All about my time in Edinburgh.
I haven’t had the time to write about my trip to The Land of The Hot Guys in Kilts until now but I have been gushing about Edinburgh for the past week to my work colleagues. Pretty sure they want to slap me to shut me up.
If you follow me on Twitter, you would see that two days before I was jetsetting on an hour and a half flight from Cardiff to the sexy land of accents, my flight was cancelled…yes, i wasnt told until i got to the online check-in and right now I am still fighting to get a refund back off the 3rd party I booked with. So i was freaking out, my work colleague was angry for me and i was going to cry. So i purchased another ticket, which cost me sooooo much more than I originally paid for. Thank God for pay day hey.
So with my new flight tickets, my suitcase filled to the brim, Thursday came around and it was time to get my arse to the airport and wait impatiently for my flight. As someone who HATES flying, i had the two seats to myself as the plane was relativity empty. This didnt bode well for me when turbulence happened but i focused on reading Scoring Wilder to get me through it. When we neared Edinburgh, i actually worked up the courage to look outside and – my god – i was in lust. The greenery, the mountains, the water….it was beautiful and i was in love and i hadnt even put my feet on the ground. My eyes didnt leave that scenery until we were skidding down the runway to a stop.
After collecting my luggage and directing myself to a taxi, I was on my way the hotel, where Emma (Hart) was awaiting my arrival in our room. I stared out the window the whole ride, a small smile graced my face and when I paid the driver, got my room key, it was just my luck the stupid door wouldnt open, so with a knock, Emma opened it and it was madness. I have been speaking to Emma since last year, been with her since the Never Forget series and now I was standing in front of her, sharing a room with her. I SHARED A ROOM WITH A NY TIMES AUTHOR.
As you do on your first meeting, I made her get her swag out and sat on the floor, riffling through her bags, just for you 😉 We wandered around the shops across the road and then Sofie Hartley and her family arrived! Her little boy is amazing, I wanted to take him back home with me. He’s so cute and funny and I think me and Emma became besotted with him. We were late to the meal at the Hard Rock Cafe, but we still enjoyed the drinks and the view 😉 
Friday came around and Emma, Sofie and I popped into Edinburgh before the both of them buggered off to the Author meal to visit The Elephant House (Harry Potter). As soon as we got out of the car, we spotted postcards…with MEN IN KILTS on them. Of course we snatched some up. MEN IN KILTS GUYS. We then became all touristy and snapped pics of TEH and wandered into the graveyard to find Harry Potter graves. We aren’t creepy at all.
So when Emma and Sofie left me, I had to run back to the hotel as I forgot my ticket to collect my tickets for the signing. We had a train/tram line right outside out hotel, so I decided to get the tram back into Edinburgh to meet up with a friend (whom i used to work with in Cardiff who now lives in Edinburgh). I felt like such a tourist, snapping photos from my tram seat, but i did it! I navigated to Princes Street and up to the Hard Rock Cafe to wait for her. Pretty sure the bartender thought I had been stood up but i had guys to the left of me, so i snuck looks at them when i could.
After a lovely, long awaited catch up with my friend, i meet up with Emma and Sofie to grab my ticket, and it was back to the hotel to get ready for the welcome party at Ghillie Dhu. Karaoke, winning prizes and me fangirling when i saw Samantha Towle and Katie Ashley RIGHT NEXT TO ME resulted in me going mute. Journey – Dont Stop Believin’ was the last song to play, as always and while waiting for a taxi, a couple came over and asked what we were doing in Sexy Guy Land. I pimped out my girls and told her to download their books. She bloody better have!
Saturday morning and SIGNING DAY. Emma left pretty early and then i got a call from her saying she had forgot her stand. So Sofie’s husband took me to the event and when Emma got her stand, i joined the queue. I was messaging Nicola – a girl I had met at the London Event last year. She asked where I was standing and we then realised she was standing behind me the whole time! Too funny. When the doors opened, 20 people at a time were going in, to break us up and when it got to us, i was buzzing.
I met everyone i wanted to meet, i gushed over who i wanted to gush over and i blushed over their comments. Cora Carmack said my hair was awesome and she asked about my necklace. Told her to go to Primark, so i hope she did in the end. Christina Lauren told me I was adorable as did most of the authors, which was pretty damn awesome. I took selfies with Rebecca Donovan and A. Meredith Walters. I had a giggle with Jay Crownover. R.K Lilley had to bend for me to have a pic with her as I’m such a short ass. Katie Ashley remembered me/my tweet that i sent the night before about being too afraid to go up to her at the welcome party. She is amazing! Olivia Cunning is freaking awesome. I love that woman. And all the authors LOVED my photobook….it helped that he was a hot, topless guy in a kilt! I thanked Kristen Proby for writing about PCOS and she told me that meant a lot. Abbi Glines is a sweetheart, E.K Blair and Nastasha Boyd are way too cute too! I adored them ❤
Despite walking around by myself, the day went past in a blizzard and before I knew it, I had seen everyone I wanted to meet and more. I had also not eaten all day (to be honest, I hadnt really had food all weekend, apart from a meal with my friend) so i left Sofie and Emma to wrap up the signing and binged in the hotel room on ice cream, crisps and a kitkat. I know how to rock it. When the girls came back, we didnt have time to eat, so we got ready for the night, found a Subway and then went to Cabaret Voltaire for the after party. It was a nice place but absolutely boiling so we ended up going upstairs and next door where we could sit down and drink. When we were leaving, we spent a lot of time outside chatting to fellow bloggers and people we hadn’t seen all weekend. It was really nice to meet the people i had been talking to online and to meet new people too.
Emma and I stayed up quite late and it wasnt until house keeping knocked at 10am and woke us up that we had to get up. We packed and headed to the airport. Emma could check-in but i couldnt so we went to get some food and waited until i could. Emma had to leave me as I could check-in until 1.30pm, so when i did, i raced through security to spend a few mins with her until she had to go. My flight wasnt until half 3 so i had another hour. To me utter disbelief, and with only 15 mins until my gate opened, my flight got cancelled. I walked the length of departures to see if i was seeing things. i wanst.
I was freaking out. My first time alone in an airport and my flight is cancelled. What do i do? Who do i go to? I searched for an information desk….there isnt one. I walked BACK into security and asked them. They told me to go to the BA desk. Went there and got told to go back to the check-in desk. I was close to tears by this point, on the phone to my mum. Not a lot she could do. So at the check-in desk, they had no idea it was cancelled – brilliant right? then they werent giving us any information and the lady took us to a ticket sales desk. We must have been there about an hour until they told us it was cancelled, and they were trying to get us on another flight. I was near the front and managed to get on the later flight – where there were only 8 tickets! i think i had number 6. But the others had to get a BUS to GLASGOW and get a flight back to Cardiff. Thank god that wasnt me. They gave us all a £5 food voucher so i bought a brownie and a fruit juice in Costa and then the dreaded 4 hour wait occurred for the 7.45pm flight home.
I cant tell you how exhausted and stressed and lonely I felt spending near enough 8 hours locked inside of Edinburgh airport. Thank god i put my phone charger in my hand luggage. I sat reading Scoring Wilder, music in, willing the time to speed up so i could get home. I slept most the flight home and I was drained when i saw my dad and just wanted my bed.
Despite me and flying alone not having a great relationship, i adored Edinburgh. I fell in love with Scotland and I really, really want to go back NOW. I am actually mulling over the idea of moving there, thats how badly i loved that place.
If you ever get the chance, go there. It’s beyond amazing and beautiful and mesmerising and i just hope that in the next year or so i will be up there, with the hunks of Scotland and their accents, basking in the utmost beauty of it all.
ALSO keep an eye out, I will be arranging a GIVEWAY with signed books by Emma Hart and Kerry Heavens and a whole lot of swag! I’ll hopefully have it up and running by this weekend!
Z. Elizabeth 