Hogmanay: Biggest New Years Party in the World!
That’s right people, the party continues after Christmas with a trip up to Edinburgh to help those crazy Scots welcome in the New Year with their annual street party. But before that…
What better way to travel to Edinburgh but by train?! The National Rail, although it has its failures, offers rolling countryside, green fields and treks through some great looking cities. (Newcastle looks like an amazing place to visit, especially for the nightlife). The four hour trip is not wildy exciting but at least you can get up and walk around a little more than on a plane.
Doug and I had a day in London before we went up to Edinburgh, and only hours after getting settled we headed out to our first party of the week. Not before dinner though and I was keen to try some haggis. The first pub didn’t have half the menu, it out-sold; the second pub was full with no room to sit; but the third pub was nice, didn’t smell weird, and had a full menu to choose from. So I got my Haggis, Neeps and Tatties, which for those of you who don’t speak Scottish means turnips and potatoes. They serve them mashed with the haggis so it’s a really soft meal. Kind of odd but the haggis has nice spices that make it really flavoursome. It didn’t need anything else, not even ketchup (which would be blasphemous to the Scots).
I should add that Lija was planning to go to Canada for the New Year to see Ashley, in fact she got as far as the airport but the plane was delayed and eventually cancelled twice. So she called our company and ended up coming to Scotland as well, which was great fun.
Our first party was at The Espionage, at the heart of James Bond territory, and it had five levels of dance floors and music to suit any taste. The decor on each level was different too; we explored a few of them and as it got later the rooms filled and got busier – so busy who should I run into but my friend Niki. I’m not sure if you remember her, but she’s an Aussie who used to live in the hostel. It was one of those few-too-many-drinks overly excited screaming hellos! hehe I didn’t actually know she would be there so it was a nice surprise.
The next day we wandered around Edinburgh, having a look at the Royal Mile which leads up to the castle, and the terrific views it offers, following to path down to cross the bridge to the new side where the Christmas markets were still going, and along through the streets on the new side of town. We had brunch at a little cafe called the Southern Cross, where I had an all-day-breakfast that included more haggis (!) but they do nice coffee. In the afternoon we also found Chocolate Soup, a cafe where you can buy shots of chocolate syrup as if it was an espresso to down. I had a nice chocolate floaty, called so because of the marshmallows, while Doug had the mocha. Additions like these I need to learn how to spell Homer Simpson’s mouth watering murmers.
After dinner we rugged up super warm – stockings and socks, hat, scarf and gloves. Extra shirt and jumper. We met Lija down at another hotel where our travel company were having pre-NYE drinks, and ran into Niki again, who had lost Rebecca so she headed into town with us for the street party. The streets began to fill up fast with thousands of people. There were different stages where you could go and listen to music, and a few mobile bars along the street with lines as long as the Thames. We snuck into one of the lines quite easily – Brits don’t have the willpower for confrontation – so it only took about ten minutes to get to the front hehe. We stocked up and headed out to find a good stage.
In the spirit of the Scots, we found these guys who were playing a rock version of highland music and quite enjoyed it. To keep people from trying to knock us about and use our group as a walkway, we started highland dancing with all the flair and festivity such an occasion calls for. The big town clock was five minutes fast, and some locals told us it’s always like that so people think they are running late and hurry off to work! But the real countdown came up on the big screens that we could see, and we all yelled out the countdown and went crazy as you’re supposed to. The fireworks were gorgeous. High-pitched whistles and booms that didn’t sound as loud as they looked. They could make your heart beat twice as fast and each new colour and sparkle emitted louds ooos and ahhhs from the crowd.
We then undertook the biggest rendition of Auld Lang Syne, which Nikki and I didn’t know all the words to, but that didn’t stop us from singing at the top of our lungs. None of us were cold because there were so many people the body warmth was searing through the crowd until people moved away.
New Year’s Day there was no rest for the wicked as we boarded a bus to visit Stirling castle. It was about an hour out of Edinburgh and sits on a hill with the town surrounding it below. A lot of the inside of the castle is closed until 2o1o for renovations, so we mostly saw the outside of the castle, but tagged on to the end of a guided tour where we found out a few interesting facts and figures about the history of the castle and the royalty who lived there.
By the time we got back to town we headed out to our final party destination – Frankenstein’s. Think a bar within Frankenstein’s lair and you’ve pretty much got it. Dark, gothic and eerie, the perfect place for a dress-up party, which another group of revellers was partaking in with costumes of all sorts. We had dinner there and Lija came a bit later with some friends she made at the hostel, so after they’d all eaten we decided to head over to Vodka Revolutions. Yep, our favourite London bar had a chain just around the corner. So many pitchers of cocktails later and lots of free glow sticks given away by staff resulted in…well, the photos that you may or not have access to. We all had glow stick glasses, necklaces and anything else we could think to make. What fun – and what a laugh!
The next morning Doug and I ran into the Europe Tours, they do free tours in different cities around Europe, and rely on tips as payment – you give whatever you think it was worth. We had a few spare hours so we toured up the Royal Mile, heading down side streets and back alleys, listening to tales about half-hung Molly who was hanged for being a witch but lived afterwards, and Greyfriar’s dog Bobby who sat next to Greyfriar’s grave fourteen years after his master died. We also passed The Elephant House, which is a cafe where J.K. Rowling sat and wrote the original manuscript for Harry Potter, and learned about trip steps that houses were built with as a security measure, where two steps in a staircase are smaller than the others and people who weren’t meant to be in the house would trip, fall and make a lot of noise, this being one of the oldest forms of security measures. Then of course you have the most respected man in town who turns out to also be the biggest thief to aid his nighttime habits of gambling and whores. Edinburgh is not lacking is shady characters I can tell you that much.
It really is a nice place with such a rich history, and it’s the only city in the UK where the cathedral spire is still the tallest building, thanks to the difference in height above sea level where the old town and new towns are. The old town was actually built on top of other old buildings so often that in some places the street level is actually the third or fourth level of the building.
And that, my friends, was our welcoming to 2009. 🙂
Tags: Travel
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