Closing the chapter on Edinburgh

Can you believe that my 6 months in Scotland is over people!  It feels like I have been waiting for this day for about 4 months, yet I am surprisingly sad that I am leaving.  I have had itchy feet to get out and about, not to mention get back home but I am honestly shocked that its now been and gone.  My travel buddy departed before me, after 3+ years of being inseparable we have now ‘broken up’ so to speak.  A very sad day but I had so much to do in the week before I also left that I am not too sure that it’s really sunk in yet.
Since I last checked in I have actually had a lot of things going on, one weekend in particular was jam packed. We started our weekend with a Friday night trip to a Céilidh, a traditional Scottish dance night with folk music, similar to barn yard dancing I suppose.  I was not sure what to expect as I am very protective of my personal space and was anxious about people wanting to dance with me.  I enjoyed the night a lot more than I imagined and we turned out to be a hit with the locals, I don’t think we sat a single dance out.  The following day a family friend from the Scottish Borders made the trip up to good old Edinburgh and we spent the day eating and drinking our way through the pubs on Rose Street.  A good way to spend a Saturday as it was raining and snowing all day outside.  The following day my travel buddy’s Aunty & Uncle were also up from London for a visit so I made the journey out in the weather once more.  We did some fun touristy things including Hollyrood Palace, the queen’s official Scottish residence and Dynamic Earth, kind of like a science works type place.  It was actually very interesting, one section even had a large chunk of ice placed in the middle of the room! It was a lovely weekend catching up with everybody. 

As my last week fast approached, the packing begun and cleaning was rather, slow so to procrastinate I started to try and use up as much as possible in the pantry.  One thing I will most definitely be having more of when I go home is Salmon.  It was in our fridge constantly in Scotland and I always try and come up with something different to have with it as I am still working on the right flavours. I decided to make a sweet potato salad and roasted cherry tomatoes and I was pleasantly surprised that both went very well. Would recommend giving it a go!
Treating myself after a meal seems to happen more often than not these days so I am not too sure it can be a treat at the moment but nonetheless Easter was here and who can so no to chocolate at that time of year. One thing I claimed to dislike in the past was Cadbury crème eggs. Well that’s now all changed! I used to be disappointed every time I ate them as it wasn’t caramel until this year I finally accepted that they do not taste like that and then I fell in love.  Oops, I should have went on hoping to find caramel when I ate them but my Easter treats are possibly going to develop into an addiction in the coming years.

 

With work now wrapped up I was in my final week and catching up with people for dinners.  First was an Indian restaurant set up in the old town.  It has raving reviews on Trip Advisor and I can see why.  It is Indian with a twist as it’s served in tapas sized dishes.  We were able to share about 6 of the dishes and all were delicious, I don’t think I can name a favourite but by gosh the garlic naan was good.  If you are ever in Edinburgh, check out Mother Indian Cafe! My final day arrived and after finally sorting out a little drama as my shipping boxes never got picked up by the courier, it was off for my final meal.  Sticking to the tapa theme of the week, we headed off to Tapa, a Spanish restaurant.  Another sharing meal and the clear winner of these dishes was the chorizo, a delicious last meal.  I couldn’t leave Scotland without having one final sticky toffee pudding.  After testing so many I think it’s only fair that I am allowed to criticise the lack of sauce and the sugar granules in the sauce.  Not the best one I have had, but hey it was a Spanish restaurant I guess!

 

I am now in New York and have been busily exploring. After a ridiculous drama on my arrival I have everything sorted and so far have enjoyed the city. For now it is off to bed for me as I am exhausted after the serious walking I have been doing (according to google maps I did about 13-14kms today!) but I will be back very soon with all the excitement of the Big Apple. Until then, as always, take care and keep smiling x