Edinburgh

I feel like I got the most out of the last few days of my holiday. The day before yesterday, I got the ferry from Dieppe back to Newhaven.. I finished the knitting of my project and did most of the after knitting embellishing on the sailing whilst chatting to a German cyclist also doing the Avenue Verte. We talked politics discussing Brexit and it’s wider ramifications as well as bike mechanics and tours we have known. 

Docking in the U.K. the hills of the downs were so parched that they looked like giant sand dunes.  Once through passport control my travel companion and I  went our separate ways. I went back to the YHA and had a pleasent half hour finishing my knitting project then had some tea and an early (sweltering) night. 

After breakfast I headed off along the South Downs Way towards Brighton for a bit of a mooch around the lanes and for a direct train to London. Not surprisingly I bought some wool (Skein Queen, a jumper’s worth, a final pricey holiday treat, ready to cast on a pattern called Zweig on the way home) and then had lunch. A simple train journey deposited me at Victoria and then, true to form I went to yet another wool shop and sipped some very nice hipster coffee. 

After a confusing half hour in new buildings around the canal, I finally got myself in the right part of Kingscross station and settled in for the wait for the train. I cast on my jumper and listened to pod casts sat on the floor looking at the departures board. Eventually a platform was given and I made my way to the train. 10 minutes of looking for a guard and my bike was aboard then five minutes walking past empty first class carriages and so was I. 

After an uneventful journey I arrived back in Edinburgh. I probably should have remembered to hook my lights back up before midnight in the middle of the station but, it wasn’t a difficult job. The ride home through the quiet streets was satisfyingly cool and I relished the chill in the air. 

Home at last, a glass of wine, a bit of a snack and then off to bed.