Sylvia's Journal

Because we started the day so late, by the time we were done with Holyrood everything was closing, except of course the pubs and the restaurants. The free concerts were breaking up and wherever we went stages and market stands were being dismantled. The good thing was that the rain never came and the sun was out. We sat for a while on a small grassy hill overlooking the Grassmarket with some 50 other people who were not waiting for anything, just having a good time talking with each other and drinking their beers out of plastic cups.

We took the bus back to Portobello and had a meal in the quirky Espy restaurant on the promenade where we had our first meal the day we arrived. We sat in the dog friendly section of the restaurant and were served by the American wife of the Australian waiter we met the first time there. Dogs were everywhere, something Boards of Health in our neck of the woods would definitely not approve of. I sent a picture to Tessa – she’d like this place. Dogs were even stretching out on couches. A sign warned owners that only well behaved dogs were allowed in: no barking, no biting and no humping.  

Unlike in Manchester, dogs are allowed on the beach here, presumably all year round. In Manchester by the sea dogs are not allowed on the beach between May and October for obvious reasons – our beaches are small, narrow and thus crowded in summer compared to the very long and wide beach here. Not allowing dogs in the restaurant would limit patronage. Staff served small liver cakes and bowls of water to the pooches alongside the meals ordered by their owners. 

By the time we had finished our meal the temperature had dropped to 59 degrees (F) and a strong wind gusted along the beach. People were dressed in woolen hats, boots and down coats – none of which he had with us. Axel always says there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing, how true! We shivered as we walked back to the bus stop rather than walking the last mile home. We are on a summer holiday but this felt like fall. I checked the temperature back home: 77F and sunny. I wondered what the winters must be like here.  Back at the house we filled the bathtub with very hot water to get our temperatures up and relax our tired legs.