Antithesis

Although it’s been 36 hours since the big fire in Forrest Road which has wrecked the Elephant House and the Patisserie Valerie and damaged buildings at the back in Candlemaker Row, I hadn’t had any need to see what was happening until this afternoon.

Both roads are blocked off now and there is Police presence to prevent onlookers getting anywhere near.
To reach the Mound, pedestrians and vehicles have to use Chamber Street, South Bridge and the High Street. This means that the traffic gets gridlocked in Chamber Street.

I walked a circuit taking in the Cowgate and the Grassmarket and thought these two images of graffiti on a close wall in the Cowgate and the lovely little oasis of the West Port Garden just a short distance away are two ends of the spectrum in the area.