Castles and Vikings and Boats...oh my!

30 December 2010

The day started with my alarm not going off. I woke up a few times but went back to sleep because I didn't hear my alarm go off. Apparently it did and no one heard it. Dad got me up at 10AM. That was okay we could use the sleep plus nothing opens until around 9:30 anyway. We started off the morning with a traditional Scottish breakfast. For those of you who've read my Ireland blog, the Scottish breakfast is similar to the Irish. You've got your eggs, sausage, tomato, mushrooms and haggis. :) I was able to connect to the web for about two seconds. Okay, a little more than that, but it's seriously ridiculous.

We decided to head up to the Castle today. On the way there we stopped at the Hub to get my Loony Dook tickets. SOLD OUT! I'm so upset. It sold out right before I got there. How does an event that doesn't require much of anything sell out? WTF... Not happy.

So, we headed the rest of the way up to the castle. William Wallace was there on the way. No, not Mel Gibson, but a guy dressed as Wallace down to the era confused woad makeup.

The castle was amazing! I can't even begin to describe everything. We saw the 1 o'clock gun be shot. They say to take two hours for the castle. We arrived around noon and didn't leave until almost 4. There was a cool demonstration about weaponry. We decided we couldn't stay to see Mary Queen of Scots, so we headed up to get our New Years Eve tickets for tomorrow.

We high tailed it to Amicus Apple for our dinner tickets before Georgie left for the day. She got us taken care of. And got us our Street Party tickets. The location couldn't be better for the fireworks. I can't wait!

Next we decided we had to find a place to eat. We headed toward Calton Hill and stopped in at the Guildford Arms. Their dinner doesn't start until half 5 (5:30 for you American-types). So we headed back down the street and stopped in at Burger King. No, not to eat. Are you kidding me?!?! Dad got a soda and I got a shake. We headed upstairs to the Wifi zone. Wifi my butt. Didn't work there...

I looked at the map and we decided to head to the Cafe Royal oyster bar. I started off ordering the Venison. But they were all out. I went with the Seafood plate instead. Half of a lobster, 3 raw oysters, 2 prawns, 2 (amazing) scallops and smoked salmon. They started out with some wonderful olives and bread with raspberry viniagrette to dip it in. The raspberry portion was almost jam-like.

It took forever for our waiter to collect the bill. But as soon as we headed into the street what did we hear but bagpipes. When we came around the corner we saw the Vikings with torches headed to Calton Hill. We joined right in with the bagpipes behind us. We followed them up Princes Street to Calton Hill. When we got to the top of the hill there was the Viking Long Boat they were to set ablaze. We got a great spot along the side. There was a record attendance this year of 20,000 people! An hour after starting the procession people still hadn't left from the starting point because the line was that long. Eventually they lit the ship on fire and then were the fireworks. It was the most amazing thing!!!!! What a great way to start the celebrations!

After that we headed back to the hotel for the night stopping at a Sainsbury for some refreshments. mmmmmm.....Ribena!