Accomodation Adventures in Edinburgh

A note imploring my dorm mates to wake me so I can check out and catch my bus after a late night out.

Wow, it's certainly been an exciting weekend!

Friday night, while out for drinks I realized I had no alarm clock and thus no way to ensure that I woke early enough for my 10 am check out and 11:30 bus. Solution? I wrote a note in my sketchbook and left it out on the table in my dorm.

"IF IT'S PAST 8 AM PLEASE WAKE DAN IN BED B AS HE HAS NO ALARM CLOCK"

Near 8 am I rose with a start and promptly collected the note from the table before anyone saw it.

Check out was uneventful but the bus ride to Edinburgh was beautiful. Lots of views of the water from the rolling green hills. Farm animals and giant wind turbines. Despite the late night before I stayed awake for most of the trip.

Arriving in Edinburgh

Mike and I reunited in Edinburgh.

The bus arrived close to St. Andrew's square where I waited outside for Mike to appear. It was an hour later, after trying to get Skype to work off a free connection and figuring out how to dial his number from a phone booth that I finally got through. All I heard was "turn around" and there he was.

It was then, lugging over sixty liters of backpack to his flat that Mike told me about recent problems he's been having with his landlord who doubled as flat mate.

The duration and conditions of my stay had always been fairly hazy but I was ready to move to a hostel if need be. However, Mike wanted to have other friends over in the future and it was difficult to arrange things when his landlord changed his mind so often.

A photo of me blocking the view of the North Bridge. And enjoying it, apparently.

Things got worse when he started drinking frequently and money became tight on both sides. Living together strained the relationship and Mike was noticeably anxious about the situation. His friends, including myself, advised that it might be time to move on.

After a quick bite and some exploring we headed back to his flat, exhausted. With Mike's computer science degree and mine in cognitive systems we couldn't get the internet to work on my laptop. I somehow managed to break it on his computer, too. Depressed and drained we gave up and called it a night.

Next morning Mike told his landlord he was thinking of moving out. An hour later we were hauling our combined belongings to the nearest hostel.

Another five hours and we had ourselves a new flat.

Oh, and it turns out the internet connection didn't work because his landlord had neglected to pay the bill.

Moving in to Bellevue St

On one wall in "the common area" hangs a huge laminated map covered in ink marking where tenants now and past have traveled.

The new place isn't as luxurious—he's gone from hardwood floors to blue lino-tile—but there's far more space and the flat mates and the folks who arranged the let have been very friendly. The room has a bed and a comfortable couch so I won't have to sleep on the floor!

It's almost like a hostel. We're sharing the place with four others: two girls from Spain and France and two guys from Scotland and Australia (I think). I've yet to meet most of them but have already gotten to know the scot a bit, a .NET and database programmer.

All that's left is to do a bit of paperwork tomorrow and put down the damage deposit or "bond" as they call it here. Despite my efforts before I left, I've been having trouble getting access to cash. Neither card worked at the bank machine so I did some phoning and discovered that both banks were undergoing maintenance. What are the chances?

Anyway, Mike's much more relaxed now and I feel good knowing where I'll be sleeping for the three weeks I'm in Edinburgh. My brief view of the city's been exciting and I can't wait to get started being a proper tourist!