Written by Rod

It’s a gentle and largely uneventful drive on Monday from Gourdon to Spott, which is just outside the coastal town bearing our family name; Dunbar. A highlight is the massive bridge across the Firth of Forth. Our new accommodation is owned by Dougie Gray, who has been the most hospitable and informative host one can imagine, even before we arrived.

The night before was somewhat more eventful. Hamish woke up vomiting at about 3 am, and 4 am and 5 am. We are worried how we would handle the car trip and he has a couple of “incidents”. Once in Spott, he has some food, but it comes back up a while later. Two nights later and Belinda is similarly afflicted. Thus our activity in and around Dunbar has been restricted. However, we have had a good look around our family town, buying some souvenirs bearing our name.

I have a half day driving, checking out the coastal scenery to the south whilst Belinda minds a convalescing Hamish. The next day, whilst Belinda sleeps, Hamish and I take in some more coastal sights to the north, including a fascinating walk at Cove and even a look at the local Nuclear Power plant. John Muir’s birthplace also gets a view. Very informative and Hamish is very engaged.

Come Thursday and it’s a beautiful morning and we are all well, so we head into Edinburgh. We drive to the “Park and Ride’ at Wallyford and try to catch a bus. The local timetable is confusing and we let through two number 44 buses, bound for Balerno (Italy?). We hail what we believe to be the right bus, route 108, only to be told by the driver that we need one that is bound for Balerno! Twenty minutes later, we catch the bumpiest, swerviest bus we have ever been on. This tests Belinda’s tummy, but she copes. The bus ride is an hour of adventure. I find a free newspaper, telling us that George Clooney is in town today.

We spend a lot of time walking around the city. The buildings are impressive. The National Museum is free and we are there for the better part of 2 hours. It’s very interesting and Hamish loves both the steps and the lifts. Then it gets difficult, as we try to navigate around the city on foot with a tempestuous 5 year old, who keeps tripping over his own feet. To make matters worse, the weather really turns nasty; gale force winds (which un-straighten Belinda’s hair) and rain. I briefly try an umbrella, but it spends most of its time upside down, much to Hamish’s amusement. We finally get near enough to Edinburgh Castle for a good look, before quickly heading off to ‘The Dome’, which is quite a posh hotel housing some extravagant Christmas lighting. Hamish loves it, of course, partly because there is a very interesting staircase, which we try to mostly keep him off.

No sign of Clooney, so it’s time to go. To head back to the Park and Ride, we decide to give the train a try. It’s a bit dearer than the bus, and is packed, but takes 6 minutes. Six minutes! How on earth did the bus manage to add 54 minutes to this trip?!? Probably the extra distance by bouncing up and down all the way.

Tomorrow sees our last day in Scotland. Hopefully I will not come down with the bug that has flattened Hamish and Belinda. Saturday we catch the P & O Pride of Rotterdam ferry from Hull to Rotterdam; we have been watching the weather closely hoping that the crossing will be smooth. The weather forecasts 31 knot gusts…what’s that again in kilometres?