Budget Airlines and Busy Weekends

I'm sitting at the airport as I punch this one out (though I probably won't be at the time of posting) - nails covered in (wall) paint, could definitely do with a few hours sleep more and I’ve eaten pizza for breakfast (at 8am, just for clarification, sourced from the charming little Frankie and Benny's Deli if you know Stansted at all - it's like a slice of Sicily in Stansted!) but it feels good. Unfortunately I'm not jet-setting off to some far-thrown, exotic locale but nonetheless, a three day break from routine, albeit in Edinburgh, is very welcome indeed. It often surprises me actually that so many of us are so well-travelled these days; we've been from India to Indiana, from Austria to Australia yet so few of us have explored this little country of our own. Hands up on this one because I don't think I'd ventured any further north than Luton until I started university last year let alone set foot in Scotland in a whole 21 years of existence (being the very well-reasoned human being that I am, I formed the completely unbiased view that the rest of 'The North' is every bit as bleak as Luton). So £29.99 to Manchester vs. £29.99 to Milano... I need say no more. Budget airlines truly are very difficult to resist (like asking a shopaholic to bypass a sale if I'm honest).

In truth, it’s been one helluva weekend - the first one off work for as long as I can remember and definitely well spent with friends, family and lots of food too. So it’s nice to be sitting here in a hotel room now, away from the all the madness, noise and mess - as nice as it was. No chores to count nor lists of things to do (although it took a few too many “OMG I’m going to die” moments in the air turbulence for my liking, to get here... y'know what I mean?). As we didn’t get here until almost 2pm I can’t say we’ve seen an awful lot yet; just a tentative walk through Edinburgh’s version of Oxford Street (called Princes Street), some nervous sizing up of the 287-step climb up the Scott Monument (apparently it offers the best vantage point of the Edinburgh skyline, but we've postponed until tomorrow) and plenty of stuffing of face. Yummy yum. Seeing as I’m holidaying with mum, I’m definitely looking forward to lots of down time - a girl needs her beauty sleep after all! So perhaps you’ll hear more of me the next few days. Stay tuned.

x