North Berwick

The past week has been something of a surprise, we were told that the temperature never went above 15 degrees and yet last week it was always above 20 degrees. The first few days as was our practice we would don our jackets while going out only to find ourselves in sweat. Not that I am complaining especially when I know what temperatures are doing the rounds in my home country.

It’s been interesting though to see all the people here shedding their layers of clothing and the increasing number of tourists. So much so that the main market street is filled with colours and backpackers. Since the city was getting crowded with the streets having hardly enough space to walk on, we decided to head out of the city and towards the beach.

There is this place called North Berwick, a 35 minute rail ride from Edinburgh, with trains at hourly intervals to and fro. The best part the ticket costs only 5.70 return! We pushed off by morning 9 and initially loitered around. The first beach we made to seemed a disappointment for it didn’t have a huge beach expanse and the sand was dirty. It was also pretty much deserted. A little upset we made back to the main city and then headed towards the second beach there.

On the way we stopped at a small quaint café with authentic English atmosphere to have a cup of coffee. The average crowd there seemed to be 65+. All prim and proper they however were well mannered enough to not stare at the asian crowd we were. Speaking in moderated, cultured tones i wondered how their lives were, what made them tick.

Since it seemed a very traditional place I thought I would try something in their menu which I hadn’t tried so far in UK. So I ordered a cherry scone with a glass of milk. I always thought scones would be something of a cone shaped thing to eat. So when it arrived and I discovered that it was rather round in shape I got a bit fuddled. Scones are biscuit like cakes of Scottish origin, very famous and well liked out here; most commonly eaten during tea time. The scone was served with cream and strawberry jam and it tasted like little drops of heaven. Washed it down with milk and I was all set to see the second beach.

The second beach is where we hit jackpot. It was lovely, again the expanse of the beach itself was exasperatingly narrow but there were rocks into the sea water and since it was low tide, we could walk on the rocks and stand on them a few feet into the water. It was the closest which I could imagine to floating on the water on my feet. :)

There were sail boats on the water and they glided effortlessly by in front of us. Standing there out at the sea, it felt as if there was no one else around and the world far behind………as if I had the mental ability to conquer anything I set my mind to. The water was clear enough to see right to the bottom, the rocks there and even the algae on those rocks. One thing though, it was definitely a bright warm sunny day but the water my dears was cold, so cold that after standing in it for a minute or two to pose for a pic when i stepped out, i thought i had a frost bite, my toes refused to budge or make themselves feel.

We had our lunch there and made way to get back to the city. The incoming train was full. Our timing had been good, thankfully, we managed to enjoy the day and the beach at North Berwick, beating the crowds. All tanned and sweated out we trooped back to Edinburgh with a smile on our faces. It had been a good day.