Day 66: My last day of work

Today was my last day in the office. One of my very dear clients sent me a bottle of champagne, which we opened around 5pm tonight. One British tradition I have been introduced to is to put a 50p (or 20p) piece in the cork as a remembrance of the bottle. We did this today for me and I am going to keep the cork to remember my last day in Edinburgh. I can't quite believe it's over, but it really is. On to London tomorrow!

Day 65: Wine tasting

The theme this week was red. I was all set to post a photo of all my red things...my bag, my wallet, my headphones, my iPod case, my passport holder, my plan de Paris...but then I realised I had a wine tasting tonight! What better red photo than one of my favourite red wine of the evening. It was the very last wine we tried. This was a Cape Blend by Kaapzicht of South Africa...cabernet/pinotage/merlot. It was nice.

Day 64: My last train journey from London to Edinburgh

After a wonderful Diwali dinner last night, I woke up quite early so that I could reach Kings Cross for my 8:00 AM train back to Edinburgh. It was a nice journey, but I must admit I was a bit sad when I pulled into Waverley Station for the last time. There will be a number of 'lasts' over the next few days!

Day 63: Happy Diwali

Today was Diwali! After my late night yesterday (okay, how about very early morning today), I was up quite early to get to work for two meetings during the day. I had a harrowing experience dragging all my luggage across town and to my aunt and uncle's place (with Nimesh who helped me greatly). But it was worth it! Lovely dinner, lovely company, and the perfect excuse to wear my new sari from Pune. I wonder how many more saris I can buy when I'm there next week...

Day 62: Monday night Stompin'!

The highlight today was I was able to attend my usual Monday swing dancing event in London called Stompin' at the 100 Club on Oxford Street. I didn't know what to expect but one thing I did know was that there was meant to be a huge big band playing. Well, they fulfilled my expectations as they were truly amazing. During the break between sets, Simon (the organiser) DJd a special dance called a jam where everyone makes a circle around someone and people keep dancing with that person through the whole song. This is usually done for birthdays but as I'm leaving the UK they had one for me tonight. At one point I think I had two men dancing with me! It was just an altogether fabulous night, for many reasons, but most of all because of my wonderful friends.

Day 61: Girly weekend continues

Following the rousing night out at Kay's yesterday, we eventually woke up, I made pancakes for breakfast, and we managed to get ourselves out the door for Peg's birthday lunch at Dusit. After we took Laura to her train back to Inverness, we got the 14:00 to Glasgow. We met Tracey there and had a coffee at Starbucks, then went shopping. My new boss told me to 'fix the financial crisis' before I start in January, so I figure shopping is the least I can do to help in these desperate times. Anyway, Lush was a big part of the purchases today and this is the birthday girl herself showing us the "fluffy fairy sauce" she bought.

Day 60: Farewell from the girls

Saturday night was my sendoff from the Scotland lassies. Tracey, Caroline, Laura, and Kate all turned up from various parts of Scotland and Stacey came up from Surrey. Of course my darling Peggy came the furthest of all, from Chicago no less! We stayed in at mine having wine and cheese while we waited for the gorgeous Scottish weather to clear up - during which time Caroline managed to spill red wine on the carpet and break a chair - and then went right across the road to my local, Kay's. I suppose I really shouldn't have been as shocked as I was to find Caroline smacking this poor bloke's bum. Those Edinburghers...what are they like, eh!

Day 59: Edinburgh leaving do

My Edinburgh office leaving drinks were tonight and they were fab. Alana and I had a brilliant turnout and we all had a really great time. I was so thrilled to have so many lovely people turn out to see me off. I'm just sorry it had to end! One more week at work and I'm off for good...

Day 58: Farewell dinner at Lahore Kebab House

We held the third annual Diwali dinner at Lahore Kebab House off Commercial Road. As I am leaving in a few weeks' time, it was also my farewell dinner, and I was honored to have my aunt and uncle, my niece, my friend from Chicago, and our global director of consulting attend. It was good fun and I have posted the best photos on Facebook. This is one of the handsome men who turned out to send me off!

Day 57: Farrington's, Temple Bar, Dublin

Peg and me enjoying our last night in Ireland! We drove from Galway to the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare today, then went down a bit further south, and then through Ennis across to Dublin. We met my friend Mick at our hotel and then went out to dinner and to the pub for a lovely Guinness. Great craic altogether.

Day 56: Tis Coiligh, Galway

I was given strict instructions from my Irish friends that in Galway, I must go to a pub, drink Guinness, and listen to music. And so we did. This was at a pub called Tis Coiligh. We had a lovely night.

Day 55: Saying goodbye to windy Edinburgh

My oldest and dearest friend Peggy arrived this morning from Chicago and we set off straightaway for our whirlwind trip of Ireland. We walked from my flat in New Town to the bus stop to catch the 100 bus to the airport. It was incredibly windy in Edinburgh today, and as we were standing at the bus stop, I noticed a leaf had blown into my bag! I liked the contrast between the red and green in this shot.

Day 54: Night view from Hector's

J, T and I all went to Hector's for lunch. Hector's is my favourite bar in Edinburgh, and it's conveniently located right down the road from my flat. It's got great craic, beautiful surroundings, and wonderful veg and non-veg food, so everyone is happy when I bring them there. There is an exhibition of paintings and drawings there by an Edinburgh artist named Susie Keith. She has some gorgeous paintings of Edinburgh and if I had some extra dosh, I'd be the first in line to pick these up. These paintings depict the views from the front windows in Hector's, complete with fairy lights glistening. Susie Keith's website can be found at www.truthislove.com.

Day 53: Chemist in Morningside

My BFF Jennifer and I decided to go to Morningside today to look at the charity shops. We had gorgeous weather in Edinburgh and after we walked through the National Gallery for a while, we caught a bus out to Morningside. As we were walking down Brunstfield Place, I saw a chemist with a gorgeous display of old pharmacy equipment, bottles, mortars and pestles and so on. I thought, 'wow, Mom would really love this' as my mother is a pharmacist. So this photo is for my ma!

Day 52: Dinner at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Today was a calm day at the office but a crazy night starting at 5pm. My friend Jennifer arrived on Thursday and we had lunch at Henderson's, then met my colleagues for drinks after work. I really wasn't in the mood for drinking much because we had dinner plans and a movie tonight, not to mention I've been drinking plenty all week long. We went to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society for dinner with my friend Rudi and his sister. I am not a fan of whisky but clearly there's not much room to refuse when you're at the Whisky Society! So I had little choice but to have a wee dram.

Day 51: Sunny Edinburgh

It's a gloriously sunny day in Edinburgh. This is the view from the street on which my office is located. It's looking down the hill towards the north and you can see the Firth of Forth out in the distance. It's a beautiful view on a clear day.

Day 50: Edinburgh airport

If you know me, you know I travel a lot, and I'm doing so even more than usual this month. I know Edinburgh airport pretty well as a result. It's a small airport but there are a few gates that are a long walk away, the gates with the number over 13. I sighed when I saw my 6:30 AM flight to London was at gate 14, but there is one upside of getting to these gates. They have put lovely photos of Edinburgh with quotes about the city on the wall. And I find this quote expresses my feelings about Edinburgh perfectly.

Day 49: I guess it's really happening

This morning the movers packed up 95% of my belongings here and took them all away! It was a bit sad but I suppose alright.

Day 48: Print of Edinburgh

My friend Fred is up for a few days staying in the flat and visiting Edinburgh. When I got home from the office he told me he'd got me a housewarming present and something to remember Edinburgh by. It is a gorgeous print done in 1834. I absolutely love it.

Day 47: Rhythm Lounge

Saturday was spent enjoying a gorgeous day on Christopher's boat Firefly, and Saturday night/early Sunday morning was spent dancing non-stop at the new and improved Rhythm Lounge near Angel. We started around 9pm and left at about 1am. This handsome bloke is Niall Oates, our talented DJ for the evening.

Day 46: Cruising on Firefly

My friend Christopher very graciously let me stay with him over the weekend and we took his canal boat from Northfields to Islington. This took six hours and we maneuvered through four locks. Despite my never having done this before, Christopher allowed me to take the tiller and I was not terrible at it, in his words. It was one of the most amazing days I have had in a very long time.

Day 45: Farewell tour of the UK kickoff

London leaving drinks!

Day 44: Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall

I am in Cornwall for a mini holiday with my friend Helen. We were spoiled for choice with photos today so I'll be posting more on my Facebook page. We spent the day first looking around St. Ives, and then we set off for the Lost Gardens of Heligan. They were gorgeous and we had wonderful weather. After we explored the gardens, we came back to St. Ives and went out for dinner and the pub. It was just the perfect day!

Day 43: London to Penzance

I spent about 5 and a half hours on the train from London Paddington to Penzance. It was well worth it!

Day 42: Let the thing swing, son

I took the train down from Edinburgh to London on Tuesday and decided at the last minute to go to one of my old haunts, C Jam at the Bedford. This is one of the places where I used to swing dance when I lived in London. Martin Ellis, the bloke in the photo, runs this and other nights of lovely dancing all around the city. I didn't have a manic night of dancing like I usually do but it was still great to dance a bit and see everyone. And I'm glad I had a warm up before Rhythm Lounge this Saturday! I'm happy to discover I haven't forgotten everything. Extra credit to anyone who knows which song the title of this post comes from (no Googling, of course!)...

Day 41: Lunch with Mark

Mark and I went to lunch at Posh today. Posh is right across the road from our office and I always have the same sandwich there - brown roll with smoked Jarlsberg, sundried tomatoes, and lettuce. Anyway so Mark and I went over for lunch and chatted about work, life and everything else!

Day 40: Glasgow pipe band

My aunt, uncle and niece have come up from London to spend the weekend in Edinburgh. Today we had a bright, sunny day and took the bus off to Glasgow. We had a lovely lunch and then walked to Buchanan Street to shop. We all split up and as I was walking down the street, I heard a pipe band so I followed the music down to the end of Buchanan Street. These three lads were playing for a small crowd. Their music was an unexpected pleasure!

Day 39: My cheesemonger

My local cheesemonger, IJ Mellis, is just down the hill from my flat in Stockbridge. They have gorgeous cheeses and wee snacks like crackers, biscuits, oat cakes, and so on. My aunt, uncle and niece are visiting from London and my niece and I went to the cheesemonger to get cheeses for our lunch. One very nice thing about this shop is they make a variety of vegetarian cheeses. I am really going to miss IJ Mellis when I'm gone!!

Day 38: Train to Portsmouth

My colleague and I had a meeting in Portsmouth so we were on the train. Both of us wanted to take a nap on the ride across but we were good and prepared for the meeting instead. Luckily the meeting went well and we celebrated by having a nice long lunch afterwards.

Day 37: SW1

Today is the day of three meetings. I have never had three in one day! And yet today I do. Two down, one to go. This was taken following the first meeting, near Westminster. You can see the Eye and the Abbey which I quite liked.

Day 36: Dinner with the girls

I am in London for the next two nights and I tried to find some company to go out with tonight, but all my spare gentlemen were busy. Hmpf. So I turned to the girls, who I should have just asked in the first place! We had a lovely dinner near Bank and they graciously posed for this glamourous photo.