Auld Reekie to Britannia?
Leith was, historically, a separate community from Edinburgh.
It is where the city's docks were built 
..... but in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was separated by open country and served by one main road, Leith Walk. It soon had its own Council and substantial Town Hall ...
... now the base for the local constabulary and from where the Leith Polith dithmitheth uth - or maybe doethn't if we are too inebriated to recite the appropriate words!
It is not surprising, then, that, historically, Leith was the terminus of many Edinburgh bus routes, a situation which expanded as the town grew and merged with its more noble neighbour. This network continues today with a range of services from various suburbs running "cross city" to what is now designated the "Ocean Terminal!"
For Edinburgh oficiandos here they are:-
Service 11 - every 12 minutes
Service 22 - every 12 minutes
Service 34 - every 10 minutes
Service 35 - every 10 minutes
Service 36 - every 10 minutes
These all finish very near HMS Britannia ...
... now a major (and expensive!) visitor attraction for the Scottish capital. Here they are joined by ...
Skylink 200 (BLUE) - every 30 minutes ... 
... running via Granton, Clermiston and Corstorphine ...
... to the Airport - i.e. NOT via the City Centre.
The terminus used to be right alongside the "Terminal Building" ...
... but buses have been banished pro tem to make way for the tram extension.
Stops are less conveniently "round the corner" in Melrose Avenue ...
... and fares are cheap! So why would you want to pay £16 for an open top bus to Ocean Terminal ...
... on Edinburgh's "Majestic" Tour? Maybe tourists like the idea of the ride "en plein air". The route runs out via the Botanic Gardens ...
... a splendid but less visited part of the city ...
... but, encouragingly, the on-line route diagram is well up to date ...
... as are stop locations at the Terminal.
But, wherever they stop, there are plenty of buses ...
... and back to base via Leith Walk (with anti-tram diversions); and Holyroodhouse ...
... repeating some of the sights of the "standard" tours.
This season, Bright Bus (First Bus in a skin) is competing on the Britannia run!
Bright avoids Leith Walk completely, but includes return via the Botanic Gardens and all of the central City sights except the Castle area - although this magnificent pile is difficult to avoid visually!
The route is gyrating in the opposite direction from Lothian's Majestic Tour.
The situation with fares is, however, most interesting. First charges just £10 a tour as opposed to Lothian's £16 - but it is not quite as simple as that.
As we shall see tomorrow.
SHORT BLOG?
From sometime yesterday, Blogger was refusing to upload pictures - on any device that fbb was able to access.
Without pictures, a blog was unacceptable.
Repairs were undertaken at Blogger some time after fbb retired for the night.
Today's blog was composed between 0315 and 0415 at which point your elderly, dedicated and apparently insomniac blogger returned to his repose.
Spill chucking is/was delayed until after Brekkies
Next Variety plus Edinburgh blog : Saturday 29th May
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