PICS - EDINBURGH

1. Manchester to Edinburgh in the 'Dash'
2. Our (first) place - 11 Albion Pl. First morning. Not so bad after all
3. The weather (which has been great, especially the first week. Shorts and tees even!) Apparently we shed 10-15 degrees and a few hours of daylight in the next 4 weeks...

PICS - ABU DHABI

1. Lucas says 'Hi'
2. Le Meridien
3-4 Lucas savouring the local cuisine. (Lucas has seen me shut my eyes when enjoying particularly good food and loves to ham it up!)
5. Boys in the pool

WALKABOUT

It has been 2 weeks since we left Sydney, seems longer with all the varied experiences and challenges packed into those 14 days. We walked some of Holyrood park, up to 'Arthur's Seat' - this great wild craggy, hilly range right in the heart of Edinburgh. Complete with 500 y/o chapel ruins.  We all loved it, Lucas especially enjoyed the descent - running out of control down the steep slopes. (pics and video to come!) We have done some walking this past 2 weeks, After suburb and soul searching we have a home to go to - we have a lease on a 3 bedroom flat in Trinity Court in Trinity - a really nice green suburb next to parks and botanical gardens, walking distance to the ocean and near enough to town and Leith. (interesting, somewhat grungy port suburb) Yesterday we looked at a kindy for Lucas - a couple are starting one in Jan. They are really qualified and passionate, and met us at the site to show us around. It is stunning - this amazing old stone building with things like round rooms, big windows, great old details inside, amazing gardens... Just the kind of people and place I would have hoped for for Lucas. He will start there early Jan. We have done a fair bit of walking, the child care walk was an 8-9 km round trip (we added a bunch of extra stops) so the buggy has been invaluable - worth the airport stress!  I have had some nice catch ups with (cousin) Guy a couple of times, we took the boys (he has a near 1 y/o) to a local kids' pool, and had breakfast together this morning while we watched the French rugby team deliver a 'passion and flair' clinic for the English side.  Things are coming together, the lease will mean we can get bank accounts, phone, proper Internet, get set up for work, join libraries, find decent local coffee... all the essentials! 

FIRST DAYS

The weather is warm this first week - 20‘s and clear, warm nights. I am wondering if all the weather complaints are a local conspiracy to keep visitors away (I will get mine...) lucas is correcting from jetlag one hour at a time, which means he is up and rearing to go at 3.30am on morning one, 4.30 morning two, he has about equalised now. Our Albion Place accommodation is right next to the big Edinburgh soccer ground, so we are Hibernian fans. (when i got on a bus and asked if it went to 'Easter Road, where the Hibernian football stadium is' he replied 'you mean the greatest football team of all time' and insisted I ride for free! The Albion Pl stay is for  2 weeks so we have that time to find and secure long term accommodation. Hence we have been doing an intense tour of the Edinburgh suburbs and trying to work out 'what we want'. The buses are excellent, all the routes go from different points on the edge of the city to the other side through the centre. Because they are frequent and the city is pretty small, one can get from anywhere to anywhere in 1-2 trips and 20-40 mins. We are narrowing it down...

GROUND ZERO

After fumbling around at the airport trying to get some local currency, we caught the airport bus into the city. The challenge of bundling the aforementioned excessive baggage onto the bus in time was topped only by the challenge of getting it all off. 'You'd better hurry mate' was the helpful exhortation from the driver. I feel a little unsettled leaving Kath, Lucas and the mound of bags on George Street as I head off to find an ATM and a cab. The cabbie knows 'Albion Place' and we set off. The beautiful facades and flash retail outlets give way to progressively grungier old apartment buildings and we arrive, tired and bewildered, at number 11 Albion Place. The door is locked and 1/floor 3 is not marked on the intercom so we buzz a few of the places hoping to get lucky. Nope. The arrangement was to meet the landlord out front at 8 and by 10 past we are talking about getting another cab to a hotel. But when some guys arrive and someone buzzes them into the building, I follow them in and head up to 1/floor 3. I pass a shady looking guy on the stairs, get to the top and knock on the door a few times. No answer, but the shady looking guy asks who I am looking for. He turns out to be the landlord of course. We lug the bags up and he shows us around the little apartment. The place has a fresh coat of paint and a new faux timber 'floating' (rolling, creaking) floor. I am wondering what we've come to. After beans and eggs on polish bread, we try out the beds. The morning's assessment is much brighter. The apartment is actually pretty charming. We overlook a graveyard ('the neigbours are quiet' was the landlord's gag) and some beautiful old buildings. The kitchen is well kitted out and there are some interesting little shops on the main street. Muggings here seem less certain than they did last night. And the weather is warm and clear. Like in the 20's. The locals don't know what's going on. Fine with us for the moment though.