🏴 Edinburgh, Scotland - 10.22.23
This is the balance of the Edinburgh pictures and now it’s time to say aloha to this olden town. My kind friends, the Millers, set me up with a wee room in their mum’s flat… which happens to have a spectacular view of the Edinburgh Castle from where I open my eyes in the morning. Lucky boy.
It took a week of being in Scotland for me to get used to the wonky wrong side traffic pattern. Look right… then far left… take a step out. Here’s a fk’g speeding black cab I’m now standing in front of because he came out of nowhere, and from the opposite direction we all know and love.
Neil picked me up in the car a couple of times… I get in the passenger side, which is the drivers side U.S. and take off directly into traffic with cars barreling down the wrong side towards us. I admit… I wee girl screamed inside my brain several times.
My nervous system is finally settled and I can comfortably cross the street. On foot. All by myself. Two or three more months and I’ll be able to ride a bicycle in the UK. It’s not in my best interest to rent a motorbike at the moment… I’ll get all smooshed here.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time catching up with my friends in town… and it’s certainly nice to have a local guide and some directions of where to point the compass.
I casually explored Old Town and rushed off to absolutely nothing. Back alleys, tourist sites, coffee shops and delish foods. I had some fantastic meals here… but I don’t think the peoples of this land are too into veggies. Number one selling veggie here; Prawn Crisps. Don’t fact check me on that.
I had haggis a number of times… I genuinely liked it. I tried pickled herring… I’m quite sure that it’s possibly food no one else wants and I don’t want tempt more. More things to try in these lands… next time.
I ran into earth artist Andy Goldworthy farting around the castle grounds. He refused my invitation to my birthday party… which is fine because my birthday was 4 months ago. Anybloop, if you don’t know him… give’m a google… there’s some fantastic docs on him and his work.
Strolls through the Leith Water walkway and Dean Village. It’s totally a Harry Potter set. “Hair-rae!!!! Where’s Hair-rae?!?” Anyways, checkout the pictures… it’s glorious. So much so I went through it twice. “Hair-ree Pot-tah!” 🧚🏻♀️🧙♂️🧝♂️🧌🤴🏻🥷🏻💂
My observations of the culture while I sauntered around; No one wears baseball hats here except the occasional yankee pig dog (me raising my hand). Really… no one wears hats at all because apparently they’ll blow clean off your fk’g head because of the wind. No menfolk are into glasses fashion and not many blokes wear them. I guess they don’t want look like bookish dorks (me raising my hand).
The public transportation is fantastic and I love standing at the bus stop as the wind blows my American hat clean off my fk’g head. The Scottish tap water is awesome. I don’t know why it’s so good but i will dream of it while I’m away. And I will long for a proper cuppa tea. Ship some to New Mexico please.
I had a coffee with a lovely Yorkshire woman that alerted me that the people here… get this folks… speak the English language in Scotland! Even though sometimes it sounds like a boozy mumbling foreign tongue from another planet. I love it… it’s a adorbs… I say “what?!?” a lot.
I’ve been curious about UK/Euro living and wanted to scout it out. I could happily do 2-3 in Edinburgh… I’ll have to return in the Spring… bring my own veggies.
I’m off to Bishopbriggs tomorrow… near the Glasgow… more sauntering and Indian food and non-hat wearing… and then Iceland to Denver in three days time.
I’m pensive about leaving but also ready to come back to the home-lands for a variety of reasons that I didn’t expect when I left the States.
And one of those is a definitive perspective I gained from this particular adventure. Despite my great grandfather, Thomas Grieve being Scottish… and [we] Anglo/Euro yanks, that seem to have a need to grasp old world identities… I am undeniably and unfailingly an American lad… and for the good and the bad of being such… quite happy to be so.
There are two American continents full of awesome things, places and people. And I love it so. We ALL wear baseball hats! Even our beautiful womenfolk! Awww man… ever see all the fruits and veggies in those joints?!? We gots it good kids. Yum. 🍓🍇🍐🍇🍌🍏🍋🍍🥭🍑🍅🍒🍈🫑🥑🍍🧅🫑🌶️🫒🥕🌽🌮
