I was in Edinburgh on Friday. I drove up after work on Thursday evening; I’d booked a guest house so I’d told them I would be coming from Liverpool and wasn’t expecting to be there until 10.30pm. Of course, that was when I was expecting to leave at 6pm. Me being me, I didn’t actually leave until 6.40pm, and still had to get petrol which was out of the way, so I was very surprised when, after a fairly trouble free journey, I pulled up dead on 10.30. I beat google maps by a good 45mins.
I was staying at Ivy Guest House which was very pleasant for the short time I was there. I only really had time to sleep, shower and eat breakfast. Very comfy bed. And they let me leave my car there after I’d checked out which was extremely nice of them.
I decided to get the bus to the university as it seemed like a straightforward route but I wasn’t sure how far it was. At the bus stop I asked a man there if the buses gave change (like in Liverpool) or if you needed the exact fare (like in Birmingham) as I was 30p short of change for the fare. It was the latter, and before I could get away to a nearby shop he’d given me 40p – what a gent! Who says Scots are tight? And me with my obviously English accent too! Speaking of which, I really do love the Scottish accent, and the Edinburgh accent is lovely. A man with that brogue will always have an extra couple of attractiveness points on my scale.
Of course I missed the stop I needed. Fortunately the next one wasn’t too far along and I managed to find where I needed to be pretty easily. McEwan hall. Beautiful building.
Wikipedia tells me it only cost £115 000 (but that was in 1897).
It began to pour with rain just as I stepped off the bus, so I was pretty wet when I arrived, and slightly regretting choosing to wear a dress and therefore less robust shoes than would have been suitable for the rain, but comforted myself with the thought that wet trouser bottoms are awful.
The seminar was on international palliative care and was both informative and inspirational. It also gave me my first opportunity to meet the people who will be out in Uganda when I go there in March. Now it all feels real! Beginning to realise how much there is to plan and organise – but looking forward to the challenge.
It would have been nice to stay a bit longer in Edinburgh, but I had to leave right after the seminar. This was partly due to being on call tonight and partly to get back to Liverpool in time for our Open Mic Night. I made the journey from Edinburgh once again in superfast time and arrived at about 10pm, a bit late to sing but in time to be given almost a hero’s welcome at the door, hugs all round. That was lovely, and made the long journey worthwhile!
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