The Lawnmarket sans tourists

Out and about at 9am. It's nice being in town early, even though it was forced. The day got brighter and brighter, although the hat is out again to keep my head warm. A wander round town, ending up in - guess - My Club, where I had a coffee, two pieces of shortbread and read the papers.

While walking through town, I delighted in the new ability to just walk in a reasonably straight line, not dodge waves of tourists or get bumped out of the way. A family asked me to take a photo of them with a backdrop of the Gardens and Waverley Station. I had to use an iPad. I hope Powercut wasn't looking - he reckons people look stoooopid doing this. I felt a bit stoopid, as I couldn't see the screen very well and the sun was behind the group, so that the faces were in shadow.

The man came to have a look at the photo I had taken and I was waving my hand in front of the group, saying, "It's too... it's too...." I wanted to say 'dark' but as he was a black American and the whole family were black, I felt it wasn't quite the right thing to say. He quickly came to my rescue, shook my hand and laughed, saying he'd lighten it up this evening in iPhoto.

I passed a young man with two babies in a pram and a walking toddler. Presumably they were his. On his tee-shirted arm was the tattoo 'Shirley: aka The Bitch'. He certainly has a way with the ladies... I hope Shirley wasn't the mother of the kids.

Came back to the radio on louder than ever - and why not, as I was out - but I could hear it in the street. Never mind, the job is looking good and is nearing completion.

Had fun in town fiddling with my AEB settings, but you end up with three times as many photos. I definitely need some new storage!

The only conversation on the bus I heard today was an elderly lady leaning forward and tapping the two people sitting in front of her.

'Are you just visiting Edinburgh?'

'Yes.'

'This is the Museum on the right. It's free.'

How jolly nice, I thought. I might try that.

Tapping tourists and telling them things. Not the museum. No - both, actually.