The Green Skirts.

Valentine's Day.

Ah yes, the overrated, commercialised celebration on the 14th of February every year. Coincidently in 2010 it is on the first day of Chinese New Year too. So happy holidays to those who have them. I personally have my 'reading week' but it doesn't seem that I'm getting to the books yet. So what do I do when I have a good week off (and without a 'valentine')? Get the fuck out of London, obviously! And I did for a day - to Edinburgh, Scotland. Honestly, I have not been there so it was undeniably refreshing. Then again, it wasn't TOO amazing. The train engine died (fucking East Coast rail) on the way to Edinburgh and I had to wait 2 long hours for them to get it fixed. British efficiency letdown #2.

Edinburgh Castle (I think).

What's great in Scotland? For starters, if you don't have a camera you're basically fucked, e.g. extremely bored. If you do (and 2 great ones at it), you'll be lugging your gear along with a tripod out at 6a.m. to catch the sunrise by the hills. That's what I did anyway. Besides that, you can always opt for the weirdly named local cuisine: haggis, cullen skink, neep & tatties (what the fuck?). Of course last but not least, the whiskies. I had a measure of 45-year-old vintage single malt and it was fucking brilliant. The flavours, the aromas, the smokiness, the smooth finish... Best £14 spent on a shot of alcohol ever. And yes, if you ever visit Edinburgh, go to a restaurant named 'Haldanes' - superb food. Period.

The dark alleys (aka 'closes') which are all around the city.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to do much considering that I only stayed one night in the city. The Scottish accent was funny, the food was good, the booze was excellent, and so on... It's a decent place to go if you've never been there, but would I go again? I'd probably think twice. You see, bagpipe rock really isn't my thing. The spooky, haunted horror stories are way overplayed and the Scots only wear kilts to please tourists. Things move rather slowly around there and it becomes really quiet at night. Typical of European cities, I suppose.

Next time, I'm going on a whisky trip.