Edinburgh - Scotland

Last weekend we rushed from work to Liverpool Street station to meet our friends, Gareth and Camilla, and fly up to Edinburgh to visit our old school mates, Dave, Matt, Bec and Amy. After attempting to find seats together on the Easyjet flight (and not managing it), we settled in for the short one and a half hour flight, arriving in Edinburgh late on Friday night. After dropping our gear at Matt and Amy's fourth floor flat, we headed off to the pub to reminise about old times. We hadn't seen Matt and Amy for a couple of years and Dave and Bec since we left NZ in March so it was great to catch up! We headed out the next morning for brunch and then went for a wander around the city. Edinburgh is very picturesque - the roads and paths are all cobbled, there are small lanes leading from the main part of town up to the old city and it is filled with old old buildings, churches and landmarks. It was amazing to be wandering around a place with so much history. Given that the Edinburgh town plan was simply dumped in New Zealand in a place which was then named Dunedin, much of the city was familiar to us with all of the streets in Edinburgh being those that we used to live on in Dunedin. We explored the Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile which is located on a hill in the middle of the city with panoramic views of the harbour and surrounding hills. We spent the afternoon in a garden bar called the Pear Tree and then wandered back through the city visiting a few other Scottish pubs and just enjoying the sun and fantastic company. After a cheeky thai curry and a couple more bottles of NZ wine for dinner, we took the party to Dave's flat where we partook in the usual party antics (including a few dolphin dives and penguins down the stairs) and the usual misbehaviour that takes place when you get 4 boys together that have know each other for 15 years. We then headed out into town and ended up in a piano bar called 'Fingers, where a piano man played every tune under the sun while everyone in the bar sang and danced along (Grant's favourite: Rhinestone cowboy), including a number of Scots in their full Scot kit. Sunday was very much a rest day - the weather closed in and the 'haa' (sp?) (the Scottish fog) came in and surrounded the city - we had a long brunch and the girls indulged in some retail therapy while the boys found a bar to watch the local football game. We were so sad to leave Scotland and can't wait to get back!