Edinburgh Part II

The past few days have been a bit of a blur due to my introduction into Scottish drinking.

I am still so amazed at the whole Flat system they have set up for living here.. it's incredible. They have definitely managed to make use of their space here.

Marchmont Street Corner

All the buildings have these lovely pointy tops that are so repetitive its so pretty. And behind every teeny street side door there is an entire apartment system hidden behind.

Spiral staircase up to Gill's Flat

As Gillian studied for, and then wrote, her last exam I went off to find myself a cellphone. Wandering down Princes street was an absolute zoo due to the masses of people here for the festival. I found a phone even more middle ages than my first ever cellphone and then wandered off to take some photos.

Scott's Monument

Princes street faces the Edinburgh Castle and is extremely picturesque. I spent a solid portion of my afternoon just taking pictures and people watching.

Edinburgh Castle

Finding my way to the University and then finding the building where Gillian's exam was did indeed take the hour I allotted myself. But the campus is super nice, and there was a lot of interesting people to watch.

Cockburn Street.

The street above is fabulous, but to my disappointment is pronounced Coburn.

I met up with Gillian and we wandered down Rose Street where we had a pint before going to her friend Judith's sushi restaurant for dinner.

Rose Street, with Edinburgh Castle in the background

After dinner at apparently the only sushi place in Edinburgh with a Japanese chef, we met up with Ola, Gillian's polish friend for some drinks.  We went to The Standing Order, which was a weird bar, mostly because it was so light inside and everyone is standing around on this nice carpet. We drank some Pimms (a gin based lemonade and herb drink) and then headed home to get ready.

The Meadows

After playing some drinking games with the flatmates we headed to Teviot where we somehow managed to spend 6 pounds on a drink... Which in my head was normal until I realized they were pounds and not dollars. Leaving there we went to 'Doctors' which was just some small Scottish pub for some more pints. There Gill and I turned into typical hunter kleptos and stole a bunch of sweet pint glasses. On the way home we walked to the 24 hour food store and bought a ton of Flumps, which I later grossed everybody out with by putting them in a bacon sandwich. Delicious by the way.

After sleeping most of the next day, we went to meet some of Gillian's friends, Ben and Jack. She tried to warn me to how vulgar they are, and having spent time in the field and on drilling sites, I would have assumed I'd be prepared. That assumption was really wrong. Nice boys, but yes, very vulgar. We all headed out to Karma, which apparently is a super dirty bar, but I loved it since it reminded me of Phils. As we walked in the door Ben bought a 28 pound round of drinks which I thought was absurd.

Gill, Myself and Jack. Classy Group.

Overall the night was really good, with both the Backstreet Boys and Shania Twain coming on and Gill and I dancing up a storm.

After moving Gillian's excessively heavy suitcases to her flat we went for dinner and a movie at the cinema and I was very grateful for a sober night in.

Lettuce

We tried to buy some lettuce for salad and ended up buying some sort of lettuce plant. Food here is weird.

I am extremely impressed Gillian and I have managed to stay civil!