Bridges anyone?

June 15, 2026

Couldn't face making porridge this morning. Just tea, which is sacrosanct. It was a cold and overcast day. The sun did not 'have his hat on'. Was it the lure of Morrisons café, as experienced the previous evening? My route took me all the way back down Gallows hill in a straight line from the campsite to Morrisons. It must be a sign. Such was my eagerness for this gastronomic delight that I arrived 20 minutes before the café opened. I have learnt the Scottish for saying you haven't really been doing anything: "Och! Just feeding the midges". Not that the midges entered the hallowed ground of Morrisons café, you understand.

I plonked myself near the one socket and plugged in every electrical contrivance I possessed and waited. I don't know if my appetite suddenly wained or if the 'Wee Scottish Breakfast' just didn't deliver but after all that anticipation, I could only eat half of it.

I got back on track and allowed the sat nav to talk me out of Perth. I don't know why, but I had anticipated the relatively short distance between Perth and Edinburgh as being flat, full of shops and coffee shops and downhill. It was another case of misplaced optimism. Not only that, but the cape went on and stayed on.

It was a few hours in and I badly needed coffee. But where? And then I arrived at a village and right on my route was 'Heaven Scent Coffee'. I needed no further encouragement. I burst in, caped up. There was then the British version of a 'guy from outa town' walking in to a saloon in the wild west. Voices faltered, heads turned. Just briefly, before normal service was resumed in what was a packed and very much community café. The owner of the café hurried over with covers so that I didn't drip everywhere. There was one table left. To add to the slightly surreal feeling, there were two groups of four older people sat at tables, watching their opposite numbers very intently. They were playing Bridge.

And how appropriate that Bridge was being played, because,

After a while, out of the gloom and wet, I noticed little red flashing lights atop three huge pillars. I suppose the lights were there in case an A380 needed to swerve a bit to miss the new Forth road Bridge. Even in the mist and rain, the sight of the old bridge, new bridge and most famous rail bridge, all lined up, was spectacular. I crossed on the old bridge which meant I could see one bridge on either side of me.

I'd always thought that you crossed over these bridges straight into Edinburgh. In fact there was another 10 miles. As I cycled into the city, the rain stopped at last. I was able to take in the sights. I spent some time looking on my phone for somewhere to eat, then spotted a Bella Italia. That'll do. I headed straight for it. The staff insisted that I take the bike inside, panniers an' all and leave it where I could see it whilst I ate. That meant I could truly relax whilst I ate my bolognese followed by tirimasu. That was the poshest meal of my trip.

The cycle network route then insisted on taking me passed all the sights and through the royal mile. Why haven't we really been to Edinburgh? We need to check this impressive city out!

After following the coast for a bit, I located a campsite and booked in.

As I was pitching my tent, a bird stood nearby and screeched "That's weird! That's weird!" Slightly off-putting really. But then, when the UK decided to leave the EU, my Mum (who lived in France at the time), said that a bird near them used to scream 'Brexit! Brexit!' at her all day. Obviously the animal kingdom had set opinions about our departure too...

This campsite had a laundry room with sockets which you could use to charge phones. As I sat there, I thought it might be amusing to wash my clothes. So I did. Although I also used the tumble dryer, you can't really use one for lycra. Drying everything proved more of a challenge.

There are four of us in the field.

A very chatty Australian, a French mother and daughter and a Dutch girl.

The Dutch girl said she liked Scotland when she came with her parents so now she's cycle camping round it. There are some tough cookies out there.