Off to bonny Scotland

A long sleep from exhaustion at the normal local times and wholah! No jet lag. Throwing open the drapes revielled a cold drab Sunday morning in quiet central Manchester. A jaunt across the road to the train station confirmed our realisation that we had chosen the wrong hotel location. After breaky at a nearby cafe this was easily resolved by a short taxi trip. We arrived early and luckily we asked for assistance to find out our line was closed due to a landslide as a result of a burst water main. Hopefully Brexit will improve the infrastructure. The advice we received was excellent. A mad dash up and down stairs saw us catching an earlier train to a different station on the Northern line where we ended up on our pre-booked service in our reserved seats shooting though the rain sodden green fields and hedgerows under grey skies. How very English. Hurtling through the northern reaches, the well appointed train passed very picturesque country side. The hedges give way to stone on the higher farms where the sheep and cows are lying around - obviously exhausted from consuming the rich green grass. The ubundant creeks and rivers look fresh and clean and as we headed to the scotchish capital the clouds tried to give way to the sun...to no avail.

Arriving in Edinburgh we were warmly greeted with hugs and longing friendship tears by Sarah and Nick who made damn sure that priories were correctly dealt with by hitting the nearest pub to the station. The fact that he has business ties to the place is inconsequential to the pioancy of the situation. It was a great intro to the town... looking past the patrons to the famous castle perched on a rock framed by an arched window was awesome. As was the company. The hospitality continued by showing us the bus route to our fabulous room at the White Lady and then back into town for pre's at an old converted bank (into a bar...now there's an idea worth pursuing...for all branches... anyway I digress....). Suitably lubricated we slidded up the road to Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant for dinner. When in Rome..... Back at the lady the girls went to sleep whilst the boys went for a night cap...or two until flicked out by the closing bell.