Day 28: Leith, Edinburgh - Wednesday, 25 September

Weather: 3º - 11º - Sunny

Accommodation: Pillars House Guesthouse

We woke up to a glorious day in Anstruther. There was not a cloud in the sky. Before breakfast I crossed the road from our accommodation and took some photos of the harbour in the bright sunshine. 

The day was in two parts - before arriving in Leith, Edinburgh and after arriving in the city. We took the Fife Coastal Route and visited many pretty harbour villages, all very close to the each other and looking spectacular in the morning sun. The first village we visited was Pittenweem only a seven minutes drive on a minor road from Anstruther. I wanted to visit Pittenweem having read Australian author Karen Brook’s terrific historical novel, The Darkest Shore which is set in the early 1700’s in the tiny village. It has a beautiful deep harbour. 

A number of men were sweeping up autumn leaves from the Main Street. The leaves are now falling quickly and I’m loving the colours.

The next village was at the harbour village of St Monans. Once again the houses hugged the harbour and many had the crow stepped gables familiar to the area.

From St Monans we drove to Elie which was quite different from the other coastal villages. It had a sandy beach rather than a closed harbour. It did look a picture in the sun.

From Elie we drove directly to our accommodation at Leith on the A915 before taking the busy A92 then the M90 over the impressive Queensferry Bridge over the River Forth and then the A90. Henk was good at giving me the directions through the busy streets of Edinburgh. 

As soon as we arrived at Pillars Guesthouse at 1.30pm we quickly unloaded the car and walked to Leith to visit the Royal Yacht Britannia. After we bought our tickets we decided to go straight to the Royal Deck Tearoom to have lunch as it was now 2.00pm and we were hungry after having not eaten anything since breakfast at Anstruther. The tearoom was busy but we were lucky and we were given a window seat which had a great view over the waterfront and boats. We both opted for sandwiches; Henk had Ayrshire ham and I chose salmon and cream cheese. I also had a Britannia Gin and Tonic just for the occasion. 

We then spent the remainder of the time touring the five decks of the yacht. We last visited the yacht 15 years ago when we had some rest days in Edinburgh during our Land’s End to John O’Groats walk. It was interesting how much we had forgotten. I still liked seeing the Queen’s cabin with its simplicity and the small single bed. 

The adjoining cabin with a shared door was Prince Philip’s cabin. His room was even more sparse.

The banquet room and reception room are lovely rooms where the Queen welcomed the Heads of State of many countries. 

I took a photo of Henk with the Britianna bell which was similar to the one I took of him 15 years ago.

When we left Britiannia we caught a tram into the centre of Edinburgh. The tram system was a bonus for us as they are frequent and took us into the centre of Edinburgh. At this stage it was getting quite chilly and we decided to visit the warm National Gallery of Scotland. It is a wonderful, elegant gallery with so many works from European masters including Rembrandt, Ruebens, Goya, Vermeer, Titian and Gainsborough. 

The tram was packed when we returned to Leith as it was peak hour. We had a rest and felt quite tired. At 7.00pm we ventured out to find somewhere low key to eat. We found a pub not far from our guesthouse which made us happy. 

It was an early night for us after a big day.