In other news, the Wine Fair went well last weekend. Johanne wasn't well enhough to travel following her recent op, so Peter and Srie Hodgson stood in for them - and I think they enjoyed the experience, even although Srie hardly drinks any alcohol.
The Masons, Hodgsons and Stewarts all travelled down by train from Stonehaven and our first stop in Edinburgh was lunch at the Guildford Arms - after some dropped their bags off at our hotel - Motel One - just 20 yards away.
Dinner on Friday evening was at Fisher's in the City (http://www.fishersrestaurants.co.uk/) - primarily a fish restaurant - and very good it was too.
The Wine Fair's doors opened at 12:30 pm on Saturday so we had a free morning and, as it was a glorious day - albeit cold - Jo and I decided to take a walk up nearby Calton Hill. Here's some of the sights we encountered:
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| That's the Firth of Forth behind me - and the Kingdom of Fife beyond |
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| Do you think Edinburgh's past architects were inspired by the Greeks? |
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| Jo looks down at Holyrood Palace and the Parliament with Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags as the backdrop |
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| Rabbie Burns' monument |
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| The old Royal High School, which many, including me, think should have been our devolved parliament building instead of the new one they built back in 1999 |
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| Nelson's monument - complete with his famous saying "England expects ..." - perhaps no longer appropriate? |
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| St Andrew's House - yet another building now occupied by the armies of civil servants in Edinburgh. The figures at the top of the columns represented the (mere) 6 arms of government - Health, Education, Fisheries etc - back in the day |
Anne and Leslie went out for dinner with Anne's brothers and partners in the evening so it was just the Hodgsons and us who had to find a place to eat. Wagamama's did the trick.
On Sunday morning, I was left to my own devices (Sunday Times) as the rest went off to church. We caught an earlier train and were back in Banchory mid-afternoon.
Our other big outing this week was the brewery trip to Belhaven in Dunbar, organised by the CAMRA Members' Investment Club. The drive down on Thursday morning was fairly comfortable until we got a bit snagged with traffic going round the Edinburgh bypass, but we still made it to Dunbar in good time to check in at our hotel - the Rocks (https://www.therockshoteldunbar.co.uk/) - park the car and walk round to the brewery to meet the other members and our tour guide.
Belhaven celebrated their 300th anniversary a couple of months ago and they've built a nice new visitor centre - like a comfy bar - where we sampled some of their products:
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| The ladies wait in line to be served |
After the tour, we all had lunch in the adjacent Brig and Barrel pub - and very good it was too - although it was so filling we struggled to eat anything else that day.
Now it was time for a stroll round the town centre and harbour. It was a beautiful day but there was a biting wind coming off the sea and we had to briefly seek shelter - and a swift half - in the Volunteer Arms.
The harbour is well sheltered - something the fishing boat owners must appreciate - but it must be fairly tricky negotiating the narrow entrance in a swell:
There were some interesting rock formations round the castle ruins:
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| Stormy seas behind Jo - and our hotel is on the other side of the bay |
We had a lovely room looking out over the bay, the rocks and the stormy seas - and we managed (just) to eat a one course dinner.
Heading home on Friday morning, we took a slight detour and went past the Bass Rock and through North Berwick. I hadn't been to this part of East Lothian for many years but it brought back some memories of holidays in that area when we were younger:
It was a bit warmer that day!
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