A bit more of Scotland

[bjd]

After Kerouac's many-photoed short trip to Edinburgh in January, my husband and I went from March 28 to April 6. It was mainly a family visit so not much tourism involved. Our son and his family live in Portobello, which is a section of the city running along the coast of the Firth of Forth. It's a great place and the apartment they were renting overlooked the Promenade running along the beach.

The view from the kitchen and living room





As mentioned by Kerouac, there were tons of dogs, but the don't bark and the Scots pick up after their dogs so you don't have to keep looking underfoot when out for a walk.

We had almost no rain, but some clouds and a lot of wind. That didn't stop many of the locals from participating in various activities like running, cycling, walking and rowing. Even saw a few swimmers, not all of whom had a wetsuit on. The water was at 12°C apparently.

[bjd]

On Saturday late afternoon we climbed Arthur's Seat -- not all the way up. The wind was howling and I don't like heights.



Some "ruins" partway up, not off the main path.





The 3-year old pooped out after running up the hill, so had to be carried down on my husband's shoulders.

[bjd]

On the Sunday, we took two buses to the place where the Firth of Forth meets the North Sea to visit Tantallon Castle. Built in the mid-14th century for the Red Douglas dynasty, it was finally destroyed by Cromwell in 1651.







Then:


and now




The island in the middle of the picture used to be a military garrison, a prison, and there was a lighthouse from 1902 until 1988, when the last lighthouse-keeper was replaced by an automatic light. It is now a bird sanctuary, with 150,000 nesting pairs of gannets and other sea-birds.





The beach on a nice Sunday afternoon in North Berwick, where we changed buses for the long ride back to Edinburgh

[onlyMark]

Excellent clarity bjd. It's funny how someone like me forgets to travel relatively locally to see good sights and instead jets off to far off shores. It's always a pleasure to look at photos like these to see what I've missed.

As regards the lighthouse photo, I may have missed something important, but shouldn't lighthouses actually face the open sea rather than back towards the mainland? And also not be hidden halfway down the big rock they are on rather than at the top?

[mickthecactus]

That's Nicola Sturgeon for you........

[bjd]

Apr 19, 2017 7:57:54 GMT onlyMark said:

Excellent clarity bjd. It's funny how someone like me forgets to travel relatively locally to see good sights and instead jets off to far off shores. It's always a pleasure to look at photos like these to see what I've missed.

As regards the lighthouse photo, I may have missed something important, but shouldn't lighthouses actually face the open sea rather than back towards the mainland? And also not be hidden halfway down the big rock they are on rather than at the top?

re the lighthouse. I agree about that Mark, but I believe the lighthouse was just added later (1902?) to a previously existing building. Here is a bit of information:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Rock_Lighthouse

[bjd]

To finish up, I did go to central Edinburgh one afternoon with my camera. I climbed up to the castle but didn't go in, walked down the Royal Mile ("the highest concentration of tartan tat imaginable"), wandered around a bit, stopped in to see a photo exhibit, bought some shortbread to bring home, and took the bus back to Portobello.

Lots of tourists, professional bagpipe players having their pictures taken with tourists, the guy letting people pay to have their pictures taken with his owl (my daughter-in-law claims he recently had a haircut -- before that he looked more like his owl).







The castle being perched on a hill (of volcanic rock), in spring the park below was a field of daffodils and narcissus.




Looking away from the castle, with the Scott monument on the left.


The castle and its immediate surroundings.



I'm not sure who these young people in uniform were

[bjd]

For any Chinese tourists wishing to buy some knitwear










And a real cigar store Indian

[Deleted]

Nice to see more bucolic photos than I was able to take! That lighthouse makes perfect sense to me since most vessels in that area would follow the coast and they didn't want any of them hitting the rock unexpectedly. Ships farther out at sea absolutely do not need a lighthouse unless there is a reef or something.

As for the owl wrangler, he looked the same when I was there.

i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/Ecosse/P1070280.jpg

[onlyMark]

"....since most vessels in that area would follow the coast...."
Seems logical.

[bixaorellana]

What a lovely visit, Bjd, and no surprise that your pictures are wonderful.

I hope your son and his family are very happy there. They certainly have beautiful surroundings.

For someone who doesn't like heights, you got some great lofty shots. Even without climbing Arthur's Seat, the city streets and of course the castle seem to offer plenty of steepness. That view looking down at the daffodils is breathtaking.

I guess that weaving mill must get busloads of Chinese tourists. I also guess it may be a while before you feel like wearing plaid.

[bjd]

Thanks, Bixa. Yes, they like living there. My son calls Edinburgh an "atmospheric city". And many castles and nice scenery to see within a short distance from the city and reachable by bus. Lots of foreigners too: Spaniards, French, Italians. All rather worried about what will happen after Brexit. It was funny to hear a kid speaking to his mother with a Scottish accent and hearing her answer in Spanish.

I was almost tempted to buy a cashmere sweater -- there were some really nice colours, but I don't need one and would have been hugely disappointed if they had been made in China. It wasn't a mill, just a big shop opposite the castle.

[mich64]

Wonderful photos bjd! I enjoyed your perspective and the different angles from which you photographed Arthur's Seat, the Scott monument and I am presuming Cockburn Street. Splendid.

[BigIain]

Regarding Mark's question on the location of the lighthouse...It was built on the site of the only decent structure on the Bass Rock, either a monastic type thing or the former prison. It is one of a chain of lights along the south coast of the Firth of Forth. There is one every ten miles, often a lot less. Because of the shape of the inlet which makes up the Firth, boats only use most of the lights when travelling West to East or E to W. There is basically nothing to the North (the blind spot) other than a small amount of water and the North coast of the bay.

There is also a cave/tunnel, totally natural running from side to side as the picture.