So we flew in pretty much on time from Geneva into Heathrow. We caught a shuttle bus from terminal 5 to the Sheraton Hotel our pick up point for the rental car. Everything was going to plan until the rental car man asked us for the second ‘paper part’ of our license, our jaws dropped, and no matter how much sweet talking we did he would not hire us the vehicle. So we had to catch a bus back to the airport terminal, which took forever, then catch a tube home. We didn’t get back to Michelle’s until 1 am. We were very tired, we both found our paper licenses and semi packed for tomorrow. Up at the crack of dawn to drive back to the Sheraton in Michelle’s family’s merc, this time there were no drama’s apart from me working out how to start the car. Tailed Michelle on the way back to her house, only stalled once at the lights! Loaded up the car and we were away, 430 miles to Edinburgh. We stopped quickly at a Tesco’s to pick up snacks for the journey. We split up the driving and the trip went really fast. The further north we trekked the more wintery it became, It was particularly cold around the borderlands, where the temperature in the hills dropped to -3 degrees and the Gritters were out in force. I actually missed the Welcome to Scotland sign because I was asleep but oh well, we were in my new home country! The countryside was a total whiteout you couldn’t actually distinguish where the hills finished and the sky started. We took the direct the route to Edinburgh and jumped off the motorway, while direct it was much slower as we passed through small towns. It was interesting seeing these towns prepare for Hogmanay, one of the biggest celebration nights in the Scottish calendar. We saw a huge pile of wood in one particular town, in what looked like was going to be a massive bonfire! As we neared Edinburgh we struck traffic. We arrived at our accommodation the Acer guest house around 4 pm. We had four single beds in our large room. We had time for a quick hour kip before downing a few drinks and catching a bus into town. We were halfway into town (sitting on the tartan coloured bus seats) when we realised we had forgotten the street party tickets. So quick trip back to the hotel to retrieve tickets then we were properly on our way. Michelle had organised with Crystal to have a few pre-new year drinks at a random flat in the centre of town. At around 11pm we headed into the town, the street party was crazy! There were people everywhere! So we drank, danced and sang ourselves into 2010. The fireworks were spectacular over the Edinburgh castle and then there was huge anthem of Auld Lang Syne. The crowd was in good spirits and everyone was wishing each other a happy new year. Once all the formalities were over everyone got down to some serious partying!
New Years ‘day’ day was understandably a bit slow, but we did manage to make it out of the hotel room by 2.30pm. We drove into town and climbed the rocky outcrop (craggy) near Scottish parliament, which offered great views over a frozen Edinburgh. On the way back to the hotel, we picked up some Indian takeaways. I also managed to talk to Richie and congratulate him on his recent proposal to Mel. We watched movies and crashed out, end of day one 2010.
The next day we had to pick up the Eddies car from Glasgow which he kindly let us borrow for a couple of months. So we loaded up the rental and cruised. It’s about 45 minutes to an hour between the two main cities in Scotland, but the adverse weather conditions made the trip quite slow. When we arrived we drove round the town centre (George Square) before parking in the Buchanan Galleries carpark. We were meeting Eddies flatmate to arrange pick-up of the car at 5pm so we had time to kill. We wandered through the mall’s and I picked up some leaflets on Glasgow, while Michelle had fun with hair curlers. We decided to walk down to the river, the blizzard conditions were something pretty crazy. Outside was definitely not the place to be so we ducked into the Golden goose pub for some lunch and a game of our recently purchased lexicon game. We arranged to pick up the car from Eddies flatmate earlier as we not too keen on tackling the icy roads in the dark. Picked up the car and a few other goodies from Eddie, before getting on the road. I got a wee bit lost trying to get out of Eddies subdivision but that was not as bad Michelle, who was following me and still managed to get on the m8 heading the wrong way! So I called Michelle and we agreed to wait further along the road to Dundee. Our route took us near Edinburgh across the Forth bridge and up the M90 to Dundee. I wish it had been as easy as that.... There was a substantial amount of snow and ice on the road and visibility was poor, so I stuck to 40 miles an hour sheltering behind big trucks, Michelle was about twenty minutes behind me. As I took the turn off to the Forth Bridge, I noticed there were suddenly no cars behind me, I thought that this was very odd. I later found out there had been a crash and the turn off route was closed. This really stuffed up Michelle because she had to drive into Edinburgh and back out to the forth bridge. Meanwhile I was stuck in a massive traffic jam, and cars were sliding all over the motorway because of the ice, I had to be very careful on the accelerator and brake. I crawled for about 30 minutes before the bridge, but once over the bridge the conditions steadily improved all the way to Dundee. Michelle had a really rough time , stuck in a traffic queue for 2.5 hours. She arrived in Dundee about 3.5 hours after me! I had a wee bit of difficulty locating the backpackers which was right in the middle of town. I checked into my room, and because I didn’t have any of my gear, I wandered the town centre for a bit before finding a place to park the car overnight. I picked up a zinger burger from KFC for dinner, and then waited for Michelle... I had made it to Dundee.
I stayed in the Backpackers for my first week in Dundee until I found a place to live. Michelle stayed until Tuesday and checked out a few flats with me, most were not quite what I was after, wacked out body builders, smokers, religious nuts, not quite my cup of tea. In the end I used a contact from the Rugby Club, Neil (keg). He worked at a letting agency and he had a room in a three bedroom flat available. The place was central to town, work and the rugby club and the flatmates seemed easy going, so I took it. I am living with a female law student from the Congo, Cristell and a Scottish male professional who is in the care industry, Sam. Sam plays the guitar as well, I saw potential for jam sessions. The room is nice and big, it has a heater! and plenty of storage. The house has a really nice living room with a bit of a view over the River Tay. The only real negative of the flat was when I first arrived we didn't have any water because the pipes had frozen! Work kicked off on the 4th of Jan, I am full time working as a commissioning engineer. The project is a large machine which extrudes rubber onto fabric. I have a team of operators to work with and help train. The days have been long but the work is challenging and enjoyable.
