To start with we had tickets to the Candlelit Concert at St Giles Cathedral which started at 7.30pm on the Royal Mile. Because the centre of the city gets closed off to traffic on new years eve this meant a bit of fun with buses. So around 5.45pm we headed out of the flat down the road to get a bus.
The doors to the Cathedral opened at 6.30pm so we were there just before 7.00pm to get a good seat. Mike and I had not been into St Giles before so were rather taken back by the feel of the place, it was just beautiful.
I think we will look at going back again to have a good look around in the near future.
The concert was amazing, all classical, with an orchestra, choir, and organ. The organ sounded just amazing, it just added to the feeling of the Cathedral.
After the concert finished we decided to go and find a bit to eat before heading for the Edinburgh Hogmanay Street Party. We had about an hour and half to fill in before the gates closed into the street part area. So we headed down the Royal Mile to a little Mexican restaurant I have been wanting to try out. As they were closing at 11.00pm we had just a couple of starts to share before heading back up the Royal Mile to "The Mound" entrance to the street party.
Edinburgh Hogmanay Street Party has got to be one of the most exciting things I have ever done. With 15,000 people having tickets it was pretty amazing.
Because of the crowds Mike and I didn't make it off the Mound in the end, we walked down towards Princes Street but the crowd just got too thick and we couldn't see a thing, so made our way back up The Mound to find a good spot to watch the firework at the castle. I have to say I think all of the Kiwis and Australians in the UK where also celebrating with us in Edinburgh. One of the girls at work did say that it is mostly New Zealanders, Australians and South Africans that go... and she wasn't wrong.
Here is a video I took of the fireworks going off at midnight
Once "Old Lang Syne" finished the street party really started to begin. It was such an amazing feeling, I can see why they say it is one of the top 100 things to do in a lifetime.
The Scottish really do know how to do New Years Eve. The night ended with us being home by 1.30am New Years Day, I guess we didn't do the whole Scottish thing though, we didn't arrive home drunk :o)....maybe next year.
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