The trains are still not running after Storm Jocelyn, so a cultural day. A wonderful 11 hours of sleep, briefly interrupted at 4 am by the ecstatic cries of a woman in the next room, incredibly repeated 10 minutes later. You don’t get that wild camping.
Weaving through the crowds on Princes Street, I cut through to the quiet residential roads surrounding the towering neo-Gothic St Mary’s Cathedral (1879).
It’s a short walk down the hill to join the attractive Water of Leith Walkway, snaking for 13 miles from the foot of the Pentland Hills to Leith Docks.
The river carries me to the Modern One gallery of modern and contemporary art, where a Gormley sentinel is in danger of being swept over the falls.
Unfortunately, only one floor of the gallery is open due to rehanging, but it’s still easy to spend a couple of hours wandering round. The theme for each room is helpfully explained on a wall plaque. I take a lot of photos and it’s hard to pick out three favourites that span the period covered.
Sadly, Modern Two is closed, so I make my way back to the centre, passing under the castle to the Grassmarket — my only disappointment. Either my memory is rose-tinted or the area has modernised for the worse, as though designed to fit a visitor’s idealised notion of what Edinburgh should look like. It feels shiny and sanitised. I pass through quickly for Holyrood Park.
The sun dips in and out of the clouds. This could be a good day to walk up Arthur’s Seat.
The higher I climb, the more bitter the wind.
The wind roars across the summit — people huddled among the rocks. It’s impossible to take a photo next to the trig point.
I chat to Ricardo, the guy I photographed on the ascent. We attempt to take mutual photos but are facing into the sun and can barely stand, braced into the wind.
Descending, I find a sheltered spot against the cliffs to sit and watch the sun go down over Salisbury Crags. Unfortunately, after 15 minutes I’m freezing, so give up and head down before the sun sets.
The Captain’s Bar hosts more live music.
The musician switches to an instrument I’ve never seen before — the Kalimba – a modern interpretation of a traditional instrument of Zimbabwe.
A relaxing and enjoyable day, but time to finally return to North Berwick tomorrow.
I’ve ended up having to postpone a few days of walks over the years due to weather. Still there are far worse places to be if that happens than Edinburgh and glad you were able to have a good day still.
I said the same thing to several people – it was not much of a hardship being stranded in Edinburgh! 🙂
Hotel room walls can be very thin! I was woken up by a couple recently in similar circumstances. They had Birmingham accents so I tried to identify them at breakfast to no avail (being the nosy type). Perhaps they were sleeping it off. Anyway as you say, Edinburgh is not a bad place to be stuck.
I love the idea of detective work. 🙂
I can think of far worse cities to be stuck in for a day than Edinburgh – architecture, culture, superb pubs and a miniature mountain within easy reach. My favourite city.
It’s hard to beat. I’m taking a rest day in Dundee today, so more galleries, museums and pubs to be explored.