Well, I’m back.

Actually I’ve been back for a while, but it’s summer holidays here and trying to find the time to blog is not easy when you’re also trying to entertain an (almost) 8 year old boy and a crazy dog.

But here I am, and here is the story of mine and Emma’s mini adventure to Edinburgh.

I woke up on the Wednesday and it was raining. I wasn’t impressed at all, but took B to school, giving him loads of hugs, I rushed home, took Gemma out for the fastest walk in the world ~ well, it was raining ~ double checked that I had packed everything, chucked it all in the car, went to Tesco to fill up the car and drove to collect Emma. The drive up to Scotland wasn’t bad at all and I really enjoyed it.

The weather stayed good and didn’t feel that it took very long at all, even though I ended up with a numb bum a few times.  We had a mention on both Radio 1 (Emma’s choice of radio station) and Absolute Radio, during our drive up. Emma had sent a text into Radio 1 as it was Harry Potter day, and they phoned her back!  They checked to see that we were over 18 ~ “ummm, yeah, just a bit” was her reply, and they asked if we had a question that we wanted to ask the 3 main characters.  We couldn’t think of anything and they said that they might phone back later.  They didn’t.

And Absolute played “Save a prayer” so I got Emma to send a text into them saying that we were driving up to Edinburgh to see DD play the following night, from Gloucestershire.  They didn’t phone back, but they did read the text out which gave us a bit of a boost during the drive.

We got to Edinburgh just after 4pm (I think), couldn’t find the hotel car park but found an NCP almost next door to the hotel and went and booked into the hotel.  The car park wasn’t very big at all, and wasn’t much cheaper than the NCP so we decided to leave the car where it was. We got a 20% discount from the hotel so that was that.

We dumped our stuff in our room (which I forgot to take a photo of ) and went off to have a wander.

We found this chap on the Royal Mile. He was making a hell of a racket ~ but I think that’s how Bagpipes are supposed to sound.

We ended up going to TGI Friday’s for something to eat and then going back to the hotel for an earlyish night, but not before I discovered this alley. It’s the best alley in the world! Ever.

It’s actually next to the bar where we ended up having breakfast for the next two days. The first day was sunny and we managed to sit outside and enjoy the atmosphere, but I noticed that loads of people kept stopping and taking photos of this alley. And when I see loads, I mean at least 20!  In the end, Emma walked over to have a look and see what was going on in the alley. But there was nothing happening and it turned out that it was the alley that I had fallen in love with the evening before.

The next day, we explored more of the city and did a sightseeing bus tour.  And, we went and saw Greyfriars Bobby which was very important to me. I didn’t get to see him the last time I was in Edinburgh, and I was determined to see him this time ~ which we did.

The castle was still open to the public even though they were getting it ready for the concert that evening, so we managed to have a bit of a walk about and listen to the soundcheck.  We got to walk around the back of the stage and everything where I took this photo of a DD storage thingy.

I bought a postcard to send home to B, and we went back to the hotel for a little rest before the concert.

Then we discovered this wonderful bar, tucked away down one of the millions of alleys in Edinburgh.  We kept looking for a lovely little bar, which had a nice vibe about it, that wasn’t too packed full and was friendly. We found it ~ and it’s called The Jolly Judge.

We got to the castle, found our seats and were happily listening to Florence and the machine and watching the nasty dark clouds move closer and closer to the castle. Then at one point I was looking up at the flag that was flying above the castle at the exact moment that lightening cracked across the sky. Not good.

This photo was taken just before the heavens opened.

Within about 7 minutes the heavens had opened and it pissed down.

Everyone legged it. Especially Emma and I, because although we’d been checking the weather forecast all week, and had remembered to bring our waterproof jackets, we had made the executive decision to leave them in the hotel.  So, everyone ran to shelter under the seats. This wasn’t too bad, except we chose to stand next to a load of those portable urinals. After a few minutes the smell was unbearable.  But this wasn’t too bad because the people up there were so friendly. Not like us southerners.

We only waited for about 30 minutes for the rain to stop ~ but it felt much longer. My teeth were bloody chattering ‘cos I was so cold and wet.  There was an announcement made and we all made our way back to our seats.

The rain stayed away and Duran Duran had everyone up off their bums and dancing themselves dry for a couple of hours.  It wasn’t the best DD gig that I’d ever seen, but they were full of energy and clearly having loads of fun up there and I’m glad that I made the trip up to see see them in such a wonderful setting.

They only had one other gig planned in the UK for this year (so far) which was at a festival in London on the following Saturday, and much as I love Duran Duran, I’m not willing to spend a fortune just to hear them play a handful of songs.

The drive home was boring and uneventful. The weather was shocking, going from drizzle to finer drizzle until we got to Birmingham where it got sunny and then proper torrential rain when we got through to the other side.   The drive took ages.  Due to the weather and the fact that it was the last day of term for the majority of schools in England.  I think it took about 7 and a half hours to get home.