After two fantastic journeys to Scotland, and a third one right around the corner, I thought it's time to show some of the images I have captured.
Let's start with North Berwick!
A lovely sea side gem of a town, where I was fortunate to stay for a few weeks last fall.
As you can see on the map, North Berwick is close to Edinburgh (easy to reach with the train) and lies right on the Firth of Forth.
North Berwick (pronounced Northbarrick) means 'barley farmstead' in old English and hints at the fertile area surrounding it. The busy little town attracts vacationers since the 12th century, when pilgrims came here to worship the shrine of St. Andrews, which is still visible in the harbour.
North Berwick is beautifully decked out with flower arrangements which often earns the town rankings in the yearly Britain in Bloom competition.
High Street is home to a fine assortment of shops, bars & cafes.
My personal favorite watering hole was the Steampunk Coffee Roasters
Just click the link and you know why ;-)
But joking aside, Steampunk serves excellent coffee in a very unique and lovingly restored old steel framed ware house. And as the name suggests Steampunk roasts it's own tasty coffee!
Wait, it gets even better, (almost) every Friday from 5-7 pm the Big Blu Pizza Van stops here, serving heavenly pizza!
Right opposite to the Steampunk lies, within the Kirk Ports, the 'picturesque ruin" of the second St. Andrews Kirk of North Berwick...yes, North Berwick has actually 3 St. Andrews churches...
Picturesque indeed, especially in the early evening sun.
Well camouflaged...can you spot the inhabitant of this rustic stonewall from 1658?
At low tide nothing beats the beaches that stretch east and west from North Berwick. I had many good runs here. Below shows the little island of Fidra. Robert Louis Stevenson, a Scottish novelist and travel writer, was a frequent guest at North Berwick and it's beaches. It is said that he based his map of 'Treasure Island' on the shape of Fidra.
Oyster Catchers at work.
Landward you see the highest point of the area, the North Berwick Law, a volcanic plug bearing ruins going back as far as the Iron Age
Below a map to illustrate where the different landmarks are.
From the top of the Law one has an exceptional view over the Firth of Forth, Craighleith island, the town and
among ruins, to Bass Rock.
Since 1709, a bow made from whale bones stands proud at the top. Due to safety issues the original whale bones have been removed and replaced with fiberglass replicas in 2008.
The harbor is another popular hangout among visitors, with it's main attraction the Scottish Seabird Centre.
The adorable lifeboat house....the captain is watching you..
A fellow photographer patiently looks out over the Firth of Forth. He is really persevering as I met him every single time I went down to the harbor!
In the background you can see a part of the first and oldest St. Andrews Kirk also called the Old St. Andrews Kirk.
So, what is the patient gentleman looking at? He is lookink at Bass Rock, the world’s largest northern gannet colony. Indeed the bird takes its Latin name, Sula Bassana, from this very island.
And not only is Bass Rock a landmark, ex-prison and bird paradise it is also extremely photogenic, I think!
At any time of the day...or night
Last but not least, meet Jonathan, whose wake up calls were very reliable and impossible to miss
I hope you enjoyed my impressions of North Berwick. This charming town has of course much more to offer, but these were my personal highlights. For the golf enthusiasts I should mention that North Berwick is also home to two fantastic seaside golf links.
Fuer meine deutschen Leser, meine Freundin Claudia hat einen tollen Golf Blog ueber diese Plaetze geschrieben: Meine 1. Golfreise
