Tower, Portobello

A very cold Sunday morning for my bike ride, well below zero for most of it. Rain is forecast as well, so I make it pretty short. I head out in to the wind so that going up the first hill, the wind is mostly behind me. So I head out though Hillend and Bush to Penicuik.

The hill takes me up to Pomathorn, on to the Top Gear road and over Mount Lothian. the GPS tells me it is minus 2degC. I turn off the Top Gear road south to Gladhouse. The road is quite icy in places, but it is mushy rather than hard. On the Outerston road, I do have to get off the bike and walk across it. Then I cycle east to Middleton. This is the halfway point. I head to Castleton on the Halkerston road to Castleton.

From here I follow Nation cycle Route 1 through Carrington, Bonnyrigg, on to the cycle path to Eskbank. On the way, the sun comes out, and the temperature climbs to 0. I follow Melville Rd to Gilmerton Rd back in to Edinburgh. The route home from Gilmerton is along Captain's Rd and Frogston Rd. As I climb, in to the wind, the temperature also climbs to plus 2degC. Nice and sunny by the time I get home.

The route can be seen at Relive here.

After lunch, i go to meet my partner at Portobello. the first bus doesn't turn up. So I walk down to Morningside just in case I can get a different bus to the centre of Edinburgh along the way. I reach Morningside before the next bus.  At least the next bus is on time, and my change of buses on Princes St is seamless. It doesn't take long to get to Portobello, even with a driver change.

My partner and I walk arounfd the charity shops that are open, then aren't many, So we head down to the prom. I take a few photos. However, heading back up to the High St, we pass the Tower. It was built as a summerhouse in 1785, apparently from stone from the Old College, the Edinburgh Mercat Cross and St. Andrew's Cathedral.this would account for the random stonework. The tower now forms part of a small housing complex.

Cafés in Portobello seem very busy, so after visiting the last charity shop open in Portobello, we head back in to town for afternoon coffee, before heading home. Lovely day.