Cafe Royal

At first, it worked and then it didn't. Only when I left work today and was back on the prowl on the side streets of Edinburgh, did I realise that the new toy had no internet access.

All I wanted to do was to send an urgent message ...but hey ho ...could I any more? Knowledge from writing my MSc thesis on mobile data networks did not seem as relevant as trying to find a satisfying enough word to describe my network provider.

Pointing my camera here and there, I reached Starbucks hoping to get free Wi-Fi access to send off the message. But of course, only after one orders their coffee do they usually realise that they don't have their wallet on them. I was not unusual by that measure.

The very kind man behind the counter, taken in by my credible appearance - obviously - let me have the coffee anyway. Over the next hour, I delved deep into the innards of the toy and changed some of the network's passwords (I do know these things) and for now it is working.

I later fetched money from my car - which was quite some distance away - and left a 50% tip for the kindness.

The blip is of Cafe Royal at West Register Street, a beautifully restored building. I'll get a wider lens next time to get a better shot. But do see it large.

For now, bye time is upon us...

EDIT: Do stop to look at the ceiling upstairs, an establishment called "The Voodoo Rooms", when you view large.