Scotland rocks!

So after a whole 11 months of managing to survive in the land of spiders, surfing, smoothies and shenanigans, its time to return to the “motherland!” After a long long flight, in which I manage to chat up a Celtic fan, a record producer and a politician (ok not so much chat up the politician); I land in London with the flu. Lovely plane recycled air. First impression is the greenness and the heat. Surprisingly warm. Manage to make it on the flight to Glasgow, however have to lie down when waiting for my suitcase as cannot keep my eyes open and proceed to sleep through my mums’ welcome back dinner!

First stop is Edinburgh, to catch up with the troops, and I’m taken aback by the sarcasm of my so called friends! You totally forget what a sarcastic nation Scotland is, and it takes me a while to adjust! Spent the night funky dancing in Po Na Nas, and then the obligatory trip to Fingers to keep the night going on past 3am, where I loose all my friends to fit blokes. Welcome back Maz!

School mates Allison and Kirsty head over to Edi for a few festival shows, and we are entertained by Puppetry of the Penis for about 10 minutes before it gets weird! The banter was topped off only by the 3,000 breakfast calories of rolls, bacon, totty scones, and square sausage. Sweet as!! Also managed to fit in Jason Byrne’s festival show – highly amusing!

The rest of the time involved living like a gypsy between various cities and houses, visiting old mates, visiting new houses, sitting in Princes St Gardens and George Square, going out for dinner, meeting new babies, and paying Celtic Park a wee visit! Back to paradise!

People say when you go away for a year you come back and nothing changes. Well I don’t agree. New jobs, pregnancies, new couples, new cars, new boyfriends have all sprung out of nowhere. However the things you miss don’t change, and its so good to be surrounded once again by the familiarity. My school mates dodgy banter, funky dance moves in Po Na Nas, my uni mates laughing at the dodgy men we have had the misfortune to meet, the relationships between friends, the amazingness of the Edi festival venues (how good is the Spiegel garden??), my dad’s love of the golf club, my mums cooking, my sisters craziness, my friends dodgy driving, my friends celebrity stalking excitement, and being around people who know u and can slag you off stunningly well for things you still claim you haven’t done. A whole lotta reasons to love Scotland, and really mean it when I call it home.

Missing you all already!!!! Thanks to you all for making my trip such a fab 2 weeks. Its been awesome! Please come and visit me SOON!!!!

McCosh's do it Italian Stylee....

What better way to top off a trip back home than to squeeze in a couple of days visiting Italy and checking it out. The trip started off with a quick flight to Milan, landing in 35 degree heat! Beautiful!!! So naturally the first stop after dumping our bags was to head out to sample some Italian food, and see if it was up to Julie’s high standards! By complete accident, we end up randomly finding the best tourist attraction there – a cathedral with the highest number of points in a tourist square (Domou?? – Am so bad with names!) After far too much pizza, pasta and wine (the common part of the trip) we head out to sample some cocktails, met a few of the locals and found out everything closed at 11pm. No dancing. Unhappy McCosh’s….

Next day we go to get the train to Florence, however the platform number does not appear on the board and we manage to miss our train. Turns out the board was broken, so we scrounge a seat on the next train and promptly upgrade ourselves to first class! Woo hoo! Florence is a cracking town, and after yet again more pasta, pizza, wine and wandering around, we yet again struggle to find a place to dance the pizza off, or just have dance offs. There is a great look out point called Piazza Michelangelo with amazing views of the city, and we discover the beauty of the gelato bars. A huge calorific mistake, as it starts a trend for the rest of the trip!

Next stop Rome, and its just one amazing building after another. Totally amazing architecture, sculptures and statues, and we take on the challenge of copying them, which I win hands down impersonating a fat Italian mother statue! We get all religious and take a trip to the Vatican. After queuing for over 2 hours to get in, we have grumpy faces, but are totally amazed by the sights. So worth a trip if you haven’t been. Highlights were the Gallery of Maps, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica. Over 500 steps later we are at the top of St Peter’s Basilica with calve muscles the size of small countries where we see the view the Pope has when he addresses the crowds.

The Coliseum, the Trevi Fountain, and Celtic v Falkirk took up most of the next day! Rome is pretty good for nightlife, although I was too exhausted to sample it! Jules however, broke a few hearts and increased Peroni profit margins significantly.

Overall wicked trip – quality food, fun, weather, sights and chat!!!! Bring on Italia 2009, or whenever….!!!