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The run up to Christmas

12/22/2010

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Is it just me ? or is every one in the same boat ?

I know that Christmas comes at the same time each year, I know that there are a lot of things that need to be done,
(Shopping, nativity play for the children, nights out, get the food ready, get enough drink for the entire family clan, wrapping presents, buy write and send cards........), but yet again the only thing that I've done is get the booze ready. Although for those of you that know me this is probably not much of a surprise

I thought that I had the presents all sorted out, but the fact that I bought most of them on line and they have not yet appeared is making me very nervous. The thought of not having any presents to give out on Christmas day is quite daunting. I am not looking forward to the sad/angry looks on the faces of my daughters and my wife. I think that a trip to the shopping center at Livingston for some "backup" presents is a real possibility. As for the rest of the work that needs to be done in the run up to Christmas, I have once again left that in the capable hands of my gorgeous wife, Christine. This is probably the reason she is walking about the house with that "your bloody useless at this time of year" look on her face, which is probably well deserved on my part.

Its not all bad though, I really enjoyed my works night out. This started at The Murrayfield Bar, (there is a review of this Bar on the Pub page). We all met at about 6.30pm and had a few drinks ans a laugh before moving onto the main part of the night out. This was "The Glitter Ball" and was held in the Presidents Suite at Murrayfield Stadium. The DJ was "Boogie" from Forth radio. The music was great !! The food was pretty good and the atmosphere was fantastic !! There was about nine hundred to a thousand people there and the place was jumping. Check out the short video below and please forgive my very bad attempt at dance, it was filmed towards the end of the night.    
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The start of the night at The Murrayfield Bar
As I write this there are only a few days left until Christmas day, work is beginning to wind down, there is snow and ice on the ground and everyone seems to be focusing on getting everything done before the 25th so that they can relax and enjoy it.

There are lots of events and family traditions that I'm now looking forward to, Christmas dinner, the giving of presents, catching up with friends, watching the Christmas specials on TV, ............

To everyone out there - Have a Great Christmas !!! 
From
Alastair

Author of "The Drinking Mans Guide To Scotland"
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What A Great Weekend !!!

12/8/2010

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About 10 years ago Christine, me and another two couples decided to go for a Christmas night out. It was to be a proper dress up occasion with a meal and an over night stay at a good hotel. A real chance to be grown up and enjoy Christmas.  I can't remember where we went that first year,but I remember that we really enjoyed it, we told all our friends about it and vowed to do it again next year.

We did do it the next year, and the year after, and every year since then ! The only difference now is that there are about thirty of us that now go and the only rule that has been added is that all children remain at home and us adults get some quality adult time !!!

This year we battled through the snow and ice and went to the Queen's Hotel in Perth. Saturday 4th / Sunday 5th Dec.
Queens Hotel - Perth
We arrived at about 4.00 pm and went straight to the hotel bar, which is where I was sure we would find a lot of our friends, I wasn't disappointed !!!
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We had one drink here then I headed into town with David to catch up with some more friends at  the "Sandeman". Christine decided to do some last minute shopping and said she would catch us there later. The hotel is quite close to the town center and the "Sandeman" is in the town center, so we thought it wouldn't take long to get there, but with deep snow and ice under foot we took about half an hour, slipping, sliding and cursing the weather all the way. However when we got there we were rewarded with a great pub !
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In the picture above me, David, James and Kenny had had a couple of drinks and were joined by our wives. In the picture to the left Christine has joined us after her shopping trip, ( I still don't know what she bought but I'm sure I will be shown something expensive soon !)

Sandemans itself is a great pub. It is a wetherspoons and is set in a large old ornate building with lots of space and light. It has a good selection of beers and spirits and the bar staff were friendly and helpful. As with all weatherspoons there is a large selection of food at reasonable prices. I also think it won Perth's pub of the year last year - there will be a review on the web site in a couple of days with more pictures.

Christine and the other wives all headed back to the hotel. The boys however made one more stop, at The Perth City Sports & Social Club. This club was on our way back and we couldn't resist going in for a drink and a look at the place.
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I would describe it as a Perth Institution ! I loved the old school atmosphere of working man's club with a jukebox that time forgot, (the only songs I heard being played were "Lady in Red" and "Come on Eileen"), and Tartan Special on draught. There will be a full review of this pub with lots of pictures on the web site soon.

We only had the one here and headed back to the hotel for the party night.
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The party night was great ! With lots of good food, dancing and great drink !

The next morning a lot of us met back in the Sandemans pub and relaxed with a few drinks and some food. Again the girls went shopping and the boys propped up the bar, then we all met back at the pub before heading back home 
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When we got home we picked up our children from my mum and dads then went to James and Gillian's for an India. The children played together, we ate, and had a glass of good Rioja. It was a great end to a great weekend.

I'm already looking forward to next year !
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    Author

    Enjoy the blog !

    P.S. Please don't tell my wife, she thinks I'm working.

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