Dundee

Off early into a distinctly crisp Edinburgh morning to get our bus down to Waverley for the train to Dundee.  We opted for the more direct route, even though that involved a longer walk to the bus stop, so we got to se some different bits of the city.  Curious that blocks on Leith Walk have their own names: York Place, Gayfield Place and even a few called streets, and most of them have their own iron and enamel plates on the walls.

Busy trains to and from Broughty Ferry.  They use three-car units, and fill them pretty full, with most seats reserved.  The original Forth road bridge seems to be closed, save for a lot of builders’ vehicles. I seem to recall reading that the main cables were seriously corroded.  The new bridge is a cable stayed bridge with three piers - a sort of miniature Viaduc de Millau, and elegant in proportion.  The train hugs the coast of Fife for much of the way to Kirkcaldy and beyond, which makes for a scenic ride in good weather.  We had a fair bit of rain unfortunately, but there were a few glimpses of sunshine looking across to the other side of the Forth.

We had a short wait in Dundee for our train to Broughty Ferry, so took the chance to have a look at the Discovery and the new V&A, which opens this coming weekend.  A bit more tourism in Broughty Ferry, since we arrived nearly an hour before our lunch date.  For the first time in my life, I visited the castle - it was in the hands of the army when I lived there, hence rarely, if ever, accessible by the public.  There’s a nice little museum, including a fine model of the train ferry that used to ply between Broughty Ferry and Tayport before (and again after) the days of the first Tay Bridge.  (I mentioned to Martyn that, when I was young, old people would comment on the weather, saying ‘there’s no been a wind like yon since the nicht the brig fell’.).

Our lunch with Jackie was great fun, and we were joined by another classmate, Wendy Badenoch, whom I hadn’t seen for fifty years.  Much reminiscence!

Back to Edinburgh in the afternoon.  Since it was still cold and showery, we opted for more M&S takeaway dishes, a quiet evening at the flat and an early night.