Statue to the Royal Scots Greys

This was a morning of exploration by bus and foot.

The bus bit took me to unchartered territories in the search of the venue for a birthday ceilidh on Saturday. Although appearing in a complicated position on a map, it turned out to be quite simple after all, so I can relax in the knowledge that I won't get lost en route.
It's fascinating to sit on the top deck of a bus and view the world from a lofty position. You can see all manner of things missed from ground level. Don't some folk keep really messy back gardens for instance!

I was able to view from a height the new road chaos between Shandwick Place and Haymarket and marvel at the patience of the bus drivers and taxi drivers who have to cope with daily traffic changes.
How visitors to Edinburgh cope, I have no idea, so complicated is it to drive through the city.

On return from unchartered territories to the safety of the city centre, I strolled home via the big new finance and insurance buildings at Lothian Road to reach the peace of the canal. The photography or art students had been busy again with their installation art and there was a string of woven letters on a fence reading 'This is Nice' and I suppose they were placed at a more picturesque part of the canal where the houseboats are moored.

There were two swans standing in a less than salubrious corner of the canal surrounded by detritus although there was an open stretch of water nearby. Most of the canal remains frozen, only the stretches under bridges have melted.

The blip is of the statue on Princes Street gardens opposite Frederick Street which I blipped from the top of the bus through a slightly mucky window.
He has a spike on top of his bearskin to deter the pigeons from sitting atop.