A Day at the Seaside

Though Scottish winters are, in my opinion, far more bearable than Canadian ones (aside from the lack of daylight hours - having the sun set at 3:30pm for three months is highly depressing), Scottish summers have nothing on Canadian ones. I currently have two weather eye programs set up on my desktop - one for Guelph, and one for Edinburgh. Though I was quite gleeful to see Guelph's -21 sitting next to Edinburgh 9 or 12, to now be faced with a reminder that while today - a beautiful, sunny day - it is 18 in Edinburgh, it is 8 degrees warmer in SW Ontario. I miss hot (not warm) summer days, days which require shorts and tank tops and flip flops, even if you are no where near a beach. But alas, Edinburgh is maritime and temperate and has only had plan old scorching days two or three times this summer - one during an apparent UK "heat wave."

All this is to say that this afternoon, I headed to the seaside with high expectations - visions of a lazy afternoon spent sun tanning in minimal clothing. Our destination: Portobello Beach, a stretch of sandy beach along the Firth of Forth east of the city centre. Once a hotspot for working class holidaymakers (as they say here), Portobello is long past its prime. Back in the glory days of seaside resorts (i.e. the Victorian Age), the beach also featured a fun fair and outdoor pool heated by the spare heat of a local power station. Walking along the promenade today, we only came across a few chippies and a medieval themed arcade/casino - which was, sadly, filled with people, in spite of the clear skies outside.


I can't entirely blame them for seeking refuge indoors. What I had envisioned as a balmy day at the shore ended up being a windy day on the North Sea. A cool breeze coming off the water kept me swaddled in my hoodie, for warmth, and for protection from the blowing sand, which managed to get in my mouth within minutes. Despite the deflation of my unrealistic expectations, the afternoon was actually rather nice in the end. I nostalgically watched a windsurfer get his sail up, and ate a surprisingly satisfying ice cream cone from a somewhat dodgy fish and chip counter.


Plus, it's always nice to get out of the central Edinburgh bubble - and even nicer to be reminded that Edinburgh is, in fact, a coastal city. (Although this point was also brought home by the invasion of the eerie haar a few weeks ago.)



The weather for the rest of the week is supposed to be more typically Scottish - rain, variably cloudy, rain, rain - but I'm still hoping for another scorcher before the summer is through, so that I can have my stereotypical day by the sea.