auchmeddan

Having been among the last people on Earth to read “The Da Vinci Code” I was very interested when Jules suggested we take a trip out to Rosslyn Chapel before we we left. Jules, my mum, and myself headed out there this week and spent a fascinating couple of hours wandering around and taking pictures. The Chapel isn’t a large building, but it has so many points of interest and incredible carvings that I wasn’t prepared to leave until I’d burned out my camera battery.

If you ever get the chance to go take a large memory stick and spare batteries!

A couple of pics below from the Chapel - The Green Man, and the Apprentice’s Pillar.

Jules and myself took some time last week to get around a few places we wanted to see before we go. We managed to get in a climb up the Scott Monument, a walk past the Art Gallery, up through Lady Stairs Close and on to see the tribute to Greyfriars Bobby, a visit to Bobby’s grave in the cemetary, and a quick trip through the National Museum of Scotland. By the time we’d finished we were tired and hungry, so we ended up with a good lunch (and a couple of beers for me) in a bar on the Mound.

We ended up the night out with friends and came second in the pub quiz before getting home and eating re-heated Haggis around 2AM. Does it get any better than this?

Photos below of Bobby, and the view from the Scott Monument overlooking the Castle and the Art Gallery.

We are definately into our final days of catching up with people now. We just saw someone that we haven’t seen since 2002, and my aunt and uncle called from Canada tonight to have a quick chat and wish us well. Have a few more nights to organise, then we’re off. I’m sure we’ll both be wiped out by the time we get to NZ.

Managed to get down to Easter Road on Sunday with Malc to watch the Hibs vs Rangers game, and was very happy I went! I think I’m a good omen for the team as I’ve been to ‘the Leith San Siro’ twice this year and both games have been 2-1 victories. Having been to the Hibs supporters bar before and after the game I was in a very good mood Sunday night, but unfortunately my luck didn’t extend to the Miami Dolphins who suffered an embarassment at the hands of the Bills and notched up their 2nd defeat in a row.

Oh, and I’m taking the fact that both Hibs goals were scored by Kiwi Striker Chris Killen as a good omen.

We haven’t updated for a while as time has just started to slip away from us now. In three weeks time we’re going to be in New Zealand. Scary!

The Edinburgh Film Festival ended pretty well for us with “The Oh in Ohio”, an interesting documentary called “The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief” and Kevin Smith’s “Clerks 2″ which was one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. I love Jay’s Buffalo Bill/Silence of the Lambs bit, but the deconstruction of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was probably the biggest crowd pleaser.

Now that Edinburgh has calmed down a bit with the end of the Festival I’ll need to try and get around the town to take some pictures and visit a couple of places I just couldn’t face in a huge crowd of tourists. It will be nice to spend some time in the city before we leave, revisiting some old haunts.