Land of Plaid

Scotland: Land of whiskey, bagpipes, and plaid kilts.

Edinburgh: The capital city.

"The city attracts 1 million overseas visitors a year, making it the second most visited tourist destination in the United Kingdom, after London.^[3] In a 2009 YouGov poll, Edinburgh was voted the "most desirable city in which to live in the UK".^[4] Edinburgh was also rated The Best Place to Live in Channel 4's 2007 4Homes survey"

From the Channel 4 website:

"And the biggest plus for living here? Well you'd be a resident of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Edinburgh's got the highest concentration of listed buildings in the UK. How appropriate then, that it should be top of our list of the Best & Worst Places to Live in the UK 2007!"

I have to say, I completely disagree. While it was a nice place to visit, I can't imagine living there, especially over beautiful Wales and Londontown! In any case, the short trip to Scotland was a definite change of pace from all the previous travels.

Some highlights from the weekend:

*Seeing "The Hobbit" at The Festival Theatre. Though not quite West End material, it included some fun special effects, a terrifying giant spider (cue intense shivers), and a feel-good dance number. Brought back some silly memories from doing a musical version of it as a kid.

*Seeing "Green Zone" at the Vue Movie Theatre in the Oceanic Terminal Mall. Tourism fail? Possibly.

*Reading travel and self-help books in the mall bookshop. We learned a ton of valuable info. For example, the number 10 reason girls give for breaking up with their boyfriends? "Bad dancer." And guess what?! My hometown was in a book of 1,000 places to see before you die!

*Finding the most hilarious French phrase book for my trip to Paris--pick-up lines included.

*Viewing Edinburgh from the hilltop, while a procession accompanied by BAGPIPES walked down below!

*Having hot chocolate and a bomb caramel/chocolate thingamagig at The Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling wrote the beginning of "Harry Potter." I loved this place. The servers were quick and cheerful, and even gave Andrew his money back when his food came late (he hadn't even complained!)

While I had an enjoyable weekend, Edinburgh slightly paled in comparison to my previous excursions. I was more than happy to return to London for my birthday and a few quiet days before heading off to Paris.