Scotland

Hi all,

Just spent an amazing 3 days in Edinburgh. We arrived to bright sunny blue skies and rather warm temperatures and we were dressed for the cold with our coats. Let's say they were quickly replaced!

Met up with uni friends Jacquie and Mark who are staying not far from the city centre in a quaint apartment in Stockbridge. It was good to see no high rises but beautiful Georgian architecture, sandstone buildings with big open windows, I've fallen in love with the place.

Wasn't feeling too jetlagged so we embarked on a walking into town for lunch, saw lots of people sunbaking in the park. I was amazed by the scenery - beautiful stone walls, bridges, lots of green trees, bright coloured flowers, creeks and the cobblestone paths. Those cobblestone paths were probably the reason why my feet have been killing for the last few days too.

Took advantage of the sun and had a picnic down at the nearby park, amazing how it remains light for so long here.

Joined in a walking tour the next day and learnt more about the history of the town, where JK Rowling sat whilst she wrote the Harry Potter books, even found the tombstone of Tom Riddle. Also the weather turned abit cooler than I expected so I'm now an owner of an 'I love Edinburgh' sloppy joe. I wasn't the only one caught out in the cold but it was alot more bearable. We stayed on the walking tour to hear about the history behind the 'stone of destiny', love the stories that they have here. Not finding the Scottish accent too bad to understand.

We discovered Waitrose, the exclusive oh-la-la of shopping which was literally round the corner from my friend's place. We decided to make dinner that night and had troubles with finding a few things just because none of the brands we were familiar or in the likely places you'd find at a supermarket. Let's say that our dinner menu kept changing as we couldn't find key ingredients.

Our menu consisted of chicken braised in white wine and vegetables with potato mash and for dessert, a lemon tart with butter pastry.  My hubby was attempting a dish he hadn't attempted before and I was sticking to my crowd pleasing dessert. Luckily, the dinner was a smashing hit=)

On our last full day, we visited Edinburgh castle, heard the 1pm cannon blast which scared the birds in flight and the crowd.  Saw the remnants of the town at Mary Kings Close via an underground walking tour. My hubby got scared by a creaky door, funny to see.

Sad to say bye to Edinburgh, Scotland but its next stop to London.

Catchyou all soon