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11:36 pm
– Edinburgh – Day 8 – Breakfast with Patrick
& Sofia, the Shannon Edinburgh
Tour
 This morning's breakfast at Cromdale
Hall at the EICC was quite amusing.
Done in a format that American's would recognize as Live with Regis and
Kelly, Breakfast with Patrick and Sofia was presented with MPI members Sofia Vandaele and Patrick Delaney's
dead on rendition of a morning breakfast talk show. With amusing bits by Paul Flackett with the
news and Eric Rosenberg on weather, the show proceeded with scheduled
interviews  culminating in MPI CEO Colin Rorrie
(proudly confirming that the name was MacRorrie before being Americanized) enumerating the core
values of his seven month tenure as head of the organization. Those core values being:
Member
Centricity
Flawless
Execution
Power
of the Partnership
 Sounds like a splendid business recipe to me.
A later highlight for me was Patrick
Delaney's answer to what is worn underneath a Scottish
Kilt. "Nothing is worn. All is in perfect working order, thank
you."
Another part of the program was a quite amusing 'quiz
show' that was sort of a mix of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' and
'Jeopardy' as members of the MPI-E Members got everyone revved up for a
productive day.
Day 8 – Con't – 5:45 PM
The Saturday MPI
promotional luncheon was held in Cromdale Hall at
the EICC and consisted of a delicious main course of Scottish Salmon and a
crème brulée dessert. At our table, I sat and listened
attentively as Maarten Vanneste described
his newest phone gadget, which seems to perform every trick that one might need
or even think of. Between he and my pal MPI International Committee Chair Michael
Shannon, every example of electronic wizardry that is needed for today's
international traveler seemed to be on display. The one not actually on anyone's person,
the noise-reducing headset from Bose (an electrical device with which I am
familiar), seemed to be a particular hit with those at our table.
 As Michael hadn't yet
had time to sightsee Edinburgh, I
volunteered to show him some of the sites that I found interesting. Uh, oh – pub alert! I warned him that we would be climbing a
bit and to wear comfortable shoes. I
should have taken my own advice.
As all roads lead to Edinburgh
Castle, we left the Sheraton
where Michael was staying, and moseyed into
the shopping district on Princes Street. Then we started the climb up the Mound
towards the Castle. I tested our
endurance a bit by taking the rather arduous stairway up Milne
Court past the Scottish Parliament in order to
reach the 'Royal Mile.' While we
didn't have time to explore the Castle itself, we stopped to enjoy the
amazing view of Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth from just outside the castle
gates.
As you might guess, our first stop afterwards was the Scottish
Whiskey Museum
where, after perusing the malt whisky shop, we headed directly for the bar
downstairs. Michael
pointed out that the tour that was advertised seemed to consist of a sort of Disneyworld
ride. We decided to skip that. A Lagavulin for
me and Ardbeg for Michael
sent us on our way to the street  and on to Deacon Brody's pub. While we quaffed a Tenants Amber (much
better than regular Tenants), we watched a Rugby game
with the locals as we tried to figure out the finer distinctions of the
game. I knew the big game was to come a bit later
in the afternoon, that being Ireland
vs. Scotland,
with the match being played in Dublin. When we asked the bartender how well the two
teams were doing, he let us know that while Ireland
was in contention for the championship, Scotland
would probably get the "Wooden Spoon." Apparently not a good thing.
Circling down the winding roads and back to Prince
Street, I maneuvered us to Rose
Street where we dropped in one of the many pubs
that line this artery. They all seemed
to be practically throbbing with customers as the Ireland/Scotland match had
started. Rose
Street is rather infamous in the amount of pubs
along its length. One  legend has it that when a couple was to marry, the
bride's family would start on one end of Rose Street
and the groom's on the other. Each
would have a drink at each pub along the way and meet somewhere in the
middle. If they were still standing,
the wedding was on. I believe there is
something approaching 26 pubs along the entire distance.
By the time we left the pub, Michael
and I (or at least Michael) now felt we had
a pretty good understanding of how Rugby was played and
could follow the game with some enjoyment.
I returned to the hotel and after Beth phoned about 12
dining establishments, we finally landed a reservation at Bellini's for a
very nice Italian meal in which Michael
joined us. As these things go and the
conversation progressed, it turned out to be pretty much a business meal for
Beth and Michael.
Later, we joined the rest of the MPI gathering for a
lovely cocktail reception at the EICC hosted by the MPI UK Chapter and
toasted them on their 10th anniversary as a chapter.
At around 10:00 PM.
in the evening the Rendezvous Europe was held at the Hub, an ancient church
and now home to the famous Edinburgh Festival. Beth was taking tickets at the door, but
after an hour or so, I ran out of steam and returned to the hotel. And for good measure tonight we turn our
clocks forward.
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