Another adventure
Yes, I’m off again. This is a visit I’ve been looking forward to for months – a friend is coming to stay for the month of May.
I’m picking her up in Edinburgh (’cause everyone has to see Edinburgh at least once – or in my case, several times) and after a few days here, we’re wending our way north through the highlands before heading back to Orkney for some rest, relaxation, and exploration.
So, today was another looooong driving day. We left the house at 7:30am, and pulled into our hotel in Leith (Edinburgh’s harbour) at 5pm. I had been warned about the construction in town, so the last half hour wasn’t as fraught as it might have been had I come upon it unawares. But I was bagged. (And I think Scout was a tad stir crazy – she gets at least 4 walks on driving days: home, before ferry, after ferry, Golspie beach, and The House of Bruar hills, but even with those, nine hours is a long time for a dog in a car.) In fact, on one of those stops, at The House of Bruar, we saw the remnants of a bad-looking car accident and while we were wandering the fields behind the shops we saw an ambulance-helicopter air lift someone out. 🙁
But we made it to Leith – as I mentioned earlier, I have been to Edinburgh several times and honestly, how many times can you see the Royal Mile? So when planning for this visit, I did some digging, and found out that Leith, formerly quite a rough town (port city, drug issues, etc) has been undergoing a gentrification. A Michelin-starred restaurant I’ve always wanted to visit is here, as is the Royal Yacht Britannia (the former ship of the Queen), and Leith is only a 30 minute walk from Princes St. Oh, and I love the movie Sunshine on Leith. So I booked us in at a dog-friendly hotel (Pillars House – the concierge sent a lovely welcoming email).
Well, we arrived in Leith. It’s, um . . . gritty. Now, some of the things adding to the ‘grit’ aren’t really Leith’s fault – it’s overcast, there is an insane amount of construction right around the hotel, and well, the grey stone of Scottish buildings, while sturdy and long-lasting, looks old fast. To add to the overall sense of ‘a city with issues’, there was a Mercedes in the secret hotel car park when we arrived, with 4 rather scary looking gentlemen sitting in it, and clouds of weed smoke drifting out of the windows (I believe cannabis is still illegal in the UK). Our hotel is actually a B&B ( how did I miss that?) and the rooms are tiny – LL, Scout and I, along with our suitcases, have to fit into this room. And it turns out that post-COVID, the second B in B&B is moot. Nae brekkie. Well, there are cookies and juice boxes in the room. Hmm. Okay. On the other hand – the owner was sooo welcoming, they clearly love dogs here (they’ve offered to dog-sit when we’re out) and the room is scrupulously clean.
And LL is pretty chill and always willing to go with the flow, so here’s hoping for a nice week in Edinburgh and Leith!