Words

Exactly five months after I hefted my pack upon my shoulders and walked out of the house in Townsville, I walked through the door of my new home in Edinburgh and set it down. My housemates picked me up from the bus station and we had a pint in a Scottish pub in the way home.

The luxuries of having a semi-permanent home are countless. The same bed, every night for the next month. Clean clothes when I want them. A decent kitchen. Sharp knives. A circle of friends that stays the same for more than two nights. My housemates are just fantastic – Paul, Tash and Kate.

I took a bus from San Sebastian to Bilbao, a flight from there to London Stansted, and a bus from there right into Westminster, where I spent two nights with my friend Annie at The Cardinal, the pub where she works. During the day I wandered the streets of Victoria and Westminster, and in the evening we went to a show – Monty Python’s Spamalot – and then for curry. A quintessential London experience, I think.

I get airport euphoria. Normally when I’ve flown it’s a large distance, which equals culture shock, which I love. Arriving in London wasn’t quite culture shock, although the only anglophone I encountered between the plane and the bus was my immigration official, who was Romanian anyway. Nevertheless, I was a little giddy, finally arriving in London. It’s an exciting city, with enough differences from home to make it interesting. It’s my first time in an English-speaking nation for five months, and it’s quite a novelty being able to ask for directions. People seem to ask me for directions quite frequently, which seems to be a rather stupid thing to do, especially when I’m wearing a backpack, quite the giveaway that I’m probably not a local.

The morning after the show, I took a bus from the Victoria coach station to Edinburgh – covering most of the length of England in about seven hours. It feels strange to drive for that long and not really pass any uninhabited areas. About an hour before Edinburgh, we passed Dunbar, the town where my last Scottish ancestor ran away from home and to Australia, about two hundred years ago. Sometime soon I’d like to make a trip back.

Edinburgh itself is a beautiful city. I’m here for the duration of the Fringe, and while I haven’t yet been to any gigs, the street atmosphere is fantastic. I think this will be a good month.