Day 49 - (Travelling to) [E]dinburgh

A bleak travelling day

It was lightly raining while I waited for the train in SML. The whole train journey to Milan was through very heavy fog. When I got to the airport it was raining again, properly this time. So, it was a bit of a relief when I got to Edinburgh and it was only cold and cloudy. But it was cold: 5C.

I got the bus into Edinburgh from the airport. I rode up top and shared the ride with a very nice local man who was chatting with me and a couple of Italian girls who were visiting too. On the ride, I tried to capture some of the passing scenery, with my usual level of ability. I’ve managed to capture some useful images of the different types of Scottish things that I saw – different versions of residential housing, some not-great shots across the farmland (and McDonalds) of the mountain range in the distance, and then the changing urban landscape as we got closer to town. There was a big rugby match being played (Scotland vs Argentina) in a stadium that the bus went past. I failed to capture any useful pictures of the great crowd that was walking in to watch the match. I would have loved to capture the variation in preparedness for the cold night match. Some people were in (appropriate) artic wear, and some were in kilts!

Free-standing residential houses – well out of Edinburgh city	The mountains in the distance	A very Scottish (coloured) house
Closer to Edinburgh, the free-standing residences are closer together	Inevitably, they turn into terraces	The mountains over the suburbs

Once I got into town, I had the choice of getting a bus to the AirBNB (the stop is literally in front of the house), or a 25 minute walk, along one road. I chose the walk as the weather was fine (though cold) and I’d been sitting all day in transit. I captured some more views of Edinburgh as I was walking. The centre is clearly ancient and shares building characteristics of old cities on the continent. However, Edinburgh has more large avenues or boulevards than the European cities that I’ve been visiting, which makes the old stone buildings appear more grand, I think. Most of them are pretty grimy from pollution though, so Edinburgh has a very dull, dark ambience to it. The soft and failing winter light didn’t help that.

A church and a glimpse of the castle immediately off the bus from the airport	Looking back to the city from across a park	One of the boulevard-style roads in Edinburgh
Terraces running down the hill away from the city centre	More terraces on the edge of the city	The Water of Leith – 10 minutes walk from my AirBNB

The Herringbone

I found the AirBNB without difficulty and was greeted by my host, Mhairi (pronounced “Vary”). This stay is in a small single ensuite room, part of Mhairi’s home on the ground floor for the building. She was very welcoming and after showing me around the place, we had a cup of tea and chatted. Mhairi has had a fascinating career as a sound engineer then camera operator for the BBC, Scottish TV, and some other big broadcast productions. She was among the first women to work as sound engineers in the BBC in the late 60s. I am properly in awe. I asked Mhairi whether there were any good places to eat close by and she recommended the Herringbone pub, just up the road. That sounded perfect for me – a proper UK experience: “tea down the local.” She said that she would be walking Charlie (English spelling of his Gaellic name), her dog, about 5 pm and would be going to the pub. I suggested that I would walk with her, to which she agreed. We ended up having couple of pints together, listening to the live music being played in this modern, but quintessentially British pub. Mhairi took Charlie home and I stayed to have dinner. It was very good. The whole evening was very enjoyable.

Daily facts: Location: (Travelling to) [E]dinburgh Temp: 6 Weather: Rain and fog in Italy. Partly cloudy in Scotland