Completely over the top

Today’s guest picture comes from Dropscone.  He was on holiday in Malta last year and took this selfie against the backdrop of the famous ‘Azure Window’.    In the the papers today is the news that this natural arch has collapsed and a famous landmark has now gone for ever.  Dropscone remains standing.

I had a very full day today and as a result, I took far too many picture, almost up to twice my normal limit so those with better things to do should shoot straight to the bottom of the post where they will find cute pictures of Matilda and frogs which shouldn’t be missed.

Those with staying power will see a great number of  photographs of Edinburgh.

I started the day by going up to the Moorland bird feeders with Sandy.  It was very sunny and the bright light made taking photographs difficult although it was hard to miss a pheasant posing right in front of the hide.

There was a steady stream of woodpeckers on the peanuts and a very fleeting visit from a nuthatch which was driven off by a woodpecker before I could get a good shot of it.

Apart from a robin and a brambling on the tall feeder…

…there were few small birds about today and we didn’t stay long.

I had time for a cup of coffee when I got home before I drove off to Tweedbank to catch the train to Edinburgh from there instead of Lockerbie.  The drive is twice as long but the advantage is that there are far more trains on the new Borders Railway than on the mainline so I was able to give myself a couple of spare hours in the city before I was due to visit Matilda.

My intention was to walk to the top of Arthur’s Seat and take advantage of a really sunny day to take a lot of pictures.

I left the station and walked up onto the Royal Mile.

It is a sign of the times that what was once a bank is now a bar and what was once a tenement building behind is now a posh hotel.  Edinburgh is turning into a full time tourist attraction.

I walked down the Royal Mile towards Holyrood and enjoyed being able to see the sea at the bottom of the hill…

I looked through narrow entries to left and right as I went down the street.

Poetry is celebrated both by a memorial to Robert Burns on the other side of the railway line and inscriptions on the walls of the parliament buildings.  I chose one by one of my favourite poets.

At the bottom, I walked in front of the Scottish parliament building…

…and carried onto into Holyrood Park where I passed the ruined abbey at the back of the palace…

…and took a broad path uphill.  (Any panoramas should be clickable to enlarge them)

My target was the summit of Arthur’s Seat, which can be seen on the right of the picture so I took the right hand path.  It turns out that I should have looked at a map as the left hand path was much the more direct route.

Still, I enjoyed my roundabout tour and it gave me some good views of Salisbury Crags from an unusual angle…

….as well as the golf course and loch at Duddingstone, nestled beneath the south side of the hill.

I followed the road which contours round the hill until I came to Dunsappie Loch.  This little lochan tucked into a quiet corner looks almost like a fashionable infinity swimming pool with the Forth Estuary behind it.

 From the loch, a broad track leads steeply uphill towards the summit and I was soon able to turn and enjoy the views.

To the north west, the old Royal High School in the foreground with Calton Hill. Then the Forth and Fife and mountainous country behind

To the east, Portobello and the coast stretching out to Gullane and North Berwick Law in the distance

Looking north over the Hibs football ground and the port of Leith towards the twin peaks of the Lomonds of Fife

I reflected as I puffed up the hill that in my youth I used to run in a fell race that started at the foot of the escarpment on the left end of the Lomonds ridge, went over the first summit, along the ridge to the right hand summit and then back again.  We used to regard it as being one of the easier races.

To the south east there was a wide panorama over the Lothians.

As I got higher I could look down on the port….

…and the palace…

…with a train running along the main east coast line  behind it.

To the west, I could just make the three Forth Bridges…

….the new road bridge is enormous, towering over the other two even though it is the furthest away..

I was nearly at the summit by this time…

…but as it was very windy and I don’t like heights much, I stopped a few feet below the very top as I didn’t want to disgrace myself by losing my balance, falling over and having to be carried down.

I did get a good view of the Castle though.

…which sits on the other end of the volcanic neck from Arthur’s seat.

Considering that it is a mere 251 metres high and in the middle of a city, Arthur’s Seat is a wonderful vantage point and a treat to walk up on a sunny day.  I felt blessed.

It didn’t take me too long to walk down again and I passed the palace and crossed the railway (which was in a tunnel) to get to Calton Hill.  On my way, I walked up through a graveyard which gives splendid views of the old town, the parliament buildings, Arthur’s Seat and the Salisbury Crags…

…as well as the palace.

Then I passed the art deco St Andrew’s House….

…described in Wikipedia as: ” noted for being a rare example of sensitively designed modern architecture” by someone whose idea of sensitivity does not chime with mine.  To me it looks like a brutal expression of central government’s power over its province.

I walked up onto Calton Hill with the double purpose of enjoying the view and getting a cup of hot chocolate at the cafe there.

The view was good…

…the buildings on the hill are eclectic…

…to say the least.

I enjoyed the grass roofs on the council buildings below….

….and the sight of the  North Bridge which is currently  wrapped up like a work of modern art.

I was just sipping my chocolate when the call came that Matilda was ready to receive me so I walked along one of those modest streets which give Edinburgh’s new town its reputation for underplayed style…

…and was soon happily ensconced playing snap (and losing) with my granddaughter.  We kept ourselves busy until an excursion to the shops with her father was called for.

She was very helpful at carrying some of the shopping home

After tea and some more playing, it was time for me to go home and dark had fallen by the time that I had got back to the station…

…but my train was on time and the drive home through the night was very peaceful and so a memorable day came to a satisfactory end.

There was no opportunity to catch a flying bird so the Athos, Porthos and Aramis of the frog world will have to do.

If you have ploughed through the whole effusion without skipping, give yourself a gold sticker.