Scotland in spring

Work took me to Birmingham for a couple of days for a meeting and as I already had made my way to England I took the chance to visit Luke in Scotland. Actually it has been quite a while since I have been to Scotland and I have never seen the place where he is living now. After having been picked up at Edinburgh airport by Luke we had a drink at his place in Linlithgow together with Cass – who he will marry in October! Cass and I figured that we have seen each other at Stirling University the last time which is about 4 years ago.

Sir Walter Scott Monument from St. Andrews Square

Both, Luke and Cass, had to go to work on Friday so this gave me the great opportunity to relax in Edinburgh for a while. As I have never ever seen Edinburgh Castle from the inside I did that for the first time and enjoyed a lot. For lunch I headed to the ‘Malt Shovel Inn’ on Cockburn Road – a place that is a must for me when being in Edinburgh. Basically everybody that has been to Edinburgh with me was there with me (Luke, Max, Birgit, ….). The afternoon brought some relaxation while reading and watching people around Princess Street and Princes Gardens. Around 5 I met with Luke at St. Andrews Square and we went to a bar on George Street called Tempus for beers where we met with Cass and some of his friends. Biggest surprise was that Gavin who also studied at Stirling University (and was a flatmate of Max there) made his way to the bar. It was great to see him again and to catch up. As Tempus was a great place to be our ‘one for the road’ kind of turned to be ‘three for the road’ before we got on the last train from Edinburgh to Linlithgow.

Linlithgow, Saturday morning

Linlithgow, Saturday afternoon

After coffee and breakfast on Saturday Luke showed me around in Linlithgow – which of course included the church where Luke and Cass will get married in October. So do have the privilege to already have seen the place that I will go to for the marriage in October. Having picked up some photographs that were taken during Lukes last stay in Salzburg and a great pint of a bitter with a name that I did forget we went back to the flat. Cass then joined us for an afternoon trip in the surrounding hills for taking photographs. Cinema was the plan for the evening and after having the really highly recommendable movie ‘In Brugges’ we all went to the Firth of Forth for taking night shots of the bridges. Comments on other incidents witnessed at the seaside in South Queensferry are not be made here but can be obtained directly by the author of this blog.

All three above: Firth of Forth at night

As my short stay ended on Sunday there was just enough time to exchange pictures and have breakfast together before Luke and Cass dropped me of at the airport. Luke and Cass – thanks again I had a brilliant time with you. Looking forward to see you again … maybe in August already but for wedding in October at the latest!

Tune I listen to while writing these lines: Coco Rosie – Beautiful Boyz