It was a wet and cold morning which saw us leaving Glasgow and heading to the capital, Edinburgh.

See if you can figure this optical puzzle out.

Along the way we stopped in at the Bathgate Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile, inaugurated in March of 1990, the course is a measured mile which runners use for training. It also serves as a reminder that peace is a quality which requires our constant nurturing to ensure it grows and flourishes in our community.

Our first official meeting was with Alison Johnstone, a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Lothian.

A former East of Scotland 800 metres and 1500 metres title holder, Alison is a newly elected member representing the Scottish Greens.

Alison still runs for fitness and inspired a somewhat reluctant World Harmony Run team to run to the top of Arthur's Seat.

We would have been happy to sit in a cafe but Alison set off at a brisk pace into the inclement weather.

Arthur's Seat is an imposing mountain which is right in the middle of Edinburgh.

Soon we left the road and waded into the wet grass.

Fortunately Alison took pity on us and slowed down a little.

On top of Arthur's Seat.

Seen from the top of Arthur's Seat - celebrating Fathers Day - which is tomorrow.

Coming down is a lot easier than going up.

The ruins of St. Anthony's Chapel, a popular place for weddings.

Shyamala, a local, points out various Edinburgh landmarks.

Thanks so much to Alison for a truly memorable run - we wouldn't have done it without you!

A short run along the Royal Mile we headed for the Edinburgh City Hall.

Edinburgh City Councillor Donald Wilson offically welcomed us to the City of Edinburgh.

Councillor Wilson speaking with Edinburgh residents Janaka, Shyamala and Janani.

The clock above Donald's head is connected by wires the length of the Royal Mile to the Edinburgh Castle and is actually used to activate the One O'clock Gun - a cannon which goes off everyday at 1.00pm.

This Chandelier is one of three that the City of Munich presented to Edinburgh in honour of the 50th anniversary of the two cities being twinned in 1953 as part of the reconcilaitation process after the second world war. This was the first twinning with a German city after the war.

Edinburgh City Hall is the equivalent of 17 stories high as is evidenced by this impressive staircase.

Thank you to Councillor Wilson for taking time out of his Saturday to welcome the team to the beautiful City of Edinburgh.

Next we were off to a local Rugby 10's competition for a lap of honour.

Along the way we called into the Sri Chinmoy Peace Tree and plaque commerating Edinburgh as a Sri Chinmoy Peace City.

Everywhere you look Edinburgh displays her picturesque landscapes.

Meanwhile there was quite a contest going on in the middle of the pitch.

We did our lap around th field and fortunately did not have to tackle anyone.

One of the teams joined in for a photo.

A Local TV interviewed Shyamala.

Even the Scottish cows were inspired to start running.

Salil explained the Run to one of Edinburgh's Constabulary.

Another great day in Scotland.

 

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The World Harmony Run proudly supports the International Year of Youth (IYY) and the International Year of Forests (IYF) proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly.

See the recent Youtube video on African experience which illustrates IYY slogan "Our Year Our Voice"  International Year of Youth - Zambia World Harmony. They surprisingly mention Presidents and UN Secretary-General in a unique way! 

See also the UNESCO World Heritage (WH) Centre support for IY of Forests.  ... Convention for conservation of forest biodiversity. (more)

 

 

– Salil Wilson

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Distance: 56 miles

Team Members:
Salil Wilson (Australia), Apaguha Vesely (Czech Republic), Balavan Thomas (Great Britain), Shobhavati Davies (New Zealand), Shyamala Stott (Scotland), Dhavala Stott (Scotland), Amalendu Edelsten (Australia), Shraddha Kurzemniece (Latvia), Lenka Svecova (Czech Republic), Uranta Kane (Scotland), Abarika (Czech Republic), Janani Spence (Scotland), Janaka Alan Spence (Scotland), Atul Arora (India), Teekhnata Metzler (USA), Atulya Berube (USA)

Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.

Gallery: See more images!

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