Edinburgh to London

Writing from the train again. Got up this morning and found breakfast at the Elephant House, which is the coffee shop where JK Rowling wrote at least the first Harry Potter book. I had a cheese and tomato croissant with coffee, and looked out the window to note that from said window, one has a clear view of the castle, which looks remarkably like Hogwarts. It is also difficult to ignore that one of the menu items is “Fleur’s delight” and that the Kirkyard round the corner is home to a poet with the last name McGonagall. Love it. We cruised around Grayfriar’s Kirk (a cemetery) and it was most excellent on this crisp morning. We then trolled around a bit waiting for the church to open, went inside and visited, then back to the hotel to check out. We grabbed sandwiches, crisps and sodas for the train trip. I’m amazed by the potato chip flavors here. Even in brands that are the same as the U.S. (like Pringles), one can easily find flavors such as “Prawn Cocktail” or “Roasted Chicken” or “Thai Curry” or “Worcestershire,” the latter of which are actually rather tasty.

This train journey is far more enjoyable because there are fewer stops and the daylight hours are breathtaking. We had a seaside view for the first hour coming out of Scotland and I could only imagine how cold that water must be. The wind here is fierce and bitter cold, and my perpetual thought in the last couple of days is how on earth people survived here in the pre-modern period. How did they not ALL die of plague and exposure in a time before gore-tex and microfleece and vaccinations? It’s unimaginable and it sheds light on just how perfectly harsh the conditions must have been.

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Got into London and found our flat, which is super cute! It’s right in the center of the city and round the corner from the Holborn Tube station. There’s plenty of walking to be done here and it’s nice to know that when one is exhausted and cranky, one can return to home base with some relative ease. The flat is basically hotel room with two twin beds, but it also has a full kitchen and a nice bathroom, as well as television, workspace, free wi-fi, laundry facilities, and ample closet space. I find it remarkable that a place such as this is so inexpensive (relative to London, that is). It’s less to stay here than the place I stayed last year, and that one was much dumpier, older, and had far fewer amenities.


More to come...