They arrived in Edinburgh on Sunday and I walked down to their hotel to meet them for dinner. We decided to head over to New Town to the posh restaurants and pubs of George Street. When asked if they were hungry, both Fr. Nick and Paul replied that they were thirsty so we looked first for a pub. We had past several unimpressive places when we stopped to take a picture of the Edinburgh Castle towering over New Town.
This lovely photo op was followed by an epic moment. As we walked to the next pub, a rather full seagull jettisoned its waste in our general direction. Protected by the holiness of the priest by my side, the very loud splattering sound revealed that Nick and I had made it through unscathed. However, the sound of irritation in Paul’s voice, “You’ve gotta be s@!#in’ me!” warned of Paul’s misfortune. Only upon his turning toward us did we see the full magnitude of his misfortune. Having known Paul for roughly twenty minutes, I felt very bad for him and headed for a bar to find some napkins; Fr. Nick, as only a true friend could, simply forced Paul to pose for pictures while he heckled him and laughed hysterically. I was getting napkins so I didn’t take a photo. While Paul was attempting to clean himself up in a pub bathroom, I did take this photo of the display on Nick’s camera. It gives the general idea.
We began with some Tennant’s at the Rose and Crescent. This is like pint number one, so despite the picture, we aren't remotely intoxicated. However, this picture does capture the spirit of the evening better than the subsequent picture.
Fr. Nick suggested we take another as proof of our sobriety after previewing the first picture. I agreed but somehow bug-eyed!
We then had dinner at Le Monde, a new age bar/restaurant on George Street with a decent sized menu. After many questions and long discussions with the staff, we all got fish and chips. Delicious for sure, but somehow not the same as the stuff from the little chip shops. I’m sure this was better for you, and even tasted better, but it wasn’t the same. Fr. Nick decided that instead of ordering side dishes, he'd have a second meal via Guinness.
We walked back to High Street and stopped in one more pub for a pint, a very nice bar with a Caledonian 80. After a bit, I headed home on a bus (it was just too cold to walk).
We had made plans for night number two, but I had to change them as the restaurant near Leslie's was closed. So, instead of a night of single malts at Leslies, we went for the subdued couple o’ pints and some Scottish fare at Greyfriar’s Bobby Bar just outside the Greyfriar’s Kirk yard. I felt like Nick and Paul had to know the story of Greyfriar’s Bobby before they left Edinburgh. (If you’re new, I wrote about this before.) I recently took this picture of the Greyfriar’s Bobby monument.
It was great fun to have Fr. Nick and Paul visit, and I hope they enjoyed my company as well. They are off to the Highlands to castles and distilleries and St. Andrew’s Golf course, and I am off to Cambridge tomorrow. I’ll let you know how my trip goes and be anxious to hear from Nick about the rest of theirs.
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