My Fountain and a Return to Auld Reekie

I prefer how it used to look.

It was somewhere between burnt gold and dulled brass. A monotone colour that seemed to blend well with the nearby castle that was on top of a dormant volcano.

Ross Fountain is a famous landmark in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was one of the places that I wanted to virtually see when I finished last night's workout for my LEJOG challenge. Because there were strong wind gusts in Ottawa, I chose to get on my spin bike, rather than my road bike, and I calculated that I would need to cover a distance of between 33 kilometres and 33.5 kms to reach the south end of Edinburgh, from Peebles, in the Borders district. With the number of klicks that I would cover, simply by walking around the house, I easily made up the distance that was required to get me to my ultimate destination, Edinburgh Castle.

Using The Conqueror app, I logged 33.43 kilometres and came within a couple of blocks away from Salisbury Green Hotel, where I stayed in 2010 with my best friend, Stuart. A few hours after my spin, I logged another 2.93 kms, on foot, which took me virtually to the gates of the castle.

I know Edinburgh well enough to get around without a map. In 2010, I had spent an entire day walking from my hotel to The Royal Mile, around Princes Street Gardens, all over New Town, up to Calton Hill, through The Meadows, and more. Stu and I climbed over the Salisbury Crags and into Duddingston, where we enjoyed a couple of pints at one of the oldest pubs in the city, which dates back to 1360.

When I stumbled upon a fountain at the western end of Princes Street Garden, in 2010, I loved photographing it with the castle high above. When I learned the name of the fountain—Ross Fountain—I loved it even more.

It was my fountain.

So when I virtually reached Edinburgh on my LEJOG challenge, I immediately began 'wandering' the city, using the app's street views. And apart from wandering High Street (Royal Mile), the curved, sloped Cockburn Street, and the castle, I headed to my fountain.

I had known that there had been some restoration on the fountain, since I was there 11 years ago, and I knew that a new colour had been applied. But to see it on Google Maps, I was disappointed. I find the new colour, a turquoise-green, hideous. What have they done with my fountain?

I love Edinburgh. It's easily one of my top five cities in the whole world, if not my absolute favourite. It's the size of city that I find perfect. If you have the time, you can walk everywhere. It's full of history. The architecture is sublime. There is so much to see and do. And it's close to Roland Axam's birthplace, in North Berwick.

I know that I'm only virtually visiting this city but I have such a connection to it that I'm almost tempted to linger. I'm not looking ahead in my app to see what my next destination is. I may just hang around Auld Reekie another day. Just to pretend I'm back.