Hoots Mon - I believe that is a greeting over here although never actually heard anyone say it. Will stick to Hiya. I like that one. Very excited, as have found 2 places near home that serve decent coffee. Favourite would be ""The Bad Tempered Baker"". Baristas are very wary of Australians - we have a fiercesome reputation when it comes to judging coffee. Weather still ridiculously good. It can't last. Will have to wash some T shirts soon.
We did the Water of Leith walk from Leith to Dean Village. Very scenic walking mainly alongside the Leith stream/water. Some parts looked like wooded paths in the Lord of The Rings movie with the Dark Riders tearing along the path. The part between Stockbridge and Dean Village, which gets the tourist vote for most scenic part, was especially pretty. Stephen kept on glancing longingly at the water for evidence of any fish. You can actually fish in the stream although we saw no evidence of anyone doing so. Passed ye ancient well (St Bernards Well) where people used to take the waters. Some hermit called St Bernard lived in a cave nearby or so one version of history says. Where we finished our walk - Dean Village, is this strange almost separate little village in the middle of Edinburgh, situated in this deep valley. It was where the milling occurred as well as weaving, tanning and dying many moons ago (technical term used by serious historians). Just read - there was grain milling here for over 800 years and was a separate village until the 19th century. It's all dark red buildings, purely residential now, with tourists blundering around. Edinburgh seems to have been made out of a few separate villages until the burgh of Edinburgh absorbed them all eventually. Found out today that Leith was bought and sold a few times. Mary Queen of Scots also apparently sold Leith to Edinburgh at one stage - before it was bought back... and resold etc.
Discovered a new suburb -Broughton, which is in the New Town. Lots of little shops, tenements being done up etc. Could live there. Also re-visited the National Gallery with SA. Tried to replicate what the guide told me during the tour - not sure how successful I was. The extra security had been dropped but woke this morning to the attack on London Bridge and Borough Market, so no doubt things will change again. Feels a bit like the 1970's which I just remember, with the regular terrorists attacks. Will not be visiting London any time soon at this rate. News of course filled with this story.
Making the most of the weather by still doing lots of walking. Walked to Portobello from Leith. It's a sea-side resort(ish) place complete with beach. Ahh the British seaside. There are some things we can feel superior about and the beach is one of them. Enough said. Like Leith, Portobello was a separate burgh until...Edinburgh absorbed it. Many dogs tearing along the beach - in and out of the water and digging frantically burying their toys. Portobello faces the Firth of Forth. Was reliably informed that the Firth of Forth means the estuary of the Forth River. I just thought it was a tongue twister. Supposedly some interesting things happened at Portobello at some stage. Names like Cromwell and William Wallace appear in wikipedia as having been here - secret meetings, preparations for battles etc but essentially it's now a little sea-side place for Edinburgh peoples to visit on sunny days.
Found great little pub down at The Shore - the hipster part of Leith on the water. It is tiny and had a board out the front with a hipster joke on it. Thought it was either going to be full of skin heads and we were going to back out quickly or we'd feel at home. We felt at home. SA drank a Bellhaven Best although he tells me was not as good as Caledonian Best. Half pint just had a draught cider.
Local allotment on the edge of Leith Links was having a mini market, selling fresh veg (grown in the allotment), fresh bread and... gift cards. No scented candles though. Unusual. Bought some bread as looked rather nice.
Walked back to flat and as we opened the front gate noticed we were being spied on by Hugo (one of the littler residents living upstairs) through the letterbox in their front door. Hilarious.
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