Revisiting the Fife Coastal Trail

So, here we are, back in Edinburgh, and loving the experience.  It sure doesn't hurt that I found this awesome place to stay for quite a reasonable sum.  In fact, this just might be the deal of the century and you can surely bet that we aren't complaining!  This place might just go down on the record books as our best experience yet.  I suppose we'll all just have to wait and see, won't we?

Marty was eager to get out and show Suzie a section of the Fife Coastal Trail, and so we just ignored the cloudy and chilly weather, bundled up and headed to the train station to start the adventure.

Marty's enthusiasm was quite obvious, as he was determined to photograph Suzie just about every step of the way.  For awhile there, I felt like a bystander to a professional photoshoot. And, Suzie, being the sweetheart that she is, happily complied. Wasn't it nice of her to appease her uncle?

We began our adventure by boarding the train in Haymarket Station and riding it across the firth into the Kingdom of Fife.

The Royal Burgh of Burnt Island would be our starting point  with Aberdour as our destination. 

We soon alighted in Burnt Island

and began the trek through this Royal Burgh.

When one follows the signs,  as those of us shown above, it's fairly easy to follow this trail in this section. 

But, when you are in the company of someone (who shall remain nameless)  who does not follow the signs......well.....what can I say?   The fact is, you can't climb over the railroad tracks, (which is a great safety precaution.......and probably why there are signs to follow).   No worries, a little diversion here and there has become fairly common as of late.  At my suggestion, we headed back to the marked trail and were soon back on track.

The beginning of the trail at this point is really scenic, with a stone wall along either side.

Walking along, one can well imagine carriages traveling on this ground in past centuries.  It is quite obvious that those walls have been standing for quite a long time.

Today, the trail was enhanced by flowering gorse, adding a splash of color along the way.

This trail is always so scenic, and today, it was enhanced with variant weather conditions as we watched storms looming over Edinburgh in the distance.

We were fortunate to never see anything more than a few raindrops on our walk today, and we were well prepared for the cold in the air.  It certainly appears that other areas where not equally fortunate. 

Finally we were on the silver sands of Aberdour.

and, obviously, the girls were loving it.

As we headed  back towards the trail, we ran into a local man who was very excited to meet us.  He shook Marty's hand and welcomed us to Aberdour,  giving us a rundown on the all the exciting amenities that Aberdour had to offer.  We were polite and listened to him quite attentively as he obviously had no idea how often we had visited here.  He really was very entertaining, and the girls loved hearing his cute accent as he talked with us.  And, it reminded me of just how welcoming the Scots have been, and continue to be, to us.  You just don't see that kind of hospitality too many places.

We began the trek up these steps to the top of the cliff.

where, once again, we were awed at the sheer beauty of our surrounds.

I never tire of seeing these views.

Marty continued his role as photographer.

and Suzie certainly seemed happy to comply.

And, of course, Marty couldn't resist the selfie at the top.

If you were the least bit curious about the weather, I'd say that photo should clear up any questions that you might have had.  Brrr!!!

We finished the trail, and walked up the hill into the town of Aberdour, making our way to the lovely castle that stands on the edge this quaint little village. 

I soon learned that an episode of Outlander was filmed at this castle, which explained the number of visitors that were there today, as well as the few cafes that had popped up since our visit just a couple of years ago.  This has always been one of my favorite castles in Fife, and one of the most well preserved and scenic ones in my opinion.  You just can't beat the convenient location to the train station, that's for sure!

Speaking of which, it was time to head back, so we once again hopped the train, this time taking it towards Edinburgh.

We made it back to the B&B just in time for the High Tea that we had reserved at 3:30.

It was to be served in the library, so we headed there to find the table all set up and ready for us.

Isn't this just lovely?

Believe me....those items were as wonderful as they look in this photo.

We had hoped to treat Suzie and Amy to high tea, but when we tried making a reservation at the Dome on George Street, it was already fully booked.  When I realized that our B&B offered this luxury, as long as we made a reservation, it certainly seemed worth trying.

We had the library completely to ourselves to savor our treats and just relax after once again walking a record number of 9.7 miles.  No wonder we were beat! 

This is our last evening in Edinburgh, and we certainly did try to make the most of it.

Amy leaves tomorrow from Edinburgh airport, while Marty and I accompany Suzie back to London  on the train, where she will get back to her studies and Marty will retire from his photography duties.  And we will head home on April 1.

Yep....we travel back on April Fools Day.  And, tonight we turn back our clocks for the second time in a month.  And that's no April Fools Joke.

Oh well..... perhaps we'll get a chance to snooze a bit on the train.

I'll keep you posted!

Back to Gallivanting through Edinburgh

We woke up to an absolutely delightful view from our room at the B-B Edinburgh:

We are staying in a Georgian style townhouse that has been converted to a B&B Inn, and what you are looking at is Dean Village.

This place is awesome:  There is an automatic cappuccino/latte machine in the lobby, a bar for those so inclined to have a drink, a lovely breakfast room, and a two story library.  We just might be in heaven!

And, by the way, breakfast was fabulous!  I opted for the Eggs Benedict, and was certainly not disappointed!

We were up early and ready to explore, and we decided to head down to Dean's Village to take a walk along the Waters of Leith.

Once again, the weather was awesome!  Just a wee bit of a chill in the air.  We had no trouble finding the path down to the waters.

And we soon stumbled upon the clock that caught my attention from the bedroom window.

The girls posed here for a photo, but the lighting makes it difficult to see them.

From here, we headed along a path that follows the Waters of Leith, but we weren't alone, as there was a group of students walking the same path in front of us.  We could hear the sound of water rushing, and then this came into view.

Perched perilously at the top, was a single mallard duck. 

We would watch him getting sucked towards the waterfall's edge, then see him furiously paddle to keep from going over the side.

This happened over and over, and suddenly, we heard the group of students gasping and lamenting a loud "Ohhhhh!"

It appeared that the duck was quite entertaining for this group, and one would have thought that they had taken bets on whether or not the duck would go over the falls.

When it seemed as if he was doomed, the mallard spread his wings and flew to the lower level, much to the delight of his viewers!  Whew!  That made us all feel much better!

Knowing that no harm had befallen the duck, we made our way to street level and began the hike to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Leith.

We spotted this along the way, and I'd love to tell you what it was, but I really haven't a clue.

After what seemed to be quite a hike, we finally made it to the Royal Botanical Gardens.

Admission to the gardens is free, and we decided to forego access to the Glass houses as those required payment and it seemed that we would have plenty of scenery without viewing them.

As Amy pointed out, there wasn't a whole lot of brilliance due to the time of year, but, personally, I felt that there was enough to catch our attention.

Magnolias were in bloom

and flowers were beginning to pop up in various gardens.

Then there was the gardener's cottage devoted to the Queen Mary. 

 The interior was constructed of seashells ad pine cones.

complete with tiles featuring the Royal Thistle

Leaving the memorial, one walks along a path that leads through a hedge that is over 100 years old.  Unfortunately, we were not able to enjoy its green hue yet. 

As we walked along, we saw flowers that are in the habitat of Siberia, which explains whey they can bloom in the cold.

There were succulents as well.

All was not lost in regards to blossoms as you can see here:

and there were hot houses also featuring lots of bright and colorful flowers.

We were able to view this pavilion from the grounds, but didn't enter it as we had decided to forego the fee for touring the glasshouses.  It was filled with what appeared to be trees of a tropical nature.

But I can't say that we thought we were missing anything.  We've had ample opportunity to see such vegetation on many occasions in other venues.

We saw the infamous Monkey trees 

and these unusual flowers skirting the edge of a pond.

The grounds were blanketed with daffodils.

resulting in quite a splash of color against the green of the grass.

A Cherry Tree was in bloom.

as well as some other fruit trees and azaleas.

It certainly wasn't the spectacular walk that one might hope for in regards to a garden, but it did offer a bit of color to brighten the day.

From here, we decided to make our way to the Georgian House on Charlotte Square in New Town.  As I had mentioned in an earlier blog, our niece is studying abroad in London and Marty really wanted to show her some highlights of Edinburgh.  I had been to this National Trust Site a couple of times in the past, and since we have memberships for entry, it made perfect sense to me to share the experience with Suzie.

I was reminded me of the steep hills making this walk when coming from the Botanical Garden, as I had done it alone in the past.  

Finally (and I mean FINALLY!!!) we arrived at our destination and entered the house.

Or course, we were greeted enthusiastically, as seems to be the case at all of these National Trust Venues, and we soon found ourselves, walking the 50 stairs to the top to begin the tour from top level to lower level. 

There was an exceedingly entertaining film to watch, explaining the lifestyle of the man who had originally owned the house.  His main goal was to spend money that he didn't have in order to establish prestige so that he could marry off his two daughters.   It wasn't too difficult to surmise that the family became indebted to the point that they needed to sell of their house.  After all, it was now in the possession of the National Trust and not tied to any family holdings.

Next to the movie room is an activity center, where one can dress up in period costumes, and also try a hand at writing with a quill and ink.

On the first floor, the master bedroom held a bed that was embroidered by the original owner.

I found it amazing that it was in such pristine condition.

The drawing room was of a Robert Adam design, and several pieces of art adorned the walls. 

And I found the chandelier to be quite unusual and lovely.

And, luckily, Suzie was still smiling!

From here we headed to the National Portrait Gallery, primarily because I recalled that it had a superior cafe, and we really could use a break.

We weren't disappointed as the scones with cream and jam were excellent and the tea was full bodied and quite flavorful.

We now had some energy to pull ourselves up the several sets of stairs to get to the top of the gallery to begin looking through the many paintings of famous Scots.

Room after room held countless images of the aristocracy from several hundred years, and there was even a modern art room that featured famous Scots from more recent days.

But, honestly, one can look at so many faces before it gets tiring, so we decided to head down to Princes Street and begin our walk home.

The gardens here are just beginning to bloom and we enjoyed getting off the beaten track to enjoy them.

We managed to get some photos with the castle in the background.

 And I loved the view of the castle with the blue fountain at its base.

And here you can see the castle in the background, the church of St. Cuthbert and a Celtic Cross right in front.

Not bad if I say so myself!

We were very tuckered out by this point, so we walked back to our room to strengthen our reserves for a dinner walk.  When we sat down to check menus of local eating establishments, most of the ones whom we called were fully booked for tonight.

Amy managed to get a booking near the theater, at an Italian Restaurant which required heating up that pavement once more.   But, honestly, it was well worth the effort.

Because dinner was fabulous!

All in all, I hear that we walked over 10 miles today.  I'd say that's about as much as one can possibly fit into a day here!

We're up for more of a challenge tomorrow!