Switzerland, I thought I deserved some rest and relaxation. So I took the weekend off.



Seriously, I hadn’t exercised very much in Villars while eating three course meals. I felt full the entire time. I don’t like feeling full. I don’t want to feel hungry, but feeling full makes me feel lethargic. Also, the only time I exercised was when skiing. So, I had to get moving. On Saturday I did a bit of walking in Edinburgh, but in the afternoon decided it was time I ride my new bike to the Sea. The Scots have a nice rails-to-trails program, and I road along a paved railway for about five miles to the town of Portobello, on the water.



I walked up and down the seaboard for about thirty minutes and then headed back along the same route. Most of you might not be aware of my compulsion to touch water, but for those who are wondering, I went out and touched the water. It was warmer than I anticipated, but even the dogs seemed to think it was too cold to get into.

On Sunday I ran to the Royal Observatory. This is actually the second Royal Observatory in Edinburgh. The first is downtown and was there when the city was small. As the population grew and then electricity introduced, the light from the city made the first observatory far less useful. They built a second that was so far out of town they would never face this issue again. They actually had to protect the land around this “new” one to keep it from being knocked down for flats.

So here I am in front of the observatory.



Turning to the South, you see that this is in some sense the edge of town.



But, now turning east, you see the King’s Buildings, where I work (well, if the picture wasn’t awful, you’d see that).



And, turning a bit to the northeast, you see Edinburgh. The large land forms across the way are Arthur’s Seat (the highest, round portion) and that sheer faced cliff on the left is the Radical Road from a previous post.





I ran down into town to scope out areas of town we might want to live in. When I got to the Meadows, I took this picture of the castle. (On the right, under the tree branch, the castle appears to be sitting on top of buildings surrounding the park.) Yes, indeed, I think we should live very close to this park.



It was a lovely run.