North Berwick, Glenkinchie and Fireworks

Posted on 2007/09/09 17:28:47 (September 2007).

[Sunday 2nd September]
Today we met up with Lucy, who now lives in Edinburgh (she works here as a nurse), and had a very nice day out in and around the Scottish capital.

Lucy kindly offered us the use of her car, which Vera was especially pleased about, and so we chose today to go and visit North Berwick. I'd been to visit North Berwick once before with Vera, which, by strange coincidence, was eight years ago exactly to the day. Vera's mother came from North Berwick, and Vera spent some time here as a child, so the place has a special significance for her.

We found a nice little cafe there for lunch, and after that went for a stroll along the seafront. As it was a bit cold and windy we didn't stay for very long, but Vera seemed very pleased to have seen it all again.

On the way back to Edinburgh, it occurred to me we'd be passing nearby the Glenkinchie distillery, so I couldn't resist swinging by and poking our noses round the door. We didn't go on a tour or anything, but did take a look round the visitor centre, which had a very well made exhibition on Glenkinchie and the distillation process in general. We were also treated to a free dram. Whilst my taste in whisky usually veers towards the island malts (mainly Islay) and the big flavoured whiskies found in some parts of the Highlands (such as Clynelish), I have been known to quite enjoy a Glenkinchie for a change on occasion. I once had an extremely lemony dram of theirs at the Whisky Society, which was very enjoyable indeed.

After Glenkinchie, we headed back to Edinburgh, stopping off at Lucy's flat somewhere on the outskirts, to drop off her car and admire the view for a while. We got a bus from there into the centre of Edinburgh.

We had dinner at a seafood restaurant on Grassmarket (The Mussel and Steak Bar), where to our surprise our waitress was Japanese. This gave me some confidence that the seafood was probably fairly good, although I of course didn't have any of it, instead having a rather disappointing mushroom ravioli (the token vegetarian dish on the menu, and really overpriced for what it was).

The main reason for coming into Edinburgh in the evening was to catch the fireworks display, which I think was held to mark the end of the festival. Lots of streets were cordoned off, as you were supposed to go down to Princes Street and pay to watch it, however this seemed a bit daft, what with fireworks being something that goes on up in the sky, and Edinburgh having a very convenient hill from which to watch. So we stood on the Royal Mile, with a group of other freeloaders, and were treated to a very nice display indeed.

We got back to Leith around 10, and unfortunately weren't quite in time to catch last orders at the whisky society, which was a shame, but I suppose it is probably good to have a break now and again!

Hi! I saw that you're a fellow folewolr of Etsy it Up and wanted to let you know I'm having my first giveaway on my blog for a Paula Deen Stoneware Baker! Come on over and enter if you're interested!

Posted by Ruslan at 2013/03/17 11:45:13.

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