The first thing we decided to do, as a group, was a bicycle tour of the East Lothian coast & castles. We hired guide Alistair, with
He met us in Edinburgh, rode with us on the train (& later a taxi), got us hooked up with our bikes, and then guided us through two very distinct castles:Dirleton and Tantallon. The video is a quick snapshot of our adventure!
Alistair was a very good tour guide, he has a thorough command of the local history and lore. He made it very interesting and personalized it to our interests. Many times guides can just drone on, but this is not at all what happens with Alistair! Even while we were riding, he made sure to point things out to us along the way. He did a good job of keeping the group together, even though we all had different levels of experience with riding bikes.
Although the bike tour was very nice, but we did have a couple hiccups in our day.
For one, the train broke down, so we were forced to get a taxi. Then, Dennis felt a little car-sick as riding backwards in the taxi made him queasy. So, Dave switched with Dennis so he could face forward. What a nice guy! The roads in Scotland are very twisty as well, so that didn’t help either!
When we got to the bike garage, we were fitted with bikes. David had a flat, discovered soon after we left, so we had to go back and get it fixed.
Because of these delays, we didn’t get to see the beaches which were supposed to be part of the tour. Oh well, at least we had marvelous weather! If I were going to go back, I’d do it again (but maybe a different tour since I’ve already seen the castles.).
Pictures from the AM (Dirleton Castle)
At lunch time we stopped at The Open Arms Hotel and ate at The Library. Dennis had the penne pasta with spicy chicken and I had a onion roasted tarte with potato leek soup (see the tarte below).
The food was great. They also brought out a heaping plate of cauliflower, carrots, and turnips – all very tasty. We ate way too much food and then got back on the bikes for the other half of our ride.
Pictures from the PM (Tantallon Castle)
We took the train back to Edinburgh. Errin had thought ahead and made reservations at “Scotland’s Place for Pizza”, La Favorita which was awesome. Not only do they have great Pizza, but they also have dessert shots. This is a nice option for those with a sweet tooth but who don’t want to go hog wild!
Thanks Errin, for thinking of that in advance!
Tags: 2-Wheel Tour, Dirleton Castle, East Lothian, North Berwick, Tantallon Castle