Calton Hill #1: The old City Observatory

Second day off, bliss! In line with resolutions I got out of bed at a decent time rather than give in to temptation to spend the morning snoozing. Yeah, that one might not last once I'm back to work. Master of the 'Ohcrapit'sthattimealreadyneedtoleavein2omins', that's me. Anyways, after a pleasant lunch with Mrs. Legodude's Grandparents and brother (she was at work poor thing) I got on the busiest #26 bus ever and headed back into town with the intention of photographing the old Odeon Cinema building on South Clerk Street. But I got off the bus on London Road due to the over-crowding and ended up walking up over Calton Hill which gave me an idea for an infrequent series of photos taken on that iconic Edinburgh location. None at night though as it has a reputation after dark...
Part one shows the east face of the Old City Observatory. It was constructed between 1818 and 1822 and designed by famous architect William Playfair; who's Uncle founded the Astronomical Institution. Talk about nepotism! Built to resemple a classical temple, there's a dome on the roof for the telescope - currently a Cooke Refractor dating from 1896. Which is also the year that a new, larger observatory located at Blackford Hill took over this one. But happily the old observatory is still used by the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh.