Day 1, August 12, 2007

We'd been looking forward to it for so long, and now we've finally made it! We disembarked in Newcastle upon Tyne (England) and still had to go through customs. Something we hadn't expected: we had to take our helmets off again at the ID check and were given a few once-over. Then we'd made it through and set off at a leisurely pace, curious about what awaited us. We didn't know what the signage was like or how quickly or easily we'd find the road and the B&B at our destination.

On the first day, our route was to take us to Musselburgh, a suburb of Edinburgh. The route went from Newcastle via Morpeth – Ashington – Amble – Berwick upon Tweed – Eyemouth – Coldingham and Aberlady.

After successfully navigating Newcastle's countless small, medium, and large roundabouts in the light rain and finding our way to Morpeth, we continued along the east coast until we reached the Scottish border, where we made our first short stop to acknowledge our "entry" and document it with a photo. No sooner had we stopped and removed our helmets than a car pulled up behind us. A quick glance at the license plate – oh no, a car from Düsseldorf! Laughter erupted on all faces; it's such a small world. Even in Scotland, a Cologne native isn't spared. 🙂Fortunately, the rain left us alone for the rest of the day.

During a short stop on the coast near Coldingham, we decided to head to Tantallon Castle near North Berwick, where we began our first sightseeing tour. Tantallon Castle is a ruined castle located opposite Bass Rock on the south coast of the Firth of Forth. We mustn't forget that every attraction charges an entrance fee; nothing can be viewed purely out of the goodness of one's heart. Just as an aside: the guy from Düsseldorf showed up again here – a fine start!

The castle ruins sit atop a hill and are surrounded by former moats. From the remains of the castle walls, they've figured out where each room was, or might have been – truly fascinating! And after a bit of climbing, you're rewarded with a wonderful view of the surrounding area and, of course, Bass Rock. Bass Rockis an imposing sight at first glance, its sheer presence immediately catching the eye even from the country road. By now, the sun was blazing down, and we were looking forward to a bit of a breeze.

So we set off for Musselburgh, and after a bit of searching and sightseeing, we found our first B&B, the Eildon B&B. run by Eve Campbell Dickinson, after 260 km . The advantage is that all (listed) B&Bs have a sign in front of them, making them easier to spot. Visible house numbers are rather rare these days. 

We still had some time and wanted to explore Edinburgh. Eve explained the best way to get there. She had already written everything down so her guests could find the right stops and bus routes. So, off to the bus stop, onto the bus, 1 GBP per person, and off we went. After an estimated 37 stops (some of which were only 100 meters apart), we reached the center of Edinburgh after about 30 minutes. What immediately struck us was the sheer number of taxis and the scarcity of modern buildings.

We spontaneously got off the bus on Princes Street and enjoyed the musical entertainment provided by various street performers. Since "breakfast" on the ferry consisted of a single (!) sandwich and coffee, we soon started looking for a restaurant that appealed to us. It's amazing how this city is; we found something that looked good on the menu. So, we went in and waited. "You will be seated here!" It felt like we'd already attracted attention after just five minutes. We were shown to a table and given the menu. 

It wasn't as if we were gently introduced to the pricing policy. No, it hit us full force. As we discovered on our subsequent tour, this was unfortunately not an isolated incident. The friendly and welcoming Scots really do spend their money by the pound. We were astonished at how full this and all the other restaurants we saw were. The Scots must be earning a lot of money; there was certainly no sign of the stereotypical stinginess.

After dinner, we continued our exploration and strolled through the truly beautiful and impeccably maintained city park (Princess Street Gardens), which offers a great view of Edinburgh Castle. 
We had originally planned two days for this city with its many large and small attractions, but the B&Bs we contacted were completely booked due to the Edinburgh Festival, or, like Eve's, only offered one night.

We spent some more time exploring the center of Edinburgh and the famous "Royal Mile" (High Street). There we discovered the John Knox House, which was built in 1450 and is considered the oldest house in Edinburgh (according to other sources, one of the oldest houses) and the last address of John Knox, leader of the Protestant Reformation.

Finally, we found the right bus stop for "our" bus back to Musselburgh. After just as many stops as hours before, we reached our destination and slowly let the first day, filled with many new impressions, come to an end.