After we gave up on our bags Alletta went out to see if Mary, the women from the Marshall's Commission was still waiting for us, which she was. We explained what had happened and why we were so late coming out of the terminal.
Let me tell you it is damn nice to have someone meet you at the airport and tell you that it is going to be okay. I've travelled before and arrived in countries that I did not speak the native language on my own. So we could of easily found our way about a London airport, but still this was very nice. Thank you Mary!!
After some food and picking up a few toiletries to sustain our hygiene whilst we waited for our bags, we made our way to our next flight, to Edinburgh.
It was just over an hour to fly there, not that bad. We got to a cab and made our way to Edinburgh proper. There is something about that first cab ride,train ride, or bus ride into a new city in strange country. Your jet lagged, disoriented, hungry, a little nervous about being in a new place. It is one of the best feelings I have ever felt. It's exilerating!!
The first thing that hit me was how the traffic lanes were incomprehensible. Everything was white, with the exception of the Green-ways (bus/bike lanes I know kind of a strange combo). Next I noticed the similarity of Architecture to other Western European countries. (Row-houses and tenements with vinyl double pained windows and slate roofs.)
We went to our temporary flat. Whereupon we met Ms. Mason. She owned a small flat in a area of Edinburgh called Leith. Leith used to be a separate port town that was later annexed by the growing capital of Scotland. The flat was somewhere in between the center of Edinburgh and the port of Leith. All the tour guides that we read about Edinburgh said that Leith was such a cool place that it was a must. I suspect that we were about a 20 minute walk away from that "must see" area of the City. We were also 20 minutes from the city center. Which put us right smack dab in lame-ville.
Don't get me wrong! It wasn't a bad part of town. I'm sure it's a fine place to live if your 52, Scottish and have 3 kids. But that didn't matter much because we slept most of the first few days, as we recovered from our jet lag.
Next....Finding a job in the great city of Edinburgh
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