Visiting Edinburgh
Well, I bet you were wondering when I was going to tell you about our blogger’s trip to the great Scottish city of Edinburgh? With Erica, Kim and Kirsty already telling their tale… how about you grab yourself a mug of cwoffee, maybe even a few chocolate biscuits, whilst you put your feet up and settle in. This could be a long one…
After an incredibly hectic end to the Autumn term, I found myself boarding a very early, packed morning train bound for Edinburgh to meet my blogger pals Kirsty, Kim and Erica. Having never travelled on a train solo before, a short jaunt to another country was no biggie, honestly. Arriving at 10.30am, after a 5.45am start, my knees knocked from the sheer bitter temperature. Not nerves, honestly. Kirsty was first on the scene to meet me at the station. Also known as Indigo Buttons, Kirsty is officially ‘the first blogger I’ve ever met’ and is just what you’d expect. A cheerful optimist with a lovely big smile and such a warm nature. As soon as her dulcet Scottish tone of ‘Hulloooo’ welcomed me, I was instantly at ease and ready to go meet Kim and Erica, fringe friends. Nerves, more bloody nerves. As soon as Erica’s top knot bounded off the bus, I knew they’d arrived. Kim in her uber cool specs and Erica, the myth, the legend and the only person I know that can wear her hair that high and totally rock it.
After an incredibly hectic end to the Autumn term, I found myself boarding a very early, packed morning train bound for Edinburgh to meet my blogger pals Kirsty, Kim and Erica. Having never travelled on a train solo before, a short jaunt to another country was no biggie, honestly. Arriving at 10.30am, after a 5.45am start, my knees knocked from the sheer bitter temperature. Not nerves, honestly. Kirsty was first on the scene to meet me at the station. Also known as Indigo Buttons, Kirsty is officially ‘the first blogger I’ve ever met’ and is just what you’d expect. A cheerful optimist with a lovely big smile and such a warm nature. As soon as her dulcet Scottish tone of ‘Hulloooo’ welcomed me, I was instantly at ease and ready to go meet Kim and Erica, fringe friends. Nerves, more bloody nerves. As soon as Erica’s top knot bounded off the bus, I knew they’d arrived. Kim in her uber cool specs and Erica, the myth, the legend and the only person I know that can wear her hair that high and totally rock it.
First stop, coffee and funny looking tea. We settled into Costa and pacified our growling stomachs, all the while talking ten to the dozen whilst the woman on the table next to us smothered giggles at our animated conversations. It was there that it hit me. These girls had already met, knew each other and here I was, the unknown entity. The quiet one. More nerves. Two hours later, a Primark & H&M shopping spree under our belts, I was over that hurdle and we were chatting away like long lost internet friends.
Beautiful, picturesque Edinburgh… with your stunning architecture, Gothic structures and Christmas markets. If that wasn’t enough to tempt out my camera, the cider and burgers at The Red Squirrel sure did. By that time, we’d all succumbed to our phones and taking photographs of food was the natural next step. One very large burger and cider later, we set the blogger world to rites and looked forward to meeting Kirsty’s Scottish blogger pals at Edinburgh’s Christmas markets.
It was so bloomin’ cold! The rain showed us no mercy as we trudged the short distance. Whilst the icy chill seeped into our bones, we warmed our cockles with a tipple and free chocolate. Right on time, Kirsty’s pals arrived. Despite the fact they were heading to a party afterwards, they battled the weather to meet up with us. I recognized a few of the ladies, mainly Lynne from Cocktails and Daydreams as we’d spoken on Twitter about Berlin before. Wind blown, we decided to ‘head’ to a few of Edinburgh’s bars for a drink without the rain. It seems everyone had that idea, it was so busy. However, on that walk Kirsty lost her hat. Not just any hat, ‘mah hat’. To the cry of, ‘Och no! Ma hat!’ Kirsty stopped traffic. Not just traffic, Kirsty stopped pedestrians, cyclists, buses, you name it. She stopped them by tootling after her hat down the busy Edinburgh road with her wee cries. When we could all laugh no more, we had to grab our bags and head home to Kirsty’s flat.
Kirsty’s flat is a chocolate box of curiosities. It’s clear to see her affection for Doctor Who, unique artwork and floral kitsch. When you add them with the quirky features of her pad, it’s just perfect. After a quick dart to Tesco, we settled in for a night of Christmas giftage. I can’t even begin to tell you how surprised I was. The girls had been so generous and I found myself uttering, ‘How did you know?’ more than once. We chatted away until the wee hours of the morning, sharing all our secrets, until we succumbed to our tiredness and called it a night.
We awoke to Edinburgh’s beautiful weather, more howling wind and rain, and darkness. I’m sure the sun must shine, but not during our trip. We decided that it was perfectly acceptable to stay in and watch Pitch Perfect. It’s becoming a blogger tradition for the girls, but for me it was my very first time. Loved it. Now, I’m spending all my time trying to perfect the cup song. Late afternoon, we headed to the Royal Mile (not Mail, easy mistake to make!) and the Grass Market, where Kirsty took us on a mini tourist trail.
Ending in vintage heaven, Armstrongs. I swear, I could have spent days in this place. It was filled to the brim with vintage beauties. Had I been paid, a certain 70’s floral blouse would have been coming home with me. Oh yes!
Vintage heaven where Kim scored the most beautiful vintage dress. As beautiful as these pieces above are, I’ll let Kim share with you her tunic dress of floral beauty (as it shall forever be known). Our bellies grumbling, we decided to stop for a quick bite of tea. Fish finger butties all round and a glass of pop, that quick rest was heaven.
Our pit stop meant that most of Edinburgh’s shops had closed. We were lucky enough to stumble upon one shop still open and boy it was a beauty! I managed to snaffle a Christmas present for the boy, photographic paper to create a cyanotype effect. It was present gold. We then headed up to Edinburgh Castle, even though we knew it would be deserted and closed. At least now I can say that I’ve been.
Even though we’d only just eaten, we had dinner reservations to make later on so we decided to bus it back to Kirsty’s pad. Falling through the door, we shed our rain logged coats and beaten boots settling in for Erica’s wondrous hot chocolate before heading out again…