North Berwick

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North Berwick is a breath of fresh air. It sits by the sea, which means that that breath is pure and salty and exhilarating. You know, there's just something about being by the sea that makes one want to dash about like a child, scrambling over rocks, peering into rocky pools for monsters, and eating and drinking everything you can lay your hands on. It is just wonderful. And not only is there all that water, but the town itself, with its quaint little shops, is a joy to behold. I did not see a shopping centre. I saw lots of interesting small shops, all of which looked intriguing and worthy of a good long look inside. If I were to have any gripes (and, hey... you're reading the words of a man once known as 'The Moaniest Minnie in the West'!), it would be the cars on the High Street. North Berwick has essentially one street where most of the shops are. It is a narrow street with very narrow pavements and one is constantly moving off the pavement to make room for pedestrians while looking around to see if some eejit behind a steering-wheel is going to mow you down. I would have thought the High Street should have been pedestrianised long ago. Apart from anything else, all these bumper-to-bumper parked cars take a lot away from the visual treat that the High Street undoubtedly is without them. When I was there, I spent a long time down by the harbour, standing on a rocky footpath watching the waves crashing onto the shore. Watching doesn't cost any money, and it was the most invigorating thing I'd done in a good long while.