Amazingly we made it to Edinburgh! Five people (3 children), 15 bags, left St. Paul at 7pm August 2 and arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland 3:30 pm August 3, all just a wee bit tired. Many thanks to Susan's sister Jane and Paul Meekin for delivering us to the airport; customs for letting us sail through; the cheerful Edinburgh taxi who somehow managed to fit everything into his 2x8, and Nigel Masterton, our beloved relocation agent who met us at Thistle Cottage when we arrived to help us settle. Nigel was already changing lightbulbs, replacing fuses in plugs (don't ask) when we got there, and later did a little plumbing work on the girls tub. Nigel managed to get the TV working but we've just now got Internet in the house (that was an undertaking). We did manage to find the Daily Show on one of the channels - that was huge as we've been missing the states a bit.
The cottage is lovely and the garden (yard, that is) is spectacular, though we are getting use to a smaller home and how to establish new intra-home routines and such. We spend a lot of time in the four-season conservatory. The neighborhood is quiet and leafy - a collection of older stately detached stone homes. Neighbors are quiet and reserved - warm when you knock on their doors, but you have to make the first effort. Meeting new people will take time and patience. The streets are narrow, cobbly, and windy, and although Edinburgh is a small city geographically, getting from A to B can be very tricky, as street names can change abruptly and may be listed on buildings or not. A 1.5 mile journey to a store for the first time can be an adventure. The narrow sidewalks directly abut the street and so these tiny cars are zipping by inches from you. We're only a mile from Arthur's Seat with some excellent hikes and lochs.
Our first week in Edinburgh was very much like the Thistle - beautiful with some rough edges. Everywhere you look are old stone buildings and churches with cute shops tucked within them, with hills/mts and the ocean on the edges of the city. But at the same time it feels a bit strange and mysterious. The Jam's great song "Strange town" and the Doors "People are Strange" is spot on as they say. The Edinburgh festival is going on and the city is hopping - we've already seen one Fringe theatre performance and have two more coming up in the next week. We got the girls some used bikes as they may be able to bike to school which starts Weds! The weather has been mostly good - we've seen more blue sky than I expected, but some rain too. Yesterday was a bit rough. After failing to get a bike for myself, I stared at the computer weather screen to see RAIN, RAIN, RAIN for the next 3 days feeling rather blue; just then I noticed a whizzing sound on my right - Lily was emitting a stream of No. 1 right next to me into the carpet.
Despite the early bumps in the road, it will be a long exciting journey.
--Jon
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