Ornamental hermitage

After going quite round the houses it was good to end up at what may be my favourite bench in my favourite place.

First was a prospective visit to the toy shop for ideas for Boy Wonder, because I sure as heck need some ideas.  Fort Kinnaird however maintained its reputation as a generally awful place to navigate and indeed to try to leave, even by bicycle, let alone by car.  Then a quick whizz into town to the bike recycling place in case by magic they happened to have any handlebar bags.  I converted my old one to mount on my Brompton, and then gave it to Dad to put on his Brompton.  But there was nothing doing, so I rummaged for the sake of curiosity and then rode further into town.  The High Street was absolutely mobbed, and a lot of building work is going on by the Usher Hall for what I assume will be a big Festival venue.  So after taking the odd photograph I headed west to the canal.  I forgot that the canal festival is this weekend, and it was really busy too.  I was going to say hello at Laid Back Bikes but it was closed for canal festivalgoing.

So after a pit stop at Kafe Kweer I headed out of town and took myself to the Hermitage of Braid where the air is green and fresh and the water laps and rushes in the background.  I sat for a while and enjoyed my almond croissant very much.  The big house here was built in the late 1700s by Charles Gordon of Cluny (the neighbourhood to the north).  In 1937 it was gifted to the City of Edinburgh, and has had a few uses but is now a visitor centre of sorts.  The valley it sits in skirts the south side of Blackford Hill and the north side of Braid Hill, and covers over 40 acres.

The rain tried while I was riding home but it wasn't cold, and now the sun has come out, just in time for tea!