Day 6 & 7: Edinburgh

Edinburgh reminds me of home quite a bit. I thought it'd be a place just for New Years, and other than that I'd wanna get out of there pretty quickly. I was very wrong. It's such a cool place. Not as big as I thought it would be, steeped in history and tradition. Green hills, just like home, but with old buildings from hundreds and hundreds of years ago everywhere. It was a bit like walking through Devonport constantly, but with even older buildings and chains of pubs, each with their own historic story.

It was fun reminiscing about old times with old mates. It's nice to think each time we meet up now on a trip is going to be an opportunity to continue those stories and add new chapters. The thing that was most pleasing was how different groups of people came together. Some of them were people I'd probably not hang out with in a different circumstance, but the commonality of being travellers from thousands of kilometres away was enough bring us all together. It was also the first time that one of my Aussie mates had ever hung out with a group of my kiwi mates. They got along swimmingly and new friendships were formed.

Edinburg rules. And the people I've come across have been so welcoming, friendly and jolly. Their drinking spirit seems to be about merriment and laughter, rather than purely focusing on debauchery and promiscuity (although there's plenty of that too). Perhaps it was just the time of the year. Perhaps it's different from the outside, looking in. In any case, I'm thankful I got to see the good side and the great side.

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