Portobello Beach Edinburgh Day 325

Stretching my Portobello Beach brief to the most westerly extreme with this boat blip.

I looked for this cruise liner at dawn this morning from the beach but The Caribbean Princess (113000 tonnes) was the same colour as the morning haar and slipped by unseen. We took the train to North Queensferry with our bikes stowed, just in time, but no thanks to the Scotrail Jobsworth Guard who was clearly not a happy punter, and even less happy with cycling punters!

The Forth Estuary was en fete with an intrepid wedding party setting off to get married at the Abbey on Ichcolm. They were very lucky with the weather! The tugs at Hound Point were dousing the summer air with arcs of sea water as an oil tanker slipped her moorings and grunged her way past this great white lady of the sea. Only 9 years old and looking splendid against the Forth Bridge. The Edinburgh Harley Davidson Club were on the promendade in front of the Haws Inn - with an exhaust pipe orchestra and a mottley crew dressed in Fancy Dress to give the American cruise passengers a unique welcome. The passengers who we spoke to seemed completely non plussed by everything and even assumed today's weather was normal !!

The cycle home, haveing crossed the Road Bridge observing the statutory 15 mph speed limit for cyclists and not riding two abreast followed the scenic off road route all the way to Joppa. It was a perfect day for a bike ride!