The Water of Leith

This past weekend I was too tired to go to the studio, but I still wanted to work in some way. So we decided to go to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. It's on the northwest side of town and the best way to get there is to walk along the extremely lovely Water of Leith. The head of the path is marked by the St. Bernard's Well statue. When you see this lovely lady, you know you're in for a nice day.The path winds through woods by the gently coursing stream. All along the way, people have stacked stones in the creek - I don't know why, but there are quite a few of them. Might they be cairns? Does anybody know? The path winds past falls,under a reasonably-sized bridge,and under a bridge which towers above you.It runs through Dean Village, which is the source of many of the most charming photos you find online for Edinburgh. See why?
We even saw a new bird (to us). It's called a Dipper. He had a funny little song which was difficult to hear over the running water. Can you see it?Despite all these wonderful sights, the path isn't terribly long, just over a mile or so. Towards our destination it opens up on a large garden with benches to soak up the sunshine beside yet another falls... And at the end of the path, you find this: Yes, there are some steep stairs up to the museum. But at the top they make it all worth while by presenting you with a Henry Moore (who happens to be my favorite sculptor).And that's just how you get to the museum. The next post will be about actually going inside.