A piano-tuning pensioner who pitched a tent on a beach after his wife kicked him out has found harmony after meeting “the woman of his dreams”.
Ben Treuhaft set up his tent – and piano – on Edinburgh’s Portobello beach earlier this month.
Now, the 66-year-old professional piano tuner says he is looking forward to making sweet music with “new love” Mirka Rdzak after meeting her on the beach.
The dad-of-two said he had been out on several dinner dates with Polish Mirka Rdzak – and “has fallen completely in love with her”.
Even though they have only known each other for a week, he has affectionately nicknamed her “Meerkat”.
He said: “We are an item. I have met the woman of my dreams. Everything has been heavenly. I’m in love with her.
“We are spending an awful time with her. You could say we are romantically involved. I think she loves me but you’d have to ask her.”
Ms Rdzak, 31, who has lived in Edinburgh for eight years, said she had grown close to Ben in the past week but remained tight-lipped about their relationship.
She said: “I met him on the beach. I was just curious. We hit it off. It’s early days.
“I have been helping him with directions.”
“I wouldn’t say we are an item yet. I think that’s a bit too much. But maybe he feels that way, I don’t know.”
Ben, who uses the washing facilities at a nearby swimming pool, has been eating at Pierre Victoire on Edinburgh’s Eyre Street, occasionally accompanied by Ms Rdzak.
He insisted he would stay on the beach. He said: “Why would I move?
“The council haven’t had the nerve to contact me personally. They have my mobile number, why would they not contact me if they want me to move? Edinburgh has changed its mind.”
But officials insist he is in breach of the council’s parks management rules, which prohibit camping on the beach.
The local authority has said it will take action to assist his relocation from the beach.
The tent-dwelling musician’s estranged wife, and mum to his two children, declined to comment.
