Edinburgh, Week One

Let me preface this all with a note about packing and moving. It is always a traumatic experience to move out of one’s home, and this trauma is always compounded by the fact that one’s belongings seem to breed while one is not looking, meaning that one inevitably ends up with more stuff than one knows what to do with. This was certainly the case for Kellie and I as we packed up our apartment and moved the majority of our belongings into the storage unit. Every time we came back for another load, our things seemed to have multiplied. And then there’s all those annoying little nooks and crannies of one’s apartment that seemed like such convenient storage locations when one first moved in. Quite a traumatic process, to be sure. But we survived, and after a lovely weekend in Dallas with family and friends, we were off to the airport on Monday afternoon.

We got through all the security and such at DFW without any problems. The first kink, however, was that the airline personnel required me to check one of the bags I had intended to take as a carry-on. This did not bode well with me, as I was quite sure that the bag would be lost. Of course, it was. This was something of annoyance, too, because that bag contained socks, boxers, and important documents. Fortunately, the bag and I were reunited within 24 hours. Still… In any case, other than the baggage problem, the flights were as pleasant as transatlantic flights can be. We arrived in Edinburgh without any major international incident, and indeed, met some fellow American travellers on the way. It was raining when we arrived.
As should be obvious from our video, the flat itself was hard to find. The building number is not visible from the street, and one must pass through four different locked doors requiring two keys and one key-code to get into the flat. On arrival, however, we discovered that the flat was actually bigger than we had anticipated and has a great view of the city. A pleasant surprise. The bed is uncomfortable and the bathroom is a bit odd, but other than that, the flat is beginning to feel like home. Other than the lack of internet, of course, which hopefully will be corrected within a few days. We’ll see.

We have spent most of the last few days getting our bearings, shopping for various housewares to make the flat functional, and exploring our new city. We are located in the heart of Old Town, which as one might guess, is the oldest part of the city. Pretty much everything is within walking distance, ranging from Edinburgh Castle to the University to Arthur’s Seat. We even (accidentally) walked about 2/3 of the way to the ocean one day, in search of a bedding shop. It’s quite easy to get around on foot, which is good. The only trouble is that the streets are rather confusing to navigate, as they have a habit of twisting in strange directions and changing names arbitrarily. Thus, one must explore them a few times to get a feel for where they actually go. In the process of exploring, though, there are all sorts of interesting things to find, shops to visit, and sights to see. This makes every trip away from the flat something of an adventure. One never knows what one may find.