Oop North(er)

Hello from Edinburgh.  

It has been a LONG day.  5am alarm.  Taxi at 5.50am.  Train at 6.20.  Change of trains at Wigan, then up to Edinburgh and straight into a conference via a pass-by bag drop at the hotel and presenting a workshop by 11.30.  An hour and a half of presenting and then a full day of conferencing, catchinng up with old colleagues, meeting new ones, then drinks with the Liverpool work gang and associated others, followed by a meal with some *other* colleagues / friends.    Back to the hotel via a long walk (finally a chance for some photos - woo) for 10.15pm.  Glad I don't have to do this every day!  Although I do have to do it all but in reverse tomorrow...

Edinburgh is such a special city for us, we came for a short honeymoon here 18 months ago... (my wife and I work in aligned jobs, so for the first time in several years we are at a conference together. Tomorrow we will present together which we have done many times though not actually since we got married).  So it's both lovely and weird... in our city, but the wrong time of year - everything is out of place, it's too warm (although it's also quite cold up here compared to home!), it's too light and all the seating is up on the Royal Mile for the Tattoo which makes it feel very strange indeed.  We are here but not here.

Blip: Edinburgh is always a glorious mix of old and new, different styles and textures  - this was my best shot at capturing that this evening.