: Tue May 05, 2009 2:23 pm  

Thelonius wrote:

I made a point of drawing 'funny beer vouchers' from the Edinburgh hole in the wall whilst I still had plenty of 'real beer vouchers' left to make sure that I only had real ones in my wallet when I came home.

I drew £60 out on Sunday at a Barclays and managed to get proper money.

: Tue May 05, 2009 3:19 pm  

Had a good weekend in Edinburgh as it is not a place I had visited before so a welcome experience and nice to sample some bars away from Bridge St or Stockton Heath.

However looking back at the 2 Cardiff trips those won hands down in my opinion.

Murrayfield was a good stadium and a good venue for the rugby but wasn't impressed with the local vicinity, half of the place seemed to be falling down or being dug up.

Lots of walking to be done during the weekend and as we were based in Grassmarket, we found most the pubs we drank in shut at 1am and weren't always well populated. Did have a good night on the Sunday in the White Hart + Three Sisters.

Some of the locals were fine and good to talk to but others were less than welcoming

I'll likely be back next year but maybe not for fri-sat-sun.

: Tue May 05, 2009 3:54 pm  

I'm finding it very difficult to simply vote "Cardiff or Edinburgh" because the two actually provided very different yet still very enjoyable experiences. For that reason, i have voted for Edinburgh in this poll, because having been to Cardiff for the last two years, I think it was nice to get the variety of a new venue this year.

I could ramble on at length on this subject, so I'll try to be concise using some key points:

The Cities
I think Edinburgh wins hands down here, so much more to see and do. Bit more spread out, but I had a family weekend there last year and if you do your research you can cover everything.

Stadium
Bit of a tie here, the Millenium is more modern and with the roof is less of a risk to the weather, plus it's location is more convenient. But Murrayfield has a certain charm being older and it being in it's own grounds with plenty of room for on site entertainment and catering made it more appealing. Big risk of bad weather though.

Variety
Edinburgh wins here, Cardiff is bit too High-Street-Chain bog standard for me, compared to Edinburgh's more traditional pubs, shops and restaurants.

Locals
I spoke to several Scots myself over the weekend and heard lots of Scottish accents at the ground, especially on the Saturday. My opinion is the locals definitely showed more interest than they did in Wales.

Building site
Several bizarre comments on this thread about the building work in Edinburgh - did you have your eyes closed in Cardiff? Massive projects going in Cardiff re-building the centre, much more than in Edinburgh.

Rain Risk
Clearly Cardiff has the edge here - had the weather been bad this weekend, then Edinburgh would have been a disaster.

"Fans Together"
Again Cardiff wins hands down - being smaller and having the stadium in the centre did mean there was much more congregating of fans going on, compared to in Edinburgh where everyone was very spread out. That said, every pub we went in to in Grassmarket, on the Royal Mile and on Rose Street had RL fans in mixing with the locals, so that in itself was good.

Conclusion
I think the RFL should be applauded for creating the concept and for being willing to move it around. That in itself can add to the appeal, rather than it getting stale. They really ought to promote it better though - surely a few posters and billboards around the city wouldn't cost too much? Anyway, I had a cracking weekend, but then I was there for 3 nights and had done my homework on what to expect and what to do with my time. It was great taking part in the Edinburgh 10k too.

: Tue May 05, 2009 4:15 pm  

Cardiff for me. we were based just off Rose St and it was a disapointment, on the saturday night we were refused entry into some pubs due to having replica shirts on and the ones which allowed us entry closed early.
Murryfield ground was a little bit better but the location let it down. if it had rained it would of been awful. it was ok for the fanzone area but i think there still could be more entertainment on in this area.
Hotels were expensive, food expensive and drinks expensive.

: Tue May 05, 2009 8:18 pm  

Loved it Stayed with Family in Glasgow, did the park and ride near airport, just £4 for 4 of us to get dropped off on main road short walk to the ground and planty to do for the kids...pain in the booty there was no baby changing or feeding facilities but not the end of the world.
Defo do it all again next year.

: Tue May 05, 2009 8:20 pm  

onlyme72 wrote:

Loved it Stayed with Family in Glasgow, did the park and ride near airport, just £4 for 4 of us to get dropped off on main road short walk to the ground and planty to do for the kids...pain in the booty there was no baby changing or feeding facilities but not the end of the world.
Defo do it all again next year.

I thought that was bad. Saw a poor couple with their 18 month old changing a nappy in the stairwell.

: Tue May 05, 2009 8:36 pm  

Wires71 wrote:

I thought that was bad. Saw a poor couple with their 18 month old changing a nappy in the stairwell.

get powers there she'll sort it.

: Tue May 05, 2009 9:14 pm  

Wires71 wrote:

Bank of Scotland bank notes are not Legal Tender in England and, as such, there is no compulsion for anyone to accept them in payment for a debt. However certain retailers, and all banks, will.

Sorry last time I looked the British currency was Stirling and The Bank of Scotland issues its Scottish notes in... Stirling. Therefore, I think you will find that it is legal tender.

On the note of Edinburgh. I loved it and I think it is a simple case of what you went there for. I only went to Murrayfield on Sunday, taking in the Leeds Catalans game and then us. The rest of the weekend I spent touring the wonderful city... including ghost tour. I can see peoples point about the drinking culture though, everywhere was quite far from the ground. I'll be definately going back next year though!

: Tue May 05, 2009 10:17 pm  

Cobblers Wire wrote: Sorry last time I looked the British currency was Stirling and The Bank of Scotland issues its Scottish notes in... Stirling. Therefore, I think you will find that it is legal tender. Sorry last time I looked (in researching my considered opinion before posting), I understood Scottish bank notes were not legal tender in England. But you may be right and this link maybe inaccurate. http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknote ... aqs.htm#15 PS - Don't worry it's an easy trap to fall into mistaking legal tender for currency.

Cobblers Wire wrote: Sorry last time I looked the British currency was Stirling and The Bank of Scotland issues its Scottish notes in... Stirling. Therefore, I think you will find that it is legal tender. Sorry last time I looked (in researching my considered opinion before posting), I understood Scottish bank notes were not legal tender in England. But you may be right and this link maybe inaccurate. http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknote ... aqs.htm#15 PS - Don't worry it's an easy trap to fall into mistaking legal tender for currency.

: Wed May 06, 2009 5:49 am  

Wires71 wrote:

I thought that was bad. Saw a poor couple with their 18 month old changing a nappy in the stairwell.

Aye our little one is only 4 months so it was a bit of a pain but we managed. Bought her some ear defenders so the noise didnt upset her and had a great time.