Hellooo!
I'm writing this from my bedroom in Sunderland, which I'm very excited about because it's the first time I've been home for any length of time since October. And I've got a WHOLE WEEK here! Anyway, the reason I'm actually home is because for Sam's 21st I booked a weekend in Edinburgh for us, which finally came around this weekend just gone.
We had two nights staying at the Tune Hotel in Haymarket, which was really reasonable - and with our train fare only came to about £120. When we arrived the staff were friendly and our room was lovely and clean, overlooking Haymarket station. For anyone that doesn't know, when you stay with Tune Hotels you pay for your room and then pick any add-ons you want - such as TV, wireless, toiletries etc - meaning you only pay for what you'll use. We only opted for the TV add-on, which was only an extra £4.
On Friday night I booked a table for us at an Italian restaurant called La Piazza which was about a 10-15 minute walk from our hotel. I'd bought a new dress in the Chi Chi London sale for the occasion, but I wish I'd taken heels instead of flats because it would have looked much better! From the minute we entered the restaurant the staff were so friendly, and the food was lovely. For our starter we opted for the Bread Selection for 2, including Bruschetta, Garlic Bread with Mozzarella and Focaccia to share. Sam chose Lasagne for his main, and I went for the Penne Arrabiata. Finally, for dessert we both had the Delizia al Cacao - warm chocolate fondant with whipped cream and ice cream. We were so full, an very happy with our choice of restaurant! I would have taken photos of the food, but we were so hungry that I forgot!
On Saturday, Sam decided that he wanted to go to Edinburgh Zoo for the day - so we grabbed a hot drink (and a croissant in my case) from the station and caught the bus to the zoo. We'd both been to the zoo with our families when we were younger, but I daresay we were probably more excited this time round. See above!
I've included just a few of the photos I took. My highlights were definitely seeing the Pandas, Yang Guang and Tian Tian, and the Koalas. I was convinced I'd won selfie of the day with Yang Guang, but Sam managed to get one with a monkey who was looking INTO THE CAMERA. Reluctantly I had to concede.
After checkout on Sunday morning, we had a McDonalds breakfast then stored our bags in a locker at Edinburgh bus station so we could have a look around the shops. We'd read online that luggage storage at Edinburgh Waverley was £9 per item, so we opted for a large locker at the bus station which was £4.50 for 3 hours. Sam found some late sales bargains in the shape of a shirt from Urban Outfitters and some Vans jeans - whereas I FINALLY completed my Harry Potter books set by buying Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages.
It was a lovely weekend, and I've now got Chi-Chi the panda (named after the character in Dragon Ball Z) to remember it by (thank you Sam!). I think Sam enjoyed his 21st birthday present and I'm really glad I decided to book it. I'd love to go back again and do a bit more exploring sometime in the future.
♥
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