Ever-lovely Edinburgh
I knew I wanted to go to Scotland, I wanted to go to be adventurous and climb mountains and put a pot of tea on the fire (though, let me tell you, that is hard to do when you're on your own), see the Shetland Islands and wield a bagpipe, marching solemnly through the mist of the early morning firing away the tune of our forefathers.
So I thought, get on a train and ride it to Edinburgh. It's their capital, you can go anywhere from there gurrrrrl. (That's my thinking voice).
And now I'm here, and I really couldn't be bothered leaving. You see, it's not because I'm a lazy traveller, it's more because it is such a Ruth place to be that I am just content with exploring its perimeters right through to the very core of its heart. Edinburgh has so much to offer in such a little amount of space, though you wouldn't know it.
It's not like your average capital city. Sydney, Paris and London are bustling with people, there is noise and traffic and weirdos everywhere and you can't help but feel a little lost on your own in those cities. But here in Edinburgh, you've got a bit of everything.
Following the ANZAC day service at Edinburgh Castle this morning and then I went to Vincent Bell Academy after doing a late night "hair model" search on Gumtree and winning the jackpot with a free cut and colour with a lovely trainee named Susie and the absolutely scottish and charming Vincent himself.
After finishing up there I popped into Starbucks to get an afternoon fix and struck up conversation with the two men that were working there after asking them for the name of the music playing in store (apparently they are sick of a 3 hour loop of panpipe music from Guatemala..... who in their right mind would ever be sick of that!?!) because my mum digs that nonsense. They asked me what I was up to in Edinburgh and I told them where I'd been and what I'd seen. I said that I was loving the city but couldn't put my finger on the reason why until one of them said "Edinburgh is a city the size of a town that thinks like a village", quoting Ian Rankin, Author of the Rebus crime fiction novels.
This guy, wiping tables in an empty Starbucks, was right on the money. And I realised why I was so drawn to the place, so happy with the non-events of the city. It was Scotland's Newcastle. Rankin could well be saying the same thing about my favourite place in the world. Both places boast about little but have a lot to boast about. They are quiet achievers. You can be happy in doing nothing, stress free from hustle and bustle but still be able to engage in whatever activity within a 3 mile radius. No qualms, no "yeah look you're going to have to swim for ten months through a sea of people to try on a £12 yellow fuzzy duck onesie at Primark". Just easy going people, and an at least 1m radius around you at all times so you don't smell or accidentally graze past stinky tourists being ridiculous around you. Just feeling like a local, living like a local, whether or not you are a local.
I bloody love this place.
So I thought, get on a train and ride it to Edinburgh. It's their capital, you can go anywhere from there gurrrrrl. (That's my thinking voice).
And now I'm here, and I really couldn't be bothered leaving. You see, it's not because I'm a lazy traveller, it's more because it is such a Ruth place to be that I am just content with exploring its perimeters right through to the very core of its heart. Edinburgh has so much to offer in such a little amount of space, though you wouldn't know it.
It's not like your average capital city. Sydney, Paris and London are bustling with people, there is noise and traffic and weirdos everywhere and you can't help but feel a little lost on your own in those cities. But here in Edinburgh, you've got a bit of everything.
Following the ANZAC day service at Edinburgh Castle this morning and then I went to Vincent Bell Academy after doing a late night "hair model" search on Gumtree and winning the jackpot with a free cut and colour with a lovely trainee named Susie and the absolutely scottish and charming Vincent himself.
After finishing up there I popped into Starbucks to get an afternoon fix and struck up conversation with the two men that were working there after asking them for the name of the music playing in store (apparently they are sick of a 3 hour loop of panpipe music from Guatemala..... who in their right mind would ever be sick of that!?!) because my mum digs that nonsense. They asked me what I was up to in Edinburgh and I told them where I'd been and what I'd seen. I said that I was loving the city but couldn't put my finger on the reason why until one of them said "Edinburgh is a city the size of a town that thinks like a village", quoting Ian Rankin, Author of the Rebus crime fiction novels.
This guy, wiping tables in an empty Starbucks, was right on the money. And I realised why I was so drawn to the place, so happy with the non-events of the city. It was Scotland's Newcastle. Rankin could well be saying the same thing about my favourite place in the world. Both places boast about little but have a lot to boast about. They are quiet achievers. You can be happy in doing nothing, stress free from hustle and bustle but still be able to engage in whatever activity within a 3 mile radius. No qualms, no "yeah look you're going to have to swim for ten months through a sea of people to try on a £12 yellow fuzzy duck onesie at Primark". Just easy going people, and an at least 1m radius around you at all times so you don't smell or accidentally graze past stinky tourists being ridiculous around you. Just feeling like a local, living like a local, whether or not you are a local.
I bloody love this place.
