So for my birthday I went up north…way north. I went to Edinburgh.
I was excited about the trip because I hadn’t been to Edinburgh as a tourist for 10 years. The last time I was there, as a tourist, was in 2007, when my cousin Genevieve got married.
I’ve been back to Edinburgh several times in between, but those were work trips, when I used to work as an event organiser for scientific societies. There was never any time to nip out and be the tourist. All I saw was either the train station, the inside of a cab, then venue, my quarters and then back again.
It was a bittersweet trip because the last time I walked the streets of Edinburgh, I was with my dearest Abba. So when Alan and I were walking down Princes Street I had to go where my Abba and I posed for a snapshot that, I think, my mum took.
So on my birthday Alan and I did the usual touristy bits…walking around, getting on buses, snapping photos every chance we got. I was getting a bit tired and hungry and I thought we were going somewhere to eat when Alan says, let’s get off here. “Here” was a non-descript street. “Let’s walk here,” he says. “We’ve never walked here before.” I’m not entirely sure if I said it out loud, but I thought I did say’ “Hun, we’ve never walked here before, because we’ve never been to Edinburgh together!” I can get a bit tetchy when I’m hungry. I think we all do but I was getting annoyed that we seemed to walk aimlessly, in the unusual Edinburgh heat. It was my birthday. I didn’t want to be whingy on my birthday. So I bit my tongue, followed Alan’s lead. We actually walked past bins!
When we rounded a corner, he said “Oooh what’s up here?” So we walk up these steps, past majestic columns and walked through this beautiful entryway.
He asks the person standing at the door, “How do we get to the Georgian Tea Room please?” My jaw drops open. He’s done it again. He’s managed to surprise me with a visit to a gorgeous place to have my favourite afternoon thing to do.
Alan surprised me with afternoon tea, on my birthday, in one of the most sumptuous places in Edinburgh. We went to The Dome!
Needless to say, I was smiling the whole way through the afternoon. It was such a beautiful place and it was such a special way to celebrate my birthday. I was a very happy birthday girl! 👸🏻❤
Yellywelly 