After lugging my gear up the four flights of cold hard steps to Lucy’s apartment, we layered up with as many jumpers and jackets as possible and headed into the cold and windy streets to find some dinner. Edinburgh is a multileveled city that is basically built on a dead volcano. Edinburgh Castle actually is on an old volcano and so has natural protection an three of its sides. Walking into the city centre is a bit of a hike as you can imagine, especially considering Lucy’s apartment is near the foot of the hill.

Fifteen minutes of inclined walking later we were in the heart of the city. Having passed many cathedrals, statues and other monuments I stopped to catch a breath of the cool air and tried figure out what else it was other than the gothic feel that made Edinburgh so refreshingly different to London. Looking down one laneway I could see out far into the distant green fields and hilly landscapes, down another street and I even spotted the sea! The big difference here is it feels so much more open. I'm not enclosed on all sides by cramped together buildings. I can see clearly into the distance and even better than that, more often than not I can look straight ahead and see the sky! I was here three or so years ago and I remember now why I like this place.

We ventured into a few different bars and restaurants, each time having to strip off a few layers and dress again on the way out. Being a Friday night everywhere was packed out with after-workers grabbing a few drinks and catching the Friday night match. Trying to find a free table was proving impossible until we stumbled upon a Mexican restaurant, perfect!  I thought as we entered.

After an extremely tasty meal and Martini we headed to a nearby pub for a beer. We had about an hour to kill...

Lucy works for a charity foundation called Bethany and tonight was the annual Bethany Big Sleepout. The sleepout is a fundraising event to help the homeless people of Edinburgh by encouraging locals to step out of their comfort zone and sleep on the streets for one night. So my first night in Edinburgh was to be spent as a volunteer.

The night went smoothly, Lucy and I were in charge of crowd control during the sign in process at the start of the night. After that we drank hot chocolate and mingled with the participants. Everyone was in great spirits and looked to be enjoying themselves while I was freezing! They had a competition to see who could build the best ‘house’ out of the cardboard provided. Some people came up with pretty good looking huts and a group boys from a scout club put together a pretty good cardboard village. (Check the photo below)

Around midnight Lucy and I were driven down the hill by another volunteer and her two wee (little) daughters back to Lucy’s flat. We managed to unfold the futon that is to be my bed for the next few weeks, and I was out like a light.