Edinburgh Man *

JJ and I had a wonderful few days in Edinburgh last week. Weird to say about the capital city of the country in which I grew up and lived for 23 years, but I don't know the place at all. My visits to the city were strictly for football matches (and my thanks go out to those Hearts fans who used to throw things at us as we approached Tynecastle, much appreciated), a rugby (league) match and, on very rare occasions, the odd demo or two. And, being from the west coast, my ignorant impression was that it was an unfriendly and stuffy. As I say, this was an ignorant impression. What JJ and I found was an amazingly beautiful city, extremely friendly and accessible pubs and bars and a city which is proud of its place in the world without being arrogant (unlike Glasgow, of course). JJ was worried about just how smitten I was with the place and I was tugged on the shoulder more than once when scanning the windows of estate agents and told to turn the page when looking at the jobs section of the local paper. Am I going a bit over the top? Maybe, but it's the first time for nearly 20 years that I've thought that, yes, I could live in Scotland again - but not for the moment!

We had a great time - or didn't you notice - and saw some lovely sights. A highlight for me was our walk up Calton Hill, with its gorgeous views over the city and beyond. And a highlight within this highlight was this structure (got to love it's nickname), which still has me laughing at the whole concept of its creation and in the fact that it remains unfinished. I wonder if anything ever happened to this idea or any others regarding attempts to have it completed?

I am missing Edinburgh and, most of all, I'm missing my time with JJ in Edinburgh. I have a funny feeling that we shall be returning there before too long.

*The Fall