Edinburgh and Queensferry

We dropped anchor at 8.30 am in the Firth of Forth right near the amazing bridges that are clear landmarks in this area.

 

We met the bridge group at 10.30 to catch the tender boat over to Queensferry, then catch the X99 bus into Edinburgh (6 pounds return). The plan was to do the hop on hop off bus and visit Edinburgh Castle.

 

The bus let us off at St Andrews Square and we walked down to the Hop on Hop off bus stop adjacent to the Waverley train station ( about 4 blocks).

We were all given a 2 day bus pass as the ship is staying overnight for people to attend the Military Tattoo.

The stop for the castle was Number 10, but we decided not to get off and walk to the castle as it was very crowded. The Edinburgh Festival , The Fringe Festival and The Military Tattoo are all on at the same time so the streets are quite busy. We did the full lap on the bus. When it stopped, the tour guide changed and as we started our second loop I was delighted to find the commentary quite different so it was not boring going around twice.

When we got to Stop 10 the second time we got off to find some lunch. This was right near the Fringe Festival at the top of the Royal Mile so there were a few street performances.

We chanced walking into a nice café that took our orders and served us within 30 minutes.

We walked out and ran into some of our bridge group waiting for the next bus.

As we moved around the next street a group of people with headphones emerged from a laneway, all dancing. It was a ‘Silent Disco’ which was part of the Fringe Festival .

We had to be back to St Andrews Square by 5pm for the last bus back to Queensferry. We made it by 4.30 pm but were shocked to find the peak hour traffic trebled the travel time back. So many people commute across the bridges is was a long and tiresome trip back. Now we saw the logic of not leaving too early in the morning as we would have been caught in the peak hour heading in to the city.

When we got back to the tender area, we went to the local pub called the Hawes Inn, in the hope that Paul would find a cold beer. No such luck. More pumped, cellar temperature beer! I tried a cider that the barman said was bubbly and cold.  It was cool, but not a bubble in sight, Hence we didn’t stay long. The beer is better on the ship!

 

Next morning there was a bridge game in one of the dining rooms, then we caught the tender and went to explore Queensferry a bit more. As we came back the night before we had seen a number of pubs as we drove down the high street. So we walked to the top and worked our way back.

 

Paul learnt a lot about their brewing processes and what to ask for when you are looking for a beer in Scotland. At the Ferry Trap Pub we spent time talking to a few locals who were very entertaining.

 

Paul also had a Scottish haircut (number 3) for 11 pounds. I am sure it would be a lot more than that on the ship! Even just chatting to the hairdresser was interesting.

There is a local fair here this weekend and a concert tonight. Queensferry doesn’t have a local industry any more since the distillery closed down – they said it is just a place to live now and is famous because of the bridges. We both thought it was a nice, quaint place to visit.

 

Last tender from the shore is at 5 pm and we set sail for Belfast at 6pm. Day at sea tomorrow – lots of bridge to be played!