Sunday 31 August 2008

On the fringe of Edinburgh

Once again we made the trip up to Edinburgh. It was a bit of an impromptu excursion as it was my sister who had the idea of going up. She didn't really know the town so I thought it would be good to hook up with her and see the sights.

Also, with the Fringe taking place, what better time to be there.

This time, in contrast to last year, we decided to take our bikes. I took my faithful 'cross bike. Nice and sturdy, and copes with all weather and road conditions - even after a couple of seasons of being thrown around during the London Cyclo Cross League.

The idea had been to take a trip out to the nearby Pentland Hills. But the very gloomy forecast meant Fred did not take his off-road bike and was only going to try some road stuff - if he felt like it.

I have to say the weather ended up being quite pleasant and we hardly had any rain at all ! We ended up doing a big route around the fringes of central Edinburgh - Marchmont, Morningside, Craigmillar Castle and of course Holyrood Park.
We could see the Pentland Hills out in the distance, but alas we weren't equipped to go out and do some of the rugged stuff over there.
Ah, well maybe next time.

We did get to try some of the local rugged stuff on foot - namely walking up Salisbury Crag and Arthur's Seat. The views from up there are always spectacular.









And of course, we did abit of the Fringe. Some good acts, as always - Otis D Crenshaw, Gamrajobat, Stephen K Amos, and a 75 year-old stripper by the name of Lynne Ruth Miller. Anything goes at the Edinburgh Fringe !

I must admit I feel a bit of a tourist tart - only going to Edinburgh during the month of August, when the Festival and the Fringe are on. One of these days I will go up there when the regular locals are around. We can have a day of riding the local club routes. (Edinburgh has a strong club cycling scene.) Then we'll reward ourselves with a good local brew in a small neighbourhood pub, to wash down an authentic haggis meal. And who knows, we might even spot Scottish people in the streets of Edinburgh !




I look forward to making the trip back up again.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi,

Great posts and I've really enjoyed reading your tales and adventures. All super stuff, and well and interestingly written too.

Do you have a contact email through the site?

Thank you

Tim (UK)