Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Edinburgh - Last Day

So.... we woke up feeling less than our best and headed (slowly) downtown to meet Tom as we had an afternoon flight back to Dublin. We made it downtown where we all had a bite to eat (I had what was named 'The best hot dog in the world' which was a load of crap because it was, in fact, the worst hot dog in the world. From there we went to a whisky and souvenier shop where Luke bought some shortbread for some people at his office and from there we wandered a bit through some stores and then went for another quick bite to eat before saying goodbye to Tom, hopping into a cab, grabbing our gear and heading out to the airport.

Edinburgh Day Three











Day four in Edinburgh was a bit sad because Brent had to head back to Dublin to get some work done. We all got up and Luke made brekkie and then we said our goodbye's to Brent at about 2pm when he left to catch his flight. After that, the three of us got ready to walk downtown to meet Tom and Sarah to watch Ireland v. France at a pub. We all met up and watched the game (sadly, Ireland lost). After that we were all famished so we walked to a place called Wanna Burger (we must say thank you to Tom and Sarah for suggesting this place as they had the best burgers IN THE WORLD) where we all had a huge, delicious burger. From there we did a little pub/bar hopping and then went to a bar closer to Tom and Sarah's as Sarah was going to leave early to get to bed so that she'd be ready to go to work the next morning. This bar was great as they had pitchers of 'girlie' drinks. Sharon, Sarah and I killed a few of those. We did a little dancing and lipsynching there but ended up being kicked out (for no particular reason really, they just thought we were sketchy for some reason....?) so we said our goodbyes to Sarah and made our way to a late bar that Sarah suggested. There was a small cover charge but all of the drinks were £1 since it was Sunday night. The place was bumpin' (lame, I know). We hit the dance floor and had a great time. Ended up meeting a few people along the way. Sharon, Luke and I got home quite late and quite locked.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Day 2 - Edinburgh






























































Ok. Day two of Edinburgh. We basically walked through the city, checking out the sights and then went to Edinburgh Castle. That night the four of us went out for dinner to a really great restaurant where the waiter was kind enough to give us some ideas for our evening. He suggested a jazz club, a bongo club and a front-room pub. We went to the jazz club from the restaurant as he advised that the venue tends to get packed quite early. We arrived before the crowd so we were able to secure a good seat. We ordered some drinks and chatted while the band set up and the other patrons filed in. Once the band was going the place was jam-packed. We stayed for a set and then made our way to the front-room pub, called (yep, it really was) The Royal Oak. We walked into the tiny, livingroom sized pub and were greeted by an inebriated Welshman (the Scotland v. Wales rugby match was on that afternoon so the city was full of Welsh people) who tried to tell us that he was the bouncer and that we weren't allowed in, but after a few people told him to shut up we realized that he was simply slagging us. As we looked around, we noticed two men with guitars were singing traditional music. The crowd was told to hush so that they could be heard, but that didn't last long. We ordered drinks (Luke and Brent ordered a beer called Tetley's which, as the name suggests, is made with tea. They LOVED it). After about half an hour the inebriated Welshman decided that he was going to sing a few songs for us all. He belted out a few tunes and then proceeded to jump up onto one of the benches and flash his manhood. (I guess we shouldn't have been surprised, after all, everyone knows that you don't wear undies when you're wearing a kilt). Everyone thought it was funny/horrifying. Eventually he stepped down. After he was finished, a group of about eight Welshmen broke into song. Turns out they were a choir so, needless to say, the were fantastic. We basically spent the night chatting and listening to the patrons take their turns singing. Close to the end of the night the Welsh choir asked Luke to sing something so he and Brent belted out the national anthem with Sharon and I doing back up vocals. It was hilarious as some of the men in the choir actually knew the words and joined in! Great craic. One of the best nights we've had. Eventually the lights were turned on and we were sent home. We got ourselves back to the apartment and realized that we were famished so Luke and Brent walked up to Burgers and Beer where they were able to snag some poutine and a bottle of wine. We all tucked into the food while watching Dirty Dancing.



Thursday, March 01, 2007

Jess' 28th B-Day/Trip To Edinburgh

DAY ONE - FRIDAY 9TH FEB






We think they were excited to be in Edinburgh...













FINALLY POUTINE Canadian Style!














A pretty pub... that's about it.







The boys are back in town...















Awhile back Brent booked 4 tickets to Edinburgh so we could go away, which happened to coincide with Jess' birthday and so that we could see Tom and Sarah.

So the day came... Friday Feb 9th. We all got off work, went home, packed, etc and met up at the airport at around 8pm. Our flight was at about 920pm. After a couple of pints before the flight, and some conversation on the flight, we were landing. The flight was about 40min or so.

Surprisingly the airports were not busy at all so everything went smoothle and efficiently.

We got to our apartment that Jess rented at about 11pm or so and man what an apartment! We were not expecting anything like this!
First off, everything was brand new and state of the art! Leather couch/lazy boy... kitchen was incredible, big TV, balcony with chairs and table ... oh ya and that was just the FIRST floor. Yes a two-storey apartment. On the second floor were all the bedrooms... 4 of them, and bathrooms. I could so live like that!

So we up packed and decided to eat as we didn't have a chance to eat after work. On the way to our flat we passed by 'Burgers and Beer'... can u guess where we went to eat? Mind you, Brent was the only one that had a burger.

After that we got in touch with Sarah and took a cab to the meeting spot. Tom was working 'til about 130am and was going to meet us later on.
We chatted away with Sarah and then met Tom and went off to a late night club.
The night did end late, but everyone was in good form and it was fun hanging out again, all of us. For the next day we had plans to watch the Scotland v.s Wales Rugby match and take in some sight seeing.