Game Day

Tour day three saw me barely biped, might have been over served again last night.  Not sure what time of what day we were facing as we located the tourists in the lobby for breakfast, such as it was.  As much as I had thought I'd like to find the full Scottish breakfast, the thought of Blood Pudding was not that appealing.  Noon start at the lobby bar (which never closed) for a couple of pints and distribution of the game tick's.  Apparently, New Zealand Rugby had donated a pair of tickets to "For the Love of the Game" and Logger generously passed those two along to Karen and I.  So while we would not be sitting with the group, I was very grateful to have excellent seats about 20 rows up at about the 30 meters out from goal in the west stand.  The G.O. had very presciently known that having very bright orange safety toques would be a wise notion when contemplating herding cats.  This proved to be a bit of brilliance.  Under the tutelage of Craig Joiner (former Scottish International) we were off from the Ibis circa 14:00 and walked along to Le Di-Vin et La p'tite folie wine bar and really enjoyed the walk, although after walking St. Andrews for golf and from the Cathedral back to the clubhouse, Karen's knee was holding us back a bit.  The knee brace didn't prove to be very helpful, neither while golfing nor walking around.  She really toughed it out with never a complaint.  The wine bar was great and enjoyed some fantastic charcuterie and might have had a little red red wine.  Greg was masterful in finding some John Smiths (smooth).  After a couple of those I felt the need to keep my pint glass and have it too.  So it was smuggled out and retained it right up to the stadium entrance where, sadly, my lacking skills at maintaining composure saw the security guard confiscate it while I wept as he threw it in a bin.  Oh well, will know better next time.  Anyway, back to the story.  We then had a rather long walk to I don't know where but in sight of Murrayfield (Murrayfield Hotel???).  This was a beer garden and they had beer there.  The girls got a Scottish flag emblazoned on their cheeks, which added some color.  In the knick of time, we got out of there and walked across to Murrayfield.  As mentioned, they took my pint glass at the gate, which hurt my feelings.  Once at our seats, I set out for something to eat and drink and found a fish and chip place.  Sadly, I mistook the sugar for salt.  Somehow Sugar and Vinegar isn't as appealing as Salt and Vinegar.  The Guiness was just fine, so we got that checked off.  The game itself was worth the effort as the Brave Scot's came within a whisker of a monumental upset.  Pre game 67,000 singing the Flower of Scotland then shouting down the haka made for an exceptionally memorable experience. Post game we stumbled into the tourists recognizable by their lovely orange hats, then it was a walk back to the wine bar.  It was miraculous that we found the place, thanks to some strategic photo's Karen had on her phone.  We fell behind after taking the wrong fork and having to back track while others hopped the fence (hopping the fence was not an option for us at that point but it was humorous to watch some other guy's attempt - the slow motion fall to the pavement).  Once at Le Du Vin We tried to poach a table with a "reserved sign" but the waitress would have none of it.  Darlene knew better with the next table showing a "reserved sign" so we settled in there to continue the revelry.  Where's Waldo?.  The tour group began to disintegrate at the wine bar, and at some point we decided to make our way back to the Ibis lobby bar (which never closes) for a cleansing ale and a sing along with some strangers who had gotten lost in the bar.  Had a great chat with Mike and Tammy and hope to see them when they next visit Calgary (Alberta that is).  After a rousing rendition of Lucille, I had to drag Karen off to bed in preparation for the long trip home next day.