Couch surfing seems crazy and fun and part of the way to get settled but sometimes it just sucks. Its mainly because I was taking a giant step backwards. On Friday I packed up all my stuff into bags again (my backpack, a new suitcase, Toni's backpack, Toni's suitcase and Leannes backpack - yup I had that much crap) and handed my keys back to my landlord. I didn't even get to say goodbye to my Egyptians -which wasn't that much of a shame since I still didn't know one of their names. I was going to be crashing with Toni for a little while until I found a place to live. It worked out well because Friday was Toni's 25th birthday and to celebrate we were heading out to dinner and then onto a bus to Edinburgh for the long weekend.
We had a great night out at a local Thai restaurant eating our fill of delicious food and having a few cheeky drinks before heading back to Toni's place. Where we all got get changed into our travelling clothes (which equals baggy pants/tights) and having desert - a chocolate cake topped with a tea light candle for the birthday girl to blow out. After we all got settled and packed we headed for the bus station. The plan of attack was to get the 11pm bus and drive through the night and arrive bright and early in Edinburgh at 8.30/9am. We were lucky we got to the bus stop early as they had 4 buses running due to the Fringe Festival so we jumped on the first one and got away early.
We had all been slightly dreading this bus ride as Megabus aren't famous for their comfortable travelling and an overnighter could have left us wrecked. It turns out it was a really smooth ride. We popped a few sleeping pills and by about 12pm most of us had coma-ed out and we slept most of the way. Apart from a few pit stops it was a quick drive and we ended up arriving in Edinburgh early. It was good as I woke up just as we were arriving at the bus station so it turns out overnight travel really is the way to go. Leanne (is our Topdeck family travel agent) had booked us into an apartment about a 20 min walk from the bus station so we headed there to dump our bags before we hunted down some food.
After a big breakky of bacon and eggs we headed off on the free walking tour of the city. These free walking tours are the best things about travelling Europe as they are mainly done by history students or academics who are living abroad. All you have to do is tip them and since that is their salary I find that they are really passionate and interesting. We saw a fair bit of the city on foot which was good because it sort of orientated us (a little) and we learnt a bit more about the city. We visited the Royal Mile which is in the centre of the old town and features these things called 'closes' which are basically little courtyards surrounded by all the old buildings. We stopped off at a church, saw a few statues, learnt about their writers museum and we checked out a graveyard.
The highlight of the tour was that we saw where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter novel as well as the school that they say inspired Hogwarts. From the cafe she had a view of this school in a beautiful old building with four tall towers and they say its how she got the idea for the four houses of Hogwarts. I am not sure about that but I can see how that building could easily become inspiration. We finished the walking tour by sitting in the sun at a park at the bottom of the Edinburgh Castle and learnt a bit more about the history. It was a great way to end the tour as we were all exhausted from the bus ride and the three hours of walking.
To cap off the tour our guide took us to a local pub that did a meal and drink for 5 pounds. After another good meal we headed back to check into our apartment. On the way I saw a guy wearing a kilt playing the bagpipes so that was another cliche to tick off the list! One we got to the apartment we were happy to find we were a house away from the owners and in an down stairs apartment. I don't know how Leanne found this place but I was so glad she did. It made a difference having a nice place rather then a hostel especially as we had a big lounge room to hang out in plus a kitchen (which we never actually really used - but it was good to know it was there). There were two bedrooms and a fold out couch so we had plenty of places to crash. We spent the arvo basically just chilling out and chatting while we drank and ate junk food. Clare and Sean had been to Edinburgh before and said the pubcrawl that ran there was the best in Europe. With a statement like that how could we not check it out??
After a round of kings and 'i have never' we were well on our way to being pissed before we even hit the pub crawl. We arrived at the pubcrawl with perfect timing to grab a drink before we all headed off as a group. It was 12 pounds for the night and you get a shot at each place as well as a drink at the first bar. These nights are fantastic because you always always get your moneys worth back in drinks and you never have to worry about finding a good place on your own. This one was particularly good as each place they took us too had really cheap drinks and we got a variety of places. We hit a bar that played live music and one that had a huge dance floor as well as a sort of sports bar with 1.60 pound drinks. After a few shots and lots of drinks the night was kind of a blur. We ended up hitting about 6 places and having a fantastic night drinking and laughing and carving up the dance floor (as we do). We were drinking Vodka Irn-Bru which is a softdrink they have in Scotland that out sells Coke and Pepsi. Its really sweet and tastes similar to creaming soda so it goes down well with vodka.
In the early hours of the morning we got the munchies and headed off to try and find a maccas. We could NOT find one anywhere - we even befriended a really friendly Scottish girl and she lead us to a kebab shop but we weren't keen. We wanted fried food dammit!! After stumbling around for a little bit and a bit of drunken shenanigans involving traffic cones and dog statues we discovered a Burger King where we had our drunken munchie feed we headed home and crashed until about 11am the next morning. When we woke up we all started comparing stories and trying to piece together the night as most of us had hit it so hard there were a few black holes in our memory. We then got out the cameras and checked out all the photos. It was like that scene at the end of 'The Hangover' so I've put together a little collage. Just try to imagine Katy Perry and Flo Rida singing 'Right Round'.
While all this drinking and touring the city was going on there was also the Fringe Festival which is a month long Comedy and Arts festival in Edinburgh. We were up there in the last weekend so the place was crowded and there was heaps of stuff going on. After a pub meal in Deacon Brodies Tavern (who was one of their famous writers and all round Scottish favourite) we hit the shops for a hangover bum around. The boys were in charge of getting us tickets to a comedy show so we left them to it and headed straight for the shoe shops. After a quick browse we realised we really weren't in the mood for it so we headed back to the apartment to chill out, drink and get ready for the comedy show.
The boys did a good job of scoring us tickets because we headed into a stand up/story telling show called Tom Wrigglesworth Nightmare Wedding which was basically a crazy comedian telling us the story of his crazy wedding night in Las Vegas. He had video clips and voice overs which helped tell the story. It was good it was a bit of a mix instead of just one guy on stage reeling off jokes. After a good start to the night we kicked on a grabbed dinner at a Thai & Indian restaurant. We were walking down the street and smelt the curry and headed up stairs and found ourselves a decent meal. After dinner we decided to try and back it up and hit a bar not far away to meet Lisa - a friend of Arrons. She was actually the only Scottish person I really spoke to in my time there and she was really fun. Lisa took us to an Irish pub (they are EVERYWHERE) where they had an Irish band playing. It was good to be out and about but there was no way we could back it up. I was almost sleeping standing up and my whole body was aching from the night before (I think that means I am getting old! oh no!). I had also run out of money and blown enough of my budget on booze so after a quick drink at the Irish pub we headed back to our apartment and had a bit of a chat and a cup of tea before heading to bed(After writing that sentence I realised I really am old).
The next day we basically just had to get up, get ready and go as our bus was heading back to London at 11am. We spent the day on the bus and this trip was the PITS! We were all tired and cranky and basically being stuck on a bus for night hours which was NOT fun. I was so bored I started and finished a book and even slept. It just seemed to take FOREVER. The worst part was the sun was shining and it was a beautiful hot day and instead of enjoying this day off we were sitting on a bus. You can't really complain too much though because we had had an amazing weekend and spending a day on the bus is the price you pay for having a cheap holiday away. In total my transport and accommodation only cost me 100 pounds. Its stuff like this which is one of the key reasons I wanted to live in London because it means I can see things on the weekend for quite cheap. And if they are any where near as crazy fun as this one then I will be a happy girl.
Although apart from the walking tour I didn't get to see much of Edinburgh I know for sure I definitely want to go back. Not right away as there are heaps of other places to explore but I might try and head up this time next year for the Fringe Festival or even attempt the Hogmanay. Edinburgh is now up there on my top cities list with San Sebastian and Amsterdam. The list is growing and growing and I think it will continue to grow as long as I am here. Until I can go explore somewhere else again I am going to attempt to see more of my own city as there are still heaps of things in London I haven't done!
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