Day 48- tuesday 5th July Granton to Port Edgar (by bike)

I replicated in Edinburgh what I'd done in Dublin. I avoided the expensive marina, only to have to cycle the long way to it as it is the only place to sell charts. The marina was Port Edgar, which lies next to the two  Forth bridges in Queensferry.

The cycle ride took me along the coast path. The tide was out showing just how shallow the Firth of Forth is in places.

Just before you have to cut back inland you come to the charming little village of Cramond. It seems its been a nice spot to live for a long time.They discovered a Roman bath house when they built the car park. I parked my bike and enjoyed a cup of coffee  and freshly made fruit scone andsoaked in the quiet ambiance of the place. I have so often felt about places in Scotland that if their equivalent was in south England it would be heaving. They have such a luxury of nice places and such a small population that nowhere has been crowded.

The path then lakes you along the banks of the river Almond, which apart from being a lovely name is a pretty river with a weir where there seems to be the ruin of a mill

.One of the great bits of this trip is discovering places, which aren't mentioned in the guide book or pilot book. You just come upon them without any expectation and they can truly delight. Queensferry is another such place. It not only enjoys impressive views of the 2 Forth bridges but also has some fine old buildings.

I needed a haircut, so went to the barbers in Queensferry. He went at me with the electric razor and I reckon he'd have been good in that sheep sheering competition I reported in Ireland.Still its done now and it'll be a few weeks before I'm back and so it'll have time to recover.

It must be about 10miles from Granton to Queensferry and I wanted to do Edinburgh when I got back, so I folded up the bike and was successful at being able to get on the bus with it.

Jane had emailed me about a magic festival going on in Edinburgh. It's on between 1st-8th July in a range of venues in the city centre. It has  a mix of comedy magic,classic magic, close up magic and mind reading. I had a wander up the Royal Mile looking at some of the venues and heading to the Hub to buy a ticket. One of the venues is the Scottish Story Telling Centre which is a new building that has been constructed next to the historic Robert Knox building.I think the contemporary twist works here.

Despite what it says in the brochure, the Hub had finished selling tickets for tonight's performances, so if I want to go I shall just have to take pot luck.

Whilst it may be difficult to get into a paid performance, the street buskers were hard to avoid. This one is swallowing a balloon.

The Royal Mile is full of shops selling cashmere, scarves and tartan. However, today the attraction was all the people who were done up and walking to the Royal Garden Party at Holyrood House, which is the Queens residence when she is in Scotland.The queue was very long, and I doubt the sort of people going in there are used to being frisked.

There were a bunch of men who looked like they had pheasants on their heads. A proud wife said they were the Royal Company of Archers. Seems like the queen doesn't make any of her armoury obsolete.

Opposite Holyrood House is the new Scottish Parliament building which remains controversial as a piece of architecture.

At the top of the Royal Mile is Edinburgh Castle. It is where the royal tattoo takes place and i was amazed at the construction of the temporary seating that was going on. It will accommodate over 8,000 people. What a performance!

Despite the forecast of strong south easterlies, it seems so calm in town and so there is the usual uncertainty about whether I should have set out. Then I remind myself what great things I've seen today. Though if I had moved on I'd still have my hair!