We’ve had a fantastic time in Edinburgh, good enough for Elyse to insist on another day. We spent a week here in all, taking in the sights and celebrating the new year with the Hogmanay winter festival.

When we first arrived the weather was bitter cold but that quickly changed as the light snow was replaced by rain. You’d think the combination of dreary weather and the cold and gloomy atmosphere of the old city wouldn’t be exactly welcoming, but it was exactly quite the oposite. The air here has been alive with the excitement of the festival with large crowds and events on the main streets. Whenever we were cold there never a shortage of mulled wine or pubs with fireplaces to duck into.

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St. Pauls cathedral after sunset.

Well it’s been an active few days. It took quite a bit longer than we expected to recover from our jet lag, but we’ve finally done it, just in time to stay up late for new year’s eve. We’re in Scotland now but the pictures in this post are from our first few days on London.

A brief synopsis: We spent most of boxing day exploring on foot, ducking into cafes and pubs when we got cold. So far, we’ve noticed a trend where the colder the weather, the more sloshed we are by mid-afternoon. Nothing wrong with that really, the pubs of London are one of the main attractions!

We rode the London Eye ferris wheel, visited Kensington Palace, and visited some of my favorite restaurants. Overall it was a great return for me, and a proper introduction to London for Elyse. We already have some ideas of things to do when we return at the end of our trip.

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