We are now facing our final few days of living in Edinburgh. It seems incredible that we are nearly at the end; time has gone so fast and of course we are filled with thoughts of what we need to do before we leave. Toby has finished up at Scottish Gas; he is enjoying two weeks of currency trading, going to the gym, planning our next adventure, and being a house husband. I have two more days of work to go at the NHS. The job has not gotten any more interesting or challenging, but I do feel that I have made a couple of good friends and had the opportunity to see how the public sector works here. Well, part of the public sector.
The last few weeks have been quite busy. We had a lovely, quiet Easter weekend with lots of hot cross buns and time at home. On Easter Sunday we went to the zoo with a couple of Toby’s workmates. It was cold and windy but otherwise a great day. The zoo is set up high on a hill not far from our place. They have a great penguin enclosure (which is what they’re famous for) and also a daily ‘penguin parade’ which turned out to be nothing more than a few penguins walking on the footpath while people took photos. I kept expecting them to burst into song and dance, like on ‘Happy Feet’, but it didn’t happen. The brochure said it was ‘voluntary’. I am not sure how they go about getting agreement from penguins but perhaps they have developed some kind of flipper signal language. Compared to the penguins, we were disappointed with the space given to their big cats which seemed sadly lacking, with the panther being given the same amount of room as a badger. They also have the only koalas in the UK so Toby and I got to sniff some eucalyptus leaves which made us a little homesick.
The last few weeks have been quite busy. We had a lovely, quiet Easter weekend with lots of hot cross buns and time at home. On Easter Sunday we went to the zoo with a couple of Toby’s workmates. It was cold and windy but otherwise a great day. The zoo is set up high on a hill not far from our place. They have a great penguin enclosure (which is what they’re famous for) and also a daily ‘penguin parade’ which turned out to be nothing more than a few penguins walking on the footpath while people took photos. I kept expecting them to burst into song and dance, like on ‘Happy Feet’, but it didn’t happen. The brochure said it was ‘voluntary’. I am not sure how they go about getting agreement from penguins but perhaps they have developed some kind of flipper signal language. Compared to the penguins, we were disappointed with the space given to their big cats which seemed sadly lacking, with the panther being given the same amount of room as a badger. They also have the only koalas in the UK so Toby and I got to sniff some eucalyptus leaves which made us a little homesick.
The non Happy Feet penguin parade.
This lioness was roaring her heart out at us. Poor thing.On Easter Monday we got the bus out to the airport to meet mum and dad, who arrived from London in the afternoon. It was great to see them and we took them home for a roast lamb dinner which promptly put them to sleep.
Toby went back to work the next day but I had two days off so I took mum and dad up to the Royal Mile and we did a walking tour by the same company we’d gone with in Berlin. It was the first tour I’d done in Edinburgh so it was good to hear some new stories and learn about the significance of all these buildings I’d seen so many times. We stopped in the Grassmarket for lunch and decided to go with the tour’s lunch ‘deal’ at a pub which was too small (the food that is, not the pub). Dad had to buy a bowl of chips to fill up, and then because we ran out of time had to load them all into a napkin to re-join the tour. When the tour finished I took them to Waterstone’s on Princes St, a lovely old bookstore with a Starbucks, so we replenished ourselves with coffee and cake and then browsed a little. Dad hadn’t had enough walking at this point, so he headed off to climb Arthur’s Seat while Mum and I went home to watch Neighbours with a cup of tea.
On Wednesday Mum and Dad went off to see the castle and I had some time at home and then met them in the carpark for lunch. Dad had made sandwiches so we sat under a statue and ate them in the cold, then went and found somewhere warm for a cup of tea and yes, more cake. Afterwards we visited the Writer’s Museum, which I’d been saving to visit with Dad, and then Gladstone’s Land, one of the oldest buildings on the Royal Mile which has been furnished to resemble different periods in Edinburgh’s history. My favourite room was the kitchen, which seemed very cosy and practical except for the servant’s bed in the corner. The museum was staffed by old ladies who loved telling stories and were always trying to explain things to you. On the way home we visited some second hand book shops as Dad was keen to find a copy of Scott’s ‘Waverley’. We visited four different shops and had no luck, so Dad finally bought another of Scott’s novels only to then discover ‘Waverley’ on the shelves. Never mind. That night I went to a salsa lesson with my friend Carole and then we came home to eat a dinner cooked by mum; I think my parents were pleased to meet the person who has helped make my stay in Edinburgh so much more enjoyable (not to mention social).
I went back to work on Thursday and Friday, so mum and dad took the opportunity to do some more sightseeing and also take a coach tour up to the Highlands which they raved about. On Saturday morning we took them to the farmer’s market which has become our weekly tradition since it’s the best fresh fish we have found (and the pies are good too). We all ate hog rolls for lunch (they actually had the head of the hog in the stall but I don’t think that’s what we were eating) and bought some things for dinner. Afterwards we split up and I took mum to visit Armstrong’s, the brilliant second-hand shop, so she could point to dresses and things and say ‘I used to have one like that.’ We also tried to find some tartan pants but had no luck; Mum did buy a lovely cashmere turtle neck that was on sale though. We met Dad at the museum a little later to have coffee and cake in the atrium restaurant and then spent a couple of hours wandering through. It was my third visit to the museum and I still don’t think I have seen all of it. On Saturday night they took us out to dinner and we went to Howie's, a (small) chain of Scottish restaurants where we had a delicious meal of what they call 'modern Scottish' food. It was one of the best meals we've had in Edinburgh so it was a good choice.
Toby went back to work the next day but I had two days off so I took mum and dad up to the Royal Mile and we did a walking tour by the same company we’d gone with in Berlin. It was the first tour I’d done in Edinburgh so it was good to hear some new stories and learn about the significance of all these buildings I’d seen so many times. We stopped in the Grassmarket for lunch and decided to go with the tour’s lunch ‘deal’ at a pub which was too small (the food that is, not the pub). Dad had to buy a bowl of chips to fill up, and then because we ran out of time had to load them all into a napkin to re-join the tour. When the tour finished I took them to Waterstone’s on Princes St, a lovely old bookstore with a Starbucks, so we replenished ourselves with coffee and cake and then browsed a little. Dad hadn’t had enough walking at this point, so he headed off to climb Arthur’s Seat while Mum and I went home to watch Neighbours with a cup of tea.
On Wednesday Mum and Dad went off to see the castle and I had some time at home and then met them in the carpark for lunch. Dad had made sandwiches so we sat under a statue and ate them in the cold, then went and found somewhere warm for a cup of tea and yes, more cake. Afterwards we visited the Writer’s Museum, which I’d been saving to visit with Dad, and then Gladstone’s Land, one of the oldest buildings on the Royal Mile which has been furnished to resemble different periods in Edinburgh’s history. My favourite room was the kitchen, which seemed very cosy and practical except for the servant’s bed in the corner. The museum was staffed by old ladies who loved telling stories and were always trying to explain things to you. On the way home we visited some second hand book shops as Dad was keen to find a copy of Scott’s ‘Waverley’. We visited four different shops and had no luck, so Dad finally bought another of Scott’s novels only to then discover ‘Waverley’ on the shelves. Never mind. That night I went to a salsa lesson with my friend Carole and then we came home to eat a dinner cooked by mum; I think my parents were pleased to meet the person who has helped make my stay in Edinburgh so much more enjoyable (not to mention social).
I went back to work on Thursday and Friday, so mum and dad took the opportunity to do some more sightseeing and also take a coach tour up to the Highlands which they raved about. On Saturday morning we took them to the farmer’s market which has become our weekly tradition since it’s the best fresh fish we have found (and the pies are good too). We all ate hog rolls for lunch (they actually had the head of the hog in the stall but I don’t think that’s what we were eating) and bought some things for dinner. Afterwards we split up and I took mum to visit Armstrong’s, the brilliant second-hand shop, so she could point to dresses and things and say ‘I used to have one like that.’ We also tried to find some tartan pants but had no luck; Mum did buy a lovely cashmere turtle neck that was on sale though. We met Dad at the museum a little later to have coffee and cake in the atrium restaurant and then spent a couple of hours wandering through. It was my third visit to the museum and I still don’t think I have seen all of it. On Saturday night they took us out to dinner and we went to Howie's, a (small) chain of Scottish restaurants where we had a delicious meal of what they call 'modern Scottish' food. It was one of the best meals we've had in Edinburgh so it was a good choice.
Me, Toby & Mum under the castle.Sunday was their last day with us, so we went to Camera Obscura which is a kind of lens that gives you a view of Edinburgh from very high. It was a cloudy, rainy day but we were reassured that there is no perfect day to visit. In the same building was a collection of visual sciency type things, a lot like what you can find in Questacon. We finished our outing with burgers and then headed home, the rainy weather having convinced us a visit to Queensferry was not ideal. Later on, Toby and I took dad to the gym and then Toby cooked up some fresh salmon we’d bought at the markets.
Looking down the Royal Mile from the top of Camera Obscura. Mum and Dad left on the Monday morning to pick up a car and start making their way down to Wales to get the ferry to Ireland. It was sad to see them go; the week had gone very quickly although there was never going to be enough time. We had another couple of quiet weeks at home, with farewell parties and some last minute sight seeing. My friend Carole and I spent a Friday night on the literary pub tour, where we were taken around to some local historical pubs by two actors who were keen for us to understand the dichotomous nature of Edinburgh and its literature. It was a good night and we met a lovely couple from LA and ended up having some drinks with them once the tour ended. They lived around the corner from Kevin Federline and had become mates with the paparazzi who are always on the lookout for Britney Spears, so they had some funny stories and asked us lots about Edinburgh as they had only been living here a week.
Now we are playing hosts to Toby’s mum Di who is here for a week before we head off to Turkey on Saturday. Although the weather has been rather unpredictable (sometimes it feels nice and summery, others it is just as windy and cold as we have come to expect), the flowers are out and there are daffodils everywhere, which is lovely. The Princes St Gardens are looking particularly gorgeous, and with the evenings getting longer it is feeling much more bearable to be outside. Over the past weekend we even managed to climb Arthur’s Seat, a difficult but short walk. At the top you could barely hear what the other was saying, it was so windy but the views were fantastic and we felt very local and adventurous. Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with hog rolls and ostrich burgers from the farmers’ market for the last time.
The castle, from the top of Arthur's Seat.We are going to be on the road a lot for the next couple of months so I am not sure how many more updates I will manage. But for those who are interested, the basic timeline is thus:
2 weeks: Turkey
2 days: Edinburgh
10 days: Camping around Scotland & England
1 month: Camping around Western Europe
2 weeks: Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand
And then home.
I feel exhausted just looking at it. But excited too. We have a tent, and air mattresses, and a cooking set, so once we are dosed up on anti-malaria drugs we’ll be ready to go.
Tent practise run.
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