Tagged with Walks & Days Out

Three Go Down to the Sea

After my fun walk through Bandit Country, Terry and I decided it would be better if, for my next trick walk, we went somewhere far, far away from the Banditos. Or far enough away that I’d find it harder to get into trouble, anyway.

So we went to South Queensferry:

Forth Rail Bridge

Forth Rail Bridge

Rubin was determined not to look at the camera here because he was too busy crying like a baby, so desperate was he to begin his walk.

He was crying like a baby in this one, too:

The Beach

That’s the Edinburgh skyline you can see in the background: the big hill is Arthur’s Seat, and you can see Edinburgh Castle to the right of it if you look closely enough. We didn’t, of course, because Rubin was too busy struggling to get out of my arms and down onto that beach. Once he did, though, he was totally in his element:

Wheeeee!

rubin-nose

Well, sort of:

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Incoming waves are scary, apparently…

We walked for about two and a half hours altogether (and Rubin was still tugging at his leash by the end of it), ending up at Dalmeny House:

Dalmeny House

Dalmeny House

You can totally imagine arriving here in a horse-drawn carriage, in the 19th century, can’t you? You, a poor governess with nothing to your name but the clothes you stand up in, the house rising before you, home to the dashing Earl of Blahblahblah, and his mad wife, who is locked in the attic…. (It’s actually the home of the Earl of Rosebery, and I don’t think he keeps his wife in the attic, but you know what I mean…)

Then we turned and came home, only it took us quite a long time because we’d walked so far. Still, it was worth it to be able to walk somewhere without being verbally abused for once, you know?  And I think Spring may well be my favourite season now. If we lived somewhere else I’d have said it was summer, but the weather’s always so awful here in summer that it never fails to be a bone-crushing disappointment. You wait all year for it, only to realise that it’s going to be all rain, all the time, and actually, the weather was nicer in Spring.  We DO sometimes get a sunny day or two in Spring, you see, and it’s that time of the year when the horrors of winter are over at last (oh please, oh please) but summer is yet to disappoint us, so the days stretch before you, all sunshiney and hopeful.  Love it.

So, a good day was had by all. And no one called me “ginger” even once – bonus!

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Amber

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The One Where I Fall On My Ass

Yesterday, to my very great surprise, there was clearly some kind of disturbance in the Force, and the weather changed from “Unbelieveably, heart-rendingly awful” to an approximation of a pleasant spring day. That’s about as good as it gets in Scotland, so naturally we all (“we all” being my parents, Terry, the dog and I) jumped into the car and headed to the beach.

The beach we went to was at North Berwick, which,as some of you know, has the distinction of being my Favourite Place in the Whole of Scotland. It’s a pretty little seaside town, with lots of little restaurants and bars, and oh, a great big old volcanic plug, called Berwick Law. Here is a picture of Berwick Law (not taken by me, I hasted to add):

Berwick_law

Here is a picture of me, Terry and Rubin on the very top of Berwick Law, which is steeper than it looks, let me tell you:

Berwick_law_2

And here is a short video of me falling flat on my ass on the way back down:

Notice the way my family all come rushing to my aid… they clearly weren’t too concerned, because obviously I do this kind of thing A LOT. The long pause after I land was caused partly by my reluctance to accept my own clumsiness, and partly by my quiet conviction that I had broken my right wrist. Which I hadn’t, luckily.

Just a few minutes after this I almost fell again, the result being that my parents had to take an arm each, and half-carry me down the hill, like Amy Winehouse being escorted out of a nightclub. As my dad said, people were probably looking at us thinking, “Tut, tut, drunk in the middle of the day!” This time, though, my complete inability to walk unaided was caused by my shoes, which my dad described as “ridiculous” and I described as “the only flat shoes I own, what do you expect me to wear?” So, yes, fun for all the family! And ridiculous shoes = the only kind you’ll ever need…

Actually, falling-on-ass aside, we had an excellent day, and I have spent most of my time since we got back looking at property prices in North Berwick on the internet, because it’s one of the few places in Scotland I can actually imagine myself being happy to live in. It’s only 30 minutes from Edinburgh by train, and I’ve always wanted to live by the sea, but unfortunately so do a lot of other people, as property is really expensive there, and as things stand, Terry and I could possibly stretch to a one bedroom flat, but only if we give up food and send Rubin out to work. Still, it’s a more realistic dream than my “cross my fingers and hope the American government will let me live in Florida” one, so I’m going to continue to persue it.

And also to look into buying more sensible shoes…

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Amber

Hi, I'm Amber. If you enjoyed this post, please consider following me on Twitter or Facebook. Or even both, if you're feeling particularly daring...

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