A number of things struck me about this fair land during the first month I was here. Maybe they’ll strike you too. They’re in rough chronological order.<\/p>\n
Most buildings<\/a> in the Old Town near our flat are very old.<\/p>\n Our flat<\/a> was built in 1595. They all look old and weathered but very<\/em> cool.<\/p>\n This means ale<\/b> here. I started asking for lager (Staropramen, from Prague, is delicious), though I’ve developed a taste for beer now<\/p>\n Restaurants<\/a> and caf\u00e9s are about the same price as Australia for lunches, but more expensive at dinner. Fortunately, most seem to have table d’hote (cheap fixed price) menus as well.<\/p>\n For all the money and offices in Embra, there are no skyscrapers or office towers in the city centre. Yay!<\/p>\n I’m still not used to pounds vs. dollars. All money sums seem smaller. “What do you mean, only 25,000 a year?”<\/p>\n The local supermarket (Tesco’s) has a surprisingly good selection of fruits and especally prepared<\/a> vegetables. It also has haggis<\/a> (fresh, and TV dinner style). Prices are similar to Australia and NZ, except a few items like meat (even beef!) that are more expensive.<\/p>\n So far it has rained only very lightly, for about an hour or two at a time. Mostly I don’t need an umbrella; just a coat. It’s surprisingly easy just to walk around in the rain and not get significantly wet.<\/p>\n Of course there are lots of Scots accents<\/a> here. But foreign accents of all kinds are everywhere – nobody bats an eyelid at my accent. This is a very cosmopolitan town. Either that, or it’s just full of tourists.<\/p>\n The more I walk around, the more I see that there are huge numbers of caf\u00e9s and funky shops as well as pubs<\/a>. Cool!<\/p>\n For some reason, the people here with the really thick accents<\/a> are the ones who speak the fastest. Sometimes it’s hard even to understand “hello”.<\/p>\n Everything is close by (since I’m in the middle of the city) so I walk everywhere. My poor legs; I have never walked this much before.<\/p>\n The Causewayside area has an amazing number of antique, curio, bric-a-brac, etc. shops. You could fill a house with treasure or junk so easily.<\/p>\n People come and go all the time; something to do with the restaurant downstairs. Very busy, even with only five flats.<\/p>\n So many workplaces here seem to be so “open-plan” that there’s no reception area. When you walk in, you can see everybody in the office sitting at their desks. Weird.<\/p>\n The quality and variety of pre-prepared foods here (particularly at Marks & Spencers) amazes me. Everything from predone ingredients to entire meals. It almost takes away the incentive to cook. Almost.<\/p>\n We’re going to have to make a concerted effort to get to know them; there are so many, and so many good ones. Wollongong was a famine; this is a feast.<\/p>\n The view of the New Town, from above the Mound over Princes Street Gardens, is gorgeous<\/strong>. Fields, trees, old buildings, Northern sky: stunning.<\/p>\n It’s amazing how many big shops (e.g. Marks & Spencer and John Lewis) don’t accept payment by Visa. (It’s not quite “everywhere I want to be.”) I might as well just leave home without it.<\/p>\n People understand “caf\u00e9 au lait” here, but I suspect “latte” sometimes just means “hot milky drink”. Stands to reason, I suppose.<\/p>\n Lots of brands market their full range of products here. For example, Lea & Perrins don’t just make Worcestershire Sauce; they have an almost Heinzian variety. We only saw the tip of the iceberg down south.<\/p>\n The city is small but condensed, hence crowded. Still, amazing how easy it is to get a table in most places at lunchtime.<\/p>\n The streets are full of revelling students every night.<\/p>\n Late night in town is Thursday, but shops only open till about 8pm!<\/p>\n Is it an Edinburgh speciality? Or Scottish? Or British? Anyway, it’s tasty! Nothing beats the flavour sensation when the banana collides with the toffee and caramel.<\/p>\n An old (very) name for this town. A faint aroma of cat food permeates on some days; a nearby brewery or distillery, perhaps?<\/p>\n I had never heard this word before coming to Edinburgh. Now I’ve heard and seen it many times. It’s so ugly<\/em>!<\/p>\n This involved plagues of little kids in costume accosting us in restaurants asking for money. Little toads.<\/p>\n There’s a chain called “Pizza Express”. Six pounds<\/a><\/em> for a lunchtime mini-pizza?!<\/p>\n Snow, snow, snow. Little white happy flakes of fun. I love it. You can tell I’m new in town.<\/p>\n Much like a stuffed roast turkey, without the turkey. In a word, delicious. In fact, McSween’s vegetarian haggis (now there’s a conceptual nightmare) is also incredibly yummy.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A number of things struck me about this fair land during the first month I was here. Maybe they’ll strike you too. They’re in rough chronological order. Edinburgh buildings Most buildings in the Old Town near our flat are very … Continue reading Beer<\/h3>\n
Restaurants<\/h3>\n
<\/a>More buildings<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Pounds<\/h3>\n
Supermarkets<\/h3>\n
Rain<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Accents<\/h3>\n
Shops<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Scotspeak<\/h3>\n
Walking<\/h3>\n
Antiques<\/h3>\n
<\/a>My flat<\/h3>\n
Offices<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Food<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Pubs and restaurants<\/h3>\n
View<\/h3>\n
Visa<\/h3>\n
Latte<\/h3>\n
Groceries<\/h3>\n
Crowds<\/h3>\n
Night<\/h3>\n
Late night shopping<\/h3>\n
Banoffee pie<\/h3>\n
Auld Reekie<\/h3>\n
“Outwith”<\/h3>\n
Hallowe’en<\/h3>\n
Pizza<\/h3>\n
Snow<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Haggis<\/h3>\n