I Miss Edinburgh
I took this video from the balcony of my last flat. A storm had just passed and my wife excitedly called me out to see the rainbow. This is overlooking Goldenacre Playing Fields, where we had the best seats to watch Heriot's Rugby Club (it actually got pretty annoying). Just off camera to the left were the Cricket grounds. On the horizon you can see Arthur's Seat and the Royal Mile leading up to Edinburgh Castle. It was a million-dollar view.
We moved there at the height of COVID for what was supposed to be a two-year assignment. It ended up being nearly five.
At first, we were in a temporary flat off London Rd., in one of the less attractive parts of town. The government had us quarantined for two weeks, slipping COVID tests through the letterbox every few days. It was an old tenement building, drafty and noisy. I was worried I’d made a mistake dragging my family there.
Before long, we moved on to a series of better flats in more interesting parts of town. We got to know the city and the surrounding areas. Casual strolls along the Water of Leith and hikes in the Pentlands. Cafes in New Town, shopping at St. James Quarter, protests on Princes Street, and tattoos in Old Town. Picnics in Holyrood on sunny days, climbing Arthur’s Seat in terrible weather, wondering how people were swimming in the icy waters at Portobello. Oh, and the chaos of Fringe.
Hindsight is 20/20. It’s only now that I’m back in the US that I see how good I had it, living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I took for granted the ability to walk almost everywhere. When I felt lazy or the weather was too miserable, public transportation was ubiquitous, reliable, and inexpensive.
I could complain endlessly about Texas, but it’s enough to say that it’s the complete opposite of Scotland.
Coming back here was a mistake.
Below is a video of another thing I miss very much. Going to Hearts games with my son. Where else can you get seats behind goal for 20 quid? HH!