You missed out on hearing about our trip from Pitlochry to
Leith as I ran out of time last Sunday, and I do think it is worth mentioning.
We were sad to leave, of course, and promised ourselves we will be back to our
favourite spot in Scotland very soon.
We had woken early to watch the Caulfield Cup, thanks to racing.com & a very exciting race it
was indeed! We can’t seem to have any bets here, which will be frustrating come
Melbourne Cup time, but that is a small price to pay for a great trip full of
wonderful experiences.
On our way we saw a sign to The Hermitage and turned in to find out what it was. How delightful
to find ourselves in the car-park of a pleasure grounds, run by the
National Trust of Scotland (as National Trust Australia members we were
entitled to free parking!). We spent an hour wandering around this beautiful
spot, which was frequented by poets & writers in years gone by.
Wes enjoying the water
& Autumn leaves
Our next stop was Dundee to see the new Victoria &
Albert, which is a stunning building right next to the beautifully restored Discovery. However, we were
underwhelmed when we entered as there is no crowd control except for queues to
pay for exhibitions or queues to get into exhibitions. The rest of it is a mish-mash
of cafe, lift, shop, toilets & sight-seers all getting in each other’s way.
We left there & walked around the city of Dundee
instead looking for a cuppa, which we finally found in a quiet little muffin
spot.
We arrived in late afternoon at our accommodation in Leith.
This was an airBNB unit & we were able to stretch out at last after being confined
to small rooms. We had views of the water, two bedrooms, a laundry, a
fully-appointed kitchen, lounge & a large dining table on which the laptop
sat happily. That night we enjoyed the goodies we had bought at The House of Bruar that morning.
Sunday was a fun day. We set off at 10.30am to catch the
bus into Edinburgh where we had booked a tour called Secret Food of Edinburgh. This was hosted by a young female
comedian, who took us on a three hour plus journey around the city with stops
for Cullen Skink, haggis, whisky & tablet, fudge, cheese and tea &
cakes. Each place was expecting us & had a table for 10 ready &
waiting. It was most enjoyable and we had some good chats with the other 8
participants.
Afterwards we walked to the Queen’s Gallery at the end of
the Royal Mile, but it was the final day of an exhibition of Venetian paintings
& the queues were long, so we found the Playhouse Theatre instead &
collected our tickets for the show Some
Guys Have all the Luck, which purported to be the story of Rod Stewart’s
life. I’m glad we had a couple of drinks beforehand as I was underwhelmed from
the minute it started. I found the chap playing Rod lacking in charisma, stage
movement & a good voice. I was in the minority; the rest of the audience
& Wes thought he was excellent. I felt he was at his best when he stopped
singing & let the audience take over the numbers. We felt as though we were
at a rock concert, with mostly 60-70 age group up dancing in their seats or the
aisles.
Wes walking across
Pitlochry golf course on our way to the Black Spout & enjoying his decadent
hot chocolate
On Monday, we set off to walk the Water of Leith trail into Edinburgh, which we enjoyed doing last
time we were here, only in reverse. Sadly there were road-works in a few spots
& we had to keep leaving the track, which meant we missed out on the
beautiful Dean cemetery & St Bernard’s Well. However, we found our way to
the Edinburgh Portrait Gallery, where we had a hot drink before tackling the
wonderful exhibitions.
There was a stunning main display by Victoria Crowe, a
woman with magnificent insights into her subjects & every painting was
worth spending time over. This is my favourite. He is the well-known celebrated
man & she, the vivacious wife, is about to checkmate him.
We spent ages exploring at this Gallery until our heads
were spinning & we decided to have lunch at a little café called The Square, which served freshly made
sandwiches & soups & had a French flavour to it. Good choice.
I forgave them
‘Tuseday’ when I discovered they filled hot water bottles for the homeless!
We walked back to Leith, mostly along the water, and rested
for a couple of hours before putting on glad rags & walking 50 metres to
our local pub, Teuchters Landing,
for a drink & meal. We were overwhelmed by the size of our dinners and were
unable to finish them.
Salt & pepper
calamari with a kilo of thick cut chips & fish & chips with peas!
On Tuesday, we explored Leith by foot – in spite of a very
strong wind. The weather was very good for our time in Scotland, a bit of rain,
but nothing to worry about & quite warm temperatures, mostly around
15-17˚during the day. After a coffee break at an Italian café called Toast, we set off to drive to the
historic town of Berwick on Tweed.
We were totally underwhelmed by this town with its air of neglect &
abandon. Lunch was at a brand new café called Café Nine, which had opened the day before. Mine host was panicking
& his partner, Alan, refused to come out of the kitchen to help. We had
soup & bread, which were very yummy & I took these photos to help us
remember the occasion!
Back home we decided to watch the wonderful film Sunshine on Leith, which our hosts had
left for their guests, and after about 30 minutes of trying to make the DVD
player work we were successful. Dinner was finishing up our bottle of claret,
cheeses, biscuits, olives & mackerel. Very yummy indeed!
Now we are packing up and saying goodbye to Scotland until
next time. Our destination is Robin Hood’s
Bay, via Whitby. And tomorrow we
spend the day with much-loved aunt & uncle, Jeff & Kev Hoolihan.
No comments:
Post a Comment