Left a Piece of my Heart in Scotland - Part 1

Unexpected, but cancelling the Turkey trip might have been one of my best decisions yet. Having booked flight tickets from Edinburgh, I had also booked train tickets to Edinburgh which meant that I technically had a holiday in line either way. The trip - also like many others - is worth a post but I left a bit of my heart up there so this is one I'd regret not writing about as I'd read it over and over again. On a side note, I've just had some of Maidenhead's tap water and I think I might need to start getting used to it again.

Day 1 - 17 Dec

Had packed and was ready to go with one big luggage bag carrying a PS5 and a smaller cabin one for my clothes. The train trip was uneventful except that it was packed but the view out the window was amazing. Here's a tip - travel during the day so you could enjoy the view. 

After getting lost trying to get out of Waverley station, I headed to Basel's and was welcomed to an amazing, well decorated flat which became home for the next two weeks. As usual, priorities needed to be set out right so the PS5 was unboxed and then I settled down a bit while waiting for Basel to finish work. 

We headed out for what the only two foodies I know in Edinburgh (Basel and Jad) have said is the best burger in town - Luxford Burger. Following that, we headed up to a little spot to stargaze (and that was beautiful) before going to what is the best ice cream spot in town. It's called Joelato located at Bonnie and Wild market - we had the pistachio ice cream and some other flavours but that was also when I knew that my life won't be the same anymore after this trip. 

We went to watch Spider Man after, mainly because I fell to peer pressure and everyone I knew had watched it at the point. After the movie - trying to fit the whole of Edinburgh within a few hours, the guys brought me up to Calton Hill where I was again mesmerised. Imagine your first day being that good and you realise, yeah, things can't get better than this but it did. I should've taken it as a sign to buy an earlier train ticket back as to not grow attached.

Day 2 - 18 Dec 

We probably struggled in the morning to figure out what to do because we needed Jad and the car to explore the coast but then Basel found a bus route that would let us do exactly that. We got on the 124 bus to North Berwick, bought a day pass as we were going to hop on and off and had a lovely chat with a couple who lived somewhere along that route. 

Our first stop was Musselburgh, where we walked by River Esk whilst trying to figure out whether seagulls had webbed feet (they do) and headed to Musselburgh Lagoons through the racecourse and golf course. We hadn't known whether we were going the right way but we ended up where we wanted to end up so I guess we did. We walked around one of the lagoons and spent a few minutes at the bird watching site. Whilst I enjoyed the view, Basel actually spotted some birds which I hadn't thought of doing - obviously. We then stood around watching people with their model boats, which looks like a really fun hobby when I get to that age. 

We got on the bus and our next stop was Longniddry for some snacks and coffee. I had grilled prawns which wasn't too bad but eating it with a good view made it amazing. We then stood by the bus stand complaining about how it wasn't on time but to be fair, we were well aware of it. The bus drove through very thick fog and we got a bit worried - what was going on! But I enjoyed it - it really added to the experience. 

Our next stop was Gullane - there was a cute coffee shop where we got a sfogliatella and cannoli, the former being better. We walked to the beach to realise we couldn't see a single thing because of the fog. Our main goal was to check out a little cave at the beach but the tides were high and the entry to the cave was inaccessible. We did have fun though - I got to climb some rocks and skip a few pebbles. On our way back, we saw people actually swimming in the sea... beats me. At this point of the day, I was already starting to feel content but there was one last stop which was North Berwick.

Basel got upset of the fog saying that I'm not seeing North Berwick as it should be seen so he described the view to me. Honestly, I was sure that it would be beautiful without the fog but the fog in itself had added a depth to the small town. We headed through the town, got some ice cream (couldn't beat Joelato) before stopping and enjoying a little concert through the window of one of the shops. I didn't know the song but Basel did, and he was enjoying his time with his future friends (provided that he gets to retire early). 

We ended the day with Basel cooking dinner and some rocket league. I was shit at rocket league, I can't hit the ball so I ended up having a different objective where I'd hit and distract the other players instead whilst he tried to get the ball in the goal. We did win a few of the games with that strategy but, I'm just bad at it. 

Day 3 - 19 Dec

We decided to have a slow day so we went out for brunch with Jad, Art and Farida. Farida and I then walked around town a bit where she gave me a bit of a tour. I did some shopping before we headed back to chill out at the flat. We played a bit of darts, had some shawarma (I'm not a shawarma or lamb person but they were really good shawarmas), played monopoly deal and hung out the rest of the night. Had a little taster of what life could be like living in Edinburgh basically. 

Day 4 - 20 Dec

It was a Monday and I needed to work (despite my annual leave but it was my choice) so that was most of the day. We had leftovers for lunch and Basel made dinner again it was salmon and rice with salad - so simple but so good, I was impressed. I was introduced to death note and we watched 'Your Name'. Everyone needs to watch Your Name. I can't remember it anymore but I know it was good. 

Day 5 - 21 Dec

I was meant to be doing my chartership report but I woke up and wasn't really feeling it so I went to do some grocery shopping. I tried to make lunch but I don't think I'm up to Basel's standards so he took over... lol.

I have also been wanting to make a ginger bread house and there was no better person to make one with except for Basel because we act the same age (note: we are the same age but we don't necessarily act our age). Luckily enough, he was up for it. So I spent the afternoon trying to make the gingerbread itself. After work, we were contemplating whether to go out or stay in. But we had the gingerbread house to make so we stayed in and I had waaaaaaaay too much fun. We had some Christmas music in the background and some Louis Armstrong. We got onto the decorating and then it got to the difficult part of trying to make it stand. It was extremely frustrating and I wasn't able to get an instagrammable photo of it - but I did still post it because I was rather proud of our accomplishment. 

Day 6 - 22 Dec

I had booked myself a hair dressers appointment because that's what you're meant to do on holiday... right? This was also the day I contemplated whether or not to start planning for a move to Edinburgh... don't talk to me about it. I found a cute coffee shop on the way back and had a pretty long call with Hanz. Headed back to the flat, got comfy and tried to finish the book that I still haven't managed to finish until now. 

When Basel was done with work, we headed out to Cold Town House for dinner - really good pizzas and amazing loaded fries. Walked through Victoria Street to get to the Christmas Market and had some horrible churros. We then continued trying to walk the food down around that part of town before heading to Sainsburys to pick up an inflatable bed which I was meant to pick up but then realised that it was a good idea I didn't because it was heavy. 

Day 7 - 23 Dec

The weather was looking a lot better today so I was brought to Dean's Village and was scammed into getting some random coffee shop whilst Basel found a nice coffee shop which according to him, had the best coffee he's had (insert eye roll). Dean's Village was the cutest little place ever. It was as if you had gone out of Edinburgh to get there. Worth a visit! 

We then headed to St Margaret's Loch where I managed to capture a photo of a UFO. We tried to get to another Loch but it was just too muddy, rainy and basically, Basel gave up. Instead, we went to Jad's place before heading back to the flat to watch Jad beat Basel up at FIFA. Life was good.

The next few days then became one of my highlights of the year!