Try the Six Nations: The dream, then reality!

I was on the train back to Glasgow, shivering, possibly hyperthermic, definitely sober, very hungry and trying to listen to the 5pm Ireland v France match, Iphone streaming and losing it!

Ian and Erica

You know when you've had a fabulous time somewhere, and then, instead of checking things out, you turn up 10 years later and perhaps expect things not to have changed? Well, the six nations in Edinburgh today was not my dream of yesteryears!

10 years ago, nothing was organised in that city and it seemed to work perfectly. Now, everything is organised and it's all a disaster!

Before the match, we had to queue to get into the garden of the Murrayfield Hotel, then when we finally go into the garden, we had to queue to get into the bar; one out, one in, you know how it goes? If you came out of the bar and back into the garden, you then had to queue to get another drink, so most stayed in the bar; gridlock! Unlike ten years ago you couldn't bring out loads of drinks, saving yourself the trouble of queueing again!

Me and Dave at the Murrayfield Hotel

All the glasses now are made of very thin plastic, so thin that even gently holding them squeezes the head of your beer onto the floor. When I asked why plastic, I was told, "health and safety, it's a rugby weekend". I was trying to remember the last time I'd been glassed by a manic rugby fan, or heard of anyone being attacked with a glass in 40 years of Rugby! The beer was of poor quality, inflated in price, they were understaffed and this let down the whole atmosphere of what used to be a fantastic pre match venue. Don't go there!

Beverley, David, Karen & Dan

The match at Murrayfield was hard fought, finally ending up 18 - 28 to Wales, but as we were in the North stand, most of the play was at the other end in both halves, just our luck, Scotland making a second half recovery.

Wales are now favourites to win against England in Cardiff next week, but I'm still thinking that England can do it.

France managed a draw with Ireland in Dublin, Ireland having their usual great start, but then fading in the second half, as in all their other games. The French will need to beat Scotland in Paris next week to avoid the wooden spoon, a trophy they have never held.

Italy, many times holder of the spoon, were so close to beating England on Sunday, and I'm still trying to work out if it was Italy that were so good, or England so bad! Italy have the chance to prove how much they've improved when Ireland visit Rome next week, with both teams now just playing for pride.

A gallon of Guinness!

We piled out of Murrayfield, happy with the Welsh victory, knowing that Cardiff next week would be the beneficiary of that result.
The march back to the city centre has always been a good craic, though it was bitterly cold and the amount of people with charity boxes seemed to outnumber the police. I'd love to see where that money really goes, but suspect local off-licences get really fed up accepting handfuls of copper for cheap cider that evening.

As the sea of supporters approached the west end, the next farce came into play. There were barriers across the road preventing us from walking straight through Haymarket, the shortest route. Instead, we were diverted up the hill to the left, then snaking down at the next right, diverted yet again, eventually having to make a half mile detour to travel what could have been 100 yards. It seemed as if the Police had decided to 'Police' the event, rather than let it happen as it had in previous years without problem. Maybe they had targets to meet on 'policing crowds' that month, I don't know, but it was all so unnecessary.

We finally arrived at that good old 'rugby pub', The Mercat, where we would always meet after the match. As we queued outside, what we didn't know was, this bar was now a cocktail style gastro pub. Gastro pub? I've never understood what that's meant to be! They were advertising the Ireland v France game, so that would be well worth the wait, wouldn't it? But, they were playing on past reputation knowing that thousands of supporters would be in town and they certainly didn't care about anything beyond the money in our pockets. Their website describes them as an 'award winning gastro pub'! I think not! The food was terrible, the only thing missing were the troughs! The Guinness wasn't Guinness, I just don't know what it was, and yes, they were showing the rugby, but without the sound! The first time I've ever been to a bar where the queue to get out was bigger than the one to get in! Steer clear!

The added chaos of the incomplete tramline, running like a long building site through Haymarket, just added to the feeling of chaos and disharmony that I've never experienced in Edinburgh before. Over policed, over priced and poor quality left us fleeing out of the city, back to the warmth, good humour and quality of the bars in Glasgow. That's where we found the gem of the weekend, a Chinese restaurant named Lychees, without doubt the best I've ever had! The greeting was so sincere, I felt like a long lost friend! The oriental smells drifting out of the kitchen were followed by a banquet that I'll never forget, only the knife and fork to give it away, until I was offered chopsticks.

Beverley and I had a great weekend with our good friends Karen and David, and met some marvellous people and crazy characters along the way. Just one week to go until the end of this years Six Nations journey and I'm already in Cardiff!

So, where's your team?