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Published: January 1st 2009
Well Hogmanay has come and gone. There were almost half a million people between me and the Royal Mile, and it was quite something to be on Princes Street amidst all the manic New Years' celebrators.
I met up with Tanya and Julie whom I met in Ireland back in October. Both Australian and in Edinburgh specifically for last night! We hung out at Tanya's hostel, caught up, drank cheap champagne (£1.76/bottle, reminiscent of Hallowe'en!), fended off Brazillian boys and set out to paint Edinburgh various shades of scarlet. We started out as a group of 6, but by 15 minutes in had halved ourselves through the sheer number of people around, lack of communication and dead cell phones. Tragic, that. Stupid cell phones.
We met up with Jeremy after much near-crowd surfing and frantic phone calls. He brought with him the Quebecois crew from his hostel. At this point the girls and I were playing some sort of Kilt hide-and-seek (well, the girls were, I was merely taking photos for Facebook evidence*coughblackmailcough*), so Jeremy in his was well received.
I cannot describe HOW MANY PEOPLE there were around us. All were happy and most were drunk, so it wasn't bad at all. I tried to take some pictures--posted soon--of the sea of faces, heads, and funny hats that surrounded us. 20 minutes to midnight saw the girls take advantage of their garden passes and head down into Princes St. Gardens to see the other stages and musicians. They tried to make it back up by the time the clock struck 12, but it was just me, Jeremy and les francais when the countdown started and everyone's cameras went up towards the sky. I would pay to see all the flashes that must have been riccocheting off the castle....in contrast, the fireworks that went off at midnight were indescribable. I will post the video. Almost 3 minutes, and £45,000 worth of pyrotechnics exploding from the castle above us....I don't remember anyone singing Auld Lang Syne, but I do know that video footage of the street party is going to be shown at the Scotland Homecoming celebration that's to be held here this summer. Doubt I'll see myself, but won't hurt to look ; )
Amazing night. Spent the rest of it walking around to my pal's house party, back from the party, walking the girls home and eventually meeting up with some other friends and spending the night at their flat.
Today Tasha, Elliot and Michael (aforementioned friends with comfy flat) cooked a HUGE feast to end all feasts. No, seriously. We got through the soup appetizer and barely made a dent in our roast/potatoes/yorkshire puddings/veg/stuffing/bread pudding, etc.....at the moment we are all sitting satiated and blimp-esque in the manner of a beached pod of whales. It has taken since 4 this aft to get through a bottle of wine. I'm not hungover, so I'm one of the lucky ones. My friends look like death warmed over, poor buggers. But, the Wii is on, and the Bailey's is chilling and we're going to man through it to have a good night, the first of the year. Can't wait to put up the pictures of my walks thisafternoon....
Happy New Year to all...
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Colleena
non-member comment
Wow!
Sounds like a hell of a night luv!! I think I said it earlier, but nothing beats a street party...especially a massive one. Sounds like you had an amazing New Year and most definitely a happy one. I'm so glad you're not just enjoying beautiful places but awesome people too. Wishing you all the best this year Wifey!!!