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.