Simple Pleasures in Portobello

These last few weeks Matt and I have been burying our heads in homework, the ol' church callings, work and volunteering. However, with the start of British Summertime (ie Daylight Savings for all you American folk) , our days have gotten luxuriously longer, quicker than we expected. This has led to all kinds of restlessness in trying to stay in, with work to be done. Since November we became used to a cozy hibernation with mugs of tea in our wee flat when the sun went down at 3:30pm for month after month. In the last couple weeks though it has become a bit torturous to try and be too productive when it is light (and often even balmy warmish!) until as late as nearly 8pm. Indeed, a day-adventure was calling our name. So we looked at how far the Lothian line buses would would take us in any direction (in spite of the 10pence increase) and chose a Saturday afternoon in Portobello.

We hopped onto #26 that took us out to Edinburgh's seaside resort of yore. Apparently, this place used to be quite the holiday seaside destination for 19th century folk but like most idiosyncratic resorts, like Saltair, it has been in slowly declined in popularity over the ages.

Portobello is only 4+ miles from our flat but it might as well be in a different city than Matt and I as we have no car and a maximum walking distance capacity of 5 miles round trip. That said, it was well worth the 5.20 it took to get us to this stretch of the Firth of Forth. The 19C (66F) weather was about as friendly as one can ask for from a Scottish coastline in the spring (or ever for all I know). Still, I am not sure I would have been as brave as these thick skinned wee lasses messing about in North Sea waves in nothing but swimming costumes. Perhaps Scots are bred a bit heartier for a holiday at the sea.

One of the Edinburgh historian-types in our ward was telling us just today that he once had a mate that would swim across the Forth, starting in Portobello, on New Years Eve every year! Unimagineable....

This is a coastline that doesn't call for the boogie boards and only those who are "having a laugh" would think to bring a umbrella for sun protection to this misty, cool beach. Still, there is something utterly serene about visiting a part of the sea that offers a boardwalk with nostalgic wonders like "Noble's Amusement's" (a la Pleasure Island scenes in Pinocchio) and stretches of beach that don't place you in uncomfortable proximity to overweight sunbathers.

I think one of my favourite nuances of the place was this mist that would rise up from close to the tide.

After walking about for a bit, Matt and I decided the outing called for Magnum bars and an Italian Ices along with a good sit and some people watching. When we finished up, we walked our way back along the boardwalk and caught the bus home. I think it felt a wee bit easier to whittle away at our papers and assignments with a hints of wind burn (or perhaps could it be from the sun?) on our skin.