General update
We’ve been in Edinburgh for a few days now — since Thursday afternoon — and I feel that all we’ve done is walk between the flat and the grocery store. Not that I’m complaining. It’s an extremely lovely flat, and a very enticing and well-stocked grocery store, and after so much running around Glasgow it’s actually quite nice to just rest and cook and read.
An hour or so after arrival in our Edinburgh flat
It’s probably for the best that we’re in a cozy quiet mood, too, because Edinburgh has been wet these few days. We haven’t noticed it much here, but on the other side of town, people have had to evacuate their houses, and about a mile away, a big outdoor food event (to which we almost bought tickets) was cancelled due to the flooding. Geography and climate are funny things. Before I read the news I would have said that it was just a light rain; but while we were out walking to lunch, roads in other areas were turning into rivers. And yet I also read that Scotland’s Western Isles are experiencing the worst drought on record!
I took this photo the morning of the heavy rains; you can see that here, it just appeared misty.
The other thing about this homebody mood is I’m wondering if it was inevitable. One of my goals in going on this world trip was to try to see every day with “travel eyes”: that wide-awake, curious, enthusiastic viewpoint that makes everything seem fresh and fabulous and fascinating. My travel eyes are certainly getting a workout these days; I’m thrilled by the smallest thing, even to the selection at the grocery store (which is partly why we’ve been there three times since we got here!). But, I’m beginning to think, maybe it’s possible to reach saturation point. Even though I’m still hungry to explore, I’ve been curiously resistant about venturing too far from our flat; my instinct tells me I should just take a break from the newness of the environment. I’ve felt this a little in each new city; in the first few days I always control how much I take in at once; but I think this is the first time I’ve voluntarily spent so much time indoors since we started traveling. Maybe it’s because I tried so hard to see so many sights before we left Glasgow, or maybe it’s that it’s been two and a half months now and I just can’t keep up the pace of exploration anymore.
Anyway, it’s okay. I’m getting plenty of good food, sleep, and light, we’ve walked an average of two miles a day, and the other day I even did some yoga. Clearly some calming time is indicated, and since we’re here for a month, I don’t begrudge it.
Some observations
Books
An unexpected pleasure of travel is that I’m reading books I wouldn’t have picked up on my own. In our Glasgow flat I found Isadora Duncan’s autobiography, My Life, which is just incredible, energizing, inspiring. In the Edinburgh flat, the bookshelves are more bare, but I enjoyed Edna O’Brien’s Girl with Green Eyes (not a particularly original story but some lovely prose). Yesterday I spent some happy minutes in the many charity shops (what we at home would call thrift stores) lining Morningside Road, then spent the evening with one of my finds, Letters of an Indian Judge to an English Gentlewoman (an interesting book, not only because it may or may not be nonfiction). I have no interest in “travel books” per se, but I notice I am drawn to books about personal journeys and with a strong sense of place, which makes perfect sense!
I also find that I love books, physical books, more than magazines or e-books. At home I had no problem with the latter, but now that I’m away from my own collection, I just really want BOOKS. There’s no need for me to spend a single penny on books when I can get e-books through our home libraries, but sometimes I just want to feel the pages and hold the covers and smell the paper. So the charity shops make me very happy. I got two books for £1.75. Ahh.
British food
Before we came here, and even after we arrived, I had to field remarks about the much-rumored badness of British cuisine. I would like to say that I really don’t think Americans (or Canadians, for that matter) are justified in feeling any sense of superiority in this respect! There is some really terrible, crappy, disgusting stuff masquering as food in the US, and I’m sure it’s the same here, but there’s also really excellent, delicious, fresh, distinctive food both here and at home. It just depends where you eat and shop (and, perhaps, what’s in your wallet).
Marzipan and jam cake from a nearby German bakery, http://falko.co.uk/
As well-to-do residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, we’ve been accustomed to some of the best food the US has to offer. At home we subscribed to a bimonthly box of organic produce and eggs that came direct from a farm about fifty miles away (we could also get flour from them if we wished it). In our area we had Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, and Mexican supermarkets; artisanal bakeries, chocolatiers, and salumerias; restaurants and markets galore; and we grew our own sprouts and mushrooms. So yeah, compared to that? Most places can’t boast of so much. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t good food.
Scottish strawberries and Waitrose supermarket’s own brand of vanilla-bean custard
As far as I can tell, seasonal produce is more limited here in Scotland, as are organics. The range of ethnic cuisines is great in some respects (we’ve had very tasty Indian and Nepalese food) and lacking in others (haven’t seen any phở yet) — which I suspect is the case everywhere (the Bay Area, for instance, is pitiful when it comes to Eastern European cuisines). But the local/humane/sustainable movement seems just as strong here as at home, and there are many artisan vendors represented both in storefronts and at the supermarket. Eggs are really good here (and unrefrigerated at the store) — same for dairy, fish, and red meat — and I’ve been blissfully stunned by the variety and abundance of baked goods, both sweet and savory (savoury, I should say!).
So, I’m ready to argue with anyone who thinks the food here is any worse than it is anywhere else! Oh, or more expensive — our grocery bills are about the same as they would be at home, and in general, so are our restaurant bills. Maybe once we get to some other countries, we’ll deplore the UK and the US for having bad food — true, I don’t remember eating anything mediocre in Hong Kong — but for now, I have no complaints!
Today is Monday of our first full week in Edinburgh. What will it bring?
There are so many comments I could make about this post, but I will keep it simple. Cozying in (spellcheck doesn’t thing cozying is a word), sounds perfect. I’m thinking of a hen (you and Erik are still chickens, right?) nestling down on her nest to rest and incubate. With a month ahead of you to explore, you have plenty of time, but for now following your instincts is the right thing to do…..Books! I feel the same way. I just love the feel and weight and smell of a real book. I can use a reader, but it is not nearly as satisfying to my book loving nature. Reading is so much more than the words on the page……Food. Thank you for setting the record straight about food in the UK. And I’m not surprised that there is so much good local fare available. Keep teasing us with the yummy pictures!……I have a question….how is Erik managing with his work? Is it as easy as he anticipated, or is it harder to settle in to work when you want to be out and about?…..Have a lovely day, Lisa!
Hee. Yes, still ain’t nobody here but us chickens! I wonder what will hatch when I get off the nest? Maybe a self-portrait (check again tomorrow)!
Yes yes yes on books, again. There is a really welcoming-looking library a short walk from here (and close to that supermarket… heh) so I might pop in one of these days and see if it’s possible to get a library card without being a UK resident. I got one in Toronto for a fee, and I made good use of it!
Erik is doing fine with his work, which is good because he’d get really stressed if it were otherwise. He has phone meetings at odd hours sometimes, because of the time difference, and he runs into the occasional snag when the phone doesn’t work or something else like that. But by and large, he is just continuing what he does at home (in fact, as I was typing this comment, he popped into the room and informed me, “I’m about to start my phone meeting”). It helps that he is naturally very introverted; he has no problem staying in most days and working. I often have to remind myself, when I’ve been running around seeing things all week, that even though I think he’s missing all the fun, he’s thankful he gets to stay in! So far it’s working out that I do a lot of solo exploring and we meet up a few times a week to go out and explore together.
nice picture of you 🙂
Thank you, Carla. 🙂
I liked what Sherry said above about nesting. It makes sense that you would need some time to sink into the space you are going to inhabit, to simply breathe and make the place home before venturing out. Like finding your balance. Makes me think of your vertigo from traveling: the vertigo of change, and needing some time to get over it and feel stable. You’re doing this physically as well as mentally. And I always loved UK food. Have you come across scotch eggs yet? They look like some sort of weird mutated potato sitting on your breakfast plate, but it’s sausage wraped around a hard boiled egg.
Lisa, I love what you’ve said about finding balance. Yes, I think that’s it. Each time we go to a new place, the change makes me feel a little off-kilter, even if the place is wonderful and everyone welcoming. As I learned in dance classes, it’s very tricky to leap from a place of off-balance — much better to take even a moment to stabilize, and launch from there! I love that both here and in Glasgow I’ve been able to regroup from flats with big, front-facing bay windows. So nice to sit and watch the street go by, even if I don’t feel like going out myself.
Funny thing about Scotch eggs! A friend actually made them for us a few months ago, before we left the Bay Area, and we were very excited about them. I haven’t actually seen them in any restaurants here, but when we were at Whole Foods in the suburbs of Glasgow, they had samples of them at the hot-food section, so we had some. Interestingly enough we had what you could call a Japanese vegetarian version, in Toronto — boiled eggs wrapped in mashed kabocha squash and fried.
That first photo of you made me smile as if I hadn’t seen you in a month of Sundays. I don’t know why. Your smile, the way your hair frames your face, that lovely light you’re bathed in, the colors – whatever. I want to frame it and start a new spot for photos. I plan to have more uncluttered space soon, and bring out a lot of the nice things I’ve inadvertently hidden from view. I hope I have photo paper to fit one of the frames I know I’m going to find, somewhere.
What I can see of the flat looks scrumptious! And I mean the decorating and the light, not the food. 🙂
Aww, thank you, Ré! I’m smiling at you now as I write this! 🙂 As we travel so far from so many loved ones I’ve become especially grateful for photos (and video chat). It really is good to see a new smile from a friend or family member!
One of these days I’ll have to do a post especially about this flat, because it is so full of wonderful period detail. I feel like we’re living in a historic museum, without the mustiness!
Ah, Edinburgh. I love it. The place where I first fell in love……………..with single malt whisky. 🙂
You’ll have plenty of time to explore the area so a little rest time is to be expected. Enjoy it.
And the food ? I didn’t realise the US decried our food. Like assuming we all where bowler hats, huh? Now – the food in the US ! Woh, have I eaten some dross in desperation. OK, enough. Quite simply, any traveller who thinks the food here/ or anywhere is crap ain’t eatin’ in the right places. Simple. 🙂 Edinburgh has one of the finest restaurants I’ve ever been to. The Witchery. http://www.thewitchery.com/
It’ll set you back some so it’s a special occassion place, I guess, but amazing.
Food in the UK crap ? Pah ! 🙂
Hee. It’s so sad we don’t drink — all these lovely whiskies and all wasted on us! But I did buy an orange and whisky marmalade the other day, at the farmers’ market. A little special flavor for my breakfast toast or yogurt. 😉
Agreed wholeheartedly — it’s not the national cuisines but where one eats! I suppose in our travels we will find out whether there’s any place where this doesn’t hold true. 😉 Ah, good to know about The Witchery! I’ll keep it on our list of places and we’ll see if we find a chance to go there.
More recently we have been taking eager advantage of the £3.95 chicken curry with rice special at a newly-opened Indian restaurant around the corner. 😉