Portrait Gallery

It was a miserably wet morning in Edinburgh, but I had a few things to do in town. The first involved a trip to John Lewis. I hadn't realised how far things have gone with the demolition - getting in involved a route-march round by York Place, and when I got inside, nothing is where it was and half the store seems to have gone already. 

Luckily the cafe is still up on top, so I went up to claim my free coffee and scone, and saw for the first time a beard-net - if that's what you call it?   A man behind the counter with his facial hair restrained by the sort of thing my mother used to keep her rollers from falling out at night. I live a sheltered existence, I'd no idea such things existed.

Heading back along Queen Street,  I went into the SNPG. There were plenty of beards in there - mostly long and flowing and carved out of marble. 

The BP Portrait Exhibition is finishing in a couple of weeks, so I was glad to have caught that. And I got out of the rain for an hour.