“Edinburgh’s coastline is a thing of beauty and never does it look so good as  when it is viewed from the sky.  As lovely as it is I couldn’t wait to land and to begin another break in Edinburgh.

Looking down from the plane as it approaches Edinburgh late one afternoon, a certain intrigue takes hold before the plane even considers its approach for the landing strip. Beneath, the Firth of Forth glistens in the late afternoon sun  enthusiastically peppered with tiny islands bobbing about upon the surface of the waves.

It turns out that Edinburgh’s coastline is dotted with these Scottish islands, all colourfully decked with names like Lamb, Inchgarvie, Cramond and the Isle of May. Some are occupied, some are not and some were but are not any longer except for the bird colonies. The fabulous bridges, the Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Bridge sit astride the estuary and glisten too in the approaching evening dusk. How proud they look. Edinburgh is a coastal city and is only just realising the full potential of its location. The area below I later discover is known as the Ocean Terminal in Leith and grows day by day almost distracting (for a moment) your eye from the city’s pride and glory, the magnificent castle.

A magical introduction to Edinburgh underway, you fumble your way through the stretching arms and the hand luggage and descend the trapeze ladder from the plane. Like old friends, Edinburgh and I meet again.”