Dreaming of a White... Easter?!

Edinburgh for Easter and an early start to good friday to make the 8am train up there. Nice sunny day to go with it and show off the English countryside, nuclear power station and all. Despite this there was much that seemed to still be untouched in parts or at least look like it had been around for centuries.

After a brief walk through the city it was back to Charity’s place for a cruisey indoor arvo and evening thanks to the weather being less than hospitable. It had turned at around the same time I reached Newcastle and I’d come into Edinburgh to rain with the weekend high of 5C. Dinner and a dvd it was.

Saturday and Charity had a client to see, so for me it was back to marathon training with a 25km run through the Pentland Hills (above right) and Penicuik. Some seriously nice countryside despite the cold and the nice arctic wind that was blowing for most of it. But, there was at least one point that had me thinking I was in the opening credits to the tv show All Creatures Great and Small.
Shortly after this on the return journey back to Edinburgh it began to snow. Not hard nor in great bulk, but enough to know it was snowing and to have to wipe it from my eyelashes every now and again. That cold wind came back with a vengeance in the last few K’s and really had me wondering why people would live in such a place. I guess as kids, they didn’t get the choice...
Chalking up 25kms and nearly 2 and a half hours running without injury is a major confidence booster after all the injury and cold issues. The flipside however, is that on the day of the marathon, I’ll need to add about another 2hours to that effort...
Unfortunately, Charity's client cancelled on her at the last minute - not good!

Saturday afternoon was spent along the Royal Mile (left), poking through some of the shops and side alleys. We just missed out on doing the Mary King's Close tour that evening. So we booked into one of the Sunday tours and continued on our way. We ended up in a small bar for a pint of guinness and some entertainment thanks to the guy with the guitar and the mike. He was quite good too.
Once he finished we headed out into the cold evening to locate somewhere to eat. While cutting up an alley to get back to a main street, we discovered a small dual level restaurant. Nice little spot, good food, lovely company and a cruisey ambiance - well, it was til a table of 10 aussies came in, stupidly making the statement that it wasn’t easy to hear the person opposite without realising that it was his group making all the noise...

A slow start to Sunday, and perched at the top front of the double decker bus like obvious tourists taking in the world, we made our way to our tour of Mary King Close. It’s a tour into the bowels of Edinburgh during medieval times and what it was like hundreds of years ago before the council chambers (right) were built over the top of it. The close itself is actually the original 'street' that is about four storeys down to the original ground level. Quite a good tour, with an enthusiastic guide who seemed to be enjoying himself by making members of the tour jump or react at certain parts of the tour. Alas, no photographs allowed, and no ghosts made an appearance as touted as being likely. Oh well, plenty of other haunted tours to do next time...
After passing by the council chambers that were built over Mary King's Close (see pic on the right), the nearby Filling Station was dinner after the tour - an American styled diner/restaurant/bar. Good value for £ and at least it was warmer than outside.

No bank holiday for Edinburgh on Monday, so Charity had to work, but at least not til midday, so a cruisey morning it was to pack and make our way into the city. On the walk to the train station, it began to snow again. If you click on the pic on the left, you may be able to see some of the snow once the pic enlarges...


Let it snow, let it snow...