Hemel Hemsptead, Edinburgh & Ross Noble

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Yes people the song lyrics in the title has gone! Requires too much thought and I have too much to type anyway. Some of you have been saying that I haven't been writing much, well I am not updating every day so every few days keep your eye out for a posting.

I spent the first few days in the UK at my cousins at Hemel Hemsptead. THis was just a catch up and relax time as I hadn't seen her in five years and she had two children that I have not even met so it was great to see her. Hemel Hempstead is about 1/2 hr out of London and is famous for the magic roundabout (have a look for it on the internet it is mad). Basically just shopped and lazed around. As soon as I stop working for a period I get sick and of course it had to happen to me again! Just a bit of a cough but it certainly tired me out. We did have one mega drinking session, a day one which I have always enjoyed, where I met some of Kylee's friends.

I left for Edinburgh on the night bus on Friday night. I had to catch a train from Hemel to Euston and then transfer to Victoria to get to the bus station. Oh the joy of travelling in peak hour transport with a great big heavy case! Having not been in London for quite a few years, I had to try and get my head around using the tube but found plenty of helpful gents including one who carried my case for some distance. Bless!

The best thing I could have done was buy a travellers pillow as I slept really well with it and the trip was nowhere near as arduous as the flight over.

I arrived in Edinburgh at 7.00am and had advised the hostel that I was staying at that I would be arriving at about 10.00 so I had some time to kill, which I did by going to Macca's for brekky, using an internet cafe and walking along the Royal Mile. Oh how I love Edinburgh - it is a city that is close to my heart and it was fantastic to be back. I especially enjoy meandering around the Old Town and exploring the nooks and crannies. I am staying in a hostel in Marchmont which is about a 10 min walk from Old Town, across the Edinburgh Meadows. Lugged my suitcase over at about 10 to be told that my room would not be ready until about 3.00 in the afternoon. I was dying for a shower by this time but left my suitcase in reception and headed back to have a look around. Whilst have a coffee in a cafe I saw a sign advertising Ross Noble appearing that night so I thought I would go and purchase a ticket. It was a bit of a walk away so once I did that, I decided to go on one of the open top tourist buses for a look around. It was great actually, it went for an hour and took you around Leith which I had never been too, as well as other touristy sights. My head was beginning to nod by the end, but the ticket is valid for 24hrs so with time to kill, I sat on for another round and slept all the way through this one. My room was ready after that so I headed back to the hostel.

After a shower and a read, it was time to get ready for Ross Noble. It was an utterly fantastic show, a right laugh and I had a great seat quite close to the front. About a quarter of the way through the show a guy yells out "THis is shite!" and storms out. I thought Ross dealt with it well made some jokes about it and it was soon forgotten. During intermission a guy borrowed my lighter and I was going to say something to him about the guy walking out, but thank goodness I didn't, becuase as I started listening in on a conversation (as you do!) I realised the walker outer was right near me!! He was still quite lippy so I don't think that would have gone down very nicely.

So we go in after intermission and about half way throught this session I hear a bit of a rucus (not spelt right I know!) look over and there is a bit of pushing and shoving going on! I kid you not! A fight inside a comedy gig??!!! Security escorted one gent out. It doesn't even sound funny when written down but believe me it bloody was. Ross was as keen as anyone to find out what it was over, turns out that this guy had been talking and was asked to be quiet by some other patrons and next thing you know . . . Ross said he was most impressed by the comment "F@*& off midget" yelled out to the guy as he was leaving. It became one of the biggest jokes of the show, it was fantastic, a really good night out.

Today I did a Haggis tour to Loch Lomond. We left bright and early this morning and cruised firstly to Stirling to the William Wallace monument. Our driver played snippets of the Braveheart on the way up which always gets my heart going as it is one of my favourite movies. It literally gave me goosebumps. After that we drove through to Loch Lomond, stopping for some pictures and so forth. Haggis tour guides are wonderfully knowledgable and give you the history of the places you visit as you go. We lunched at a pub called Drovers Inn which was built in the 17th century. It was a very bizarre place, quite like a hunting lodge inside - will attach some photos so you can see what I mean.

After leaving there we head to a beautiful village on the Loch for some downtime before heading back to Edinburgh. I realise this blog is basically just reporting events, so will do a posting tomorrow with some random thoughts, but as for tonight I am bloody well buggered it was a long day. Will put on some photos, go and get some take away and chill out.
Til tomorrow!

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Comments

[Alex Aka Matrx]

Glad to see
Glad to see that you are having such a great time. looking forward to read the next.. Alex