The train is pulling into the station. It is already close to 10 PM, we have heard from Queena, she and Sarah have made it to the AirBnB. The long day full of uncertainties is beginning to close down. Back in the States it is not quite 5 PM, so we have plenty of stored daylight in our woke bodies. The exit from the station is all up steps and escalators. Tina and I walk out into the opened street, our bags weigh us down. It has been raining and the temperature is in the low sixties. There is an open air resturant and bar to our left. A band is playing Country Roads, “Almost Heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains,” I hope they are not giving it their best shot, for if they are I should join them. I feel for the thumbpick hanging on the necklace I am wearing around my neck. Tina is working to catch a signal on her phone so we can call an UBER to take us to the AirBnB where our party of souls can reconnect. The main drag we are on is four lanes across. A bus stop is in front of us and the traffic on this side of the street is coming from the left. I am already feeling disoriented and at a disadvantage. After much reorienting to receive the best signal, Tina finally catches and signals an UBER who is arriving in the next five minutes. A bus comes from the left and stops. The bus is two stories tall, it is a skyscraper on wheels. Not only that, but it sneaks up on a person from the left out of the blue. This is just not right.
Tina says our driver should be just around the block from where we are standing. I look across the street at what seems like a dangerous foray into the unknown. Loaded down with bags, I am on all alert. But I see a car round the corner across the street to our left, it pulls to the curb and lights flash once or twice. I tell Tina, I think this is our ride. From where we are standing, we are not certain if the UBER would find us or we would find the UBER, or maybe something in between. I cross the lanes of traffic, then come back, uncertain of my next move. I cross the road once more and I tell Tina to follow, with few options beyond blind luck, i believe this is our ride, in a city I have never set foot in and a part of the world I am totally unfamiliar with, this is my best guess, Tina crosses the road with me. At the car the driver asks, “Tina?” and we are on our way. Once again, our luck prevails.
The driver, from Poland, drives us through lit streets telling me about charity shops, “there is one, this whole block is a line of charity shops.” I ask him, because I thought before packing my boots in the States, that I might just buy a pair of boots in a thrift store and then return them before our return home. But in the last minute, I packed my hiking boots nonetheless. (Good thing too). I found out before leaving the states, that the thrift stores are called charity shops in the UK. So I ask our driver about charity shops, just to show I am educated.
The city at night looks like any other city at night. I see a carnival in a field as we drive by. Our driver tells us the Fringe Festival is beginning this week in Edinburgh, is that why we are here? I tell him no, it is just a coincidence, but we plan to see what it is like tomorrow. He says everybody is here for the Festival. It will go on through the rest of August. The driver takes lefts and rights and all from the left side of the road. Eventually he delivers us to a corner where we all believe is the location of our AirBnB. Sure enough, there are Queena and Sarah waiting for us outside on the wet roadway.
We are all together now, the day is nearly over in Edinburgh, while back in Virginia it is still only late afternoon. The last 24 hours have been packed and I am ready for something to eat or drink or both. Our corner of the world, appears to be shutting down. Queena leads the four of us to our AirBnB. It is dark and smells dank; we walk up a set of stairs to the door of our “flat” I am thinking, reaching for the terminology of our new old world. Tina and I take a short tour and put our bags away, it is a relief to finally reach this destination, point B from point A. I am swimming in the accents, comfortable so far with understanding. I am in the wading pool in the world of travel. I am by no means fooling myself.
We decide it is time to check out the food situation. We exit the AirBnB into the damp and dark streets. The street lights cast more shadows against line of buildings along the streets. Shadows even Jack the Ripper could appreciate. Queena and Sarah have already explored the neighborhood shortly before our arrival. We find a possible spot to eat, Tuk Tuk Indian and Street Food , we walk inside. But this place is holding a private party and we weren’t invited. The menu posted on the entrance looked inviting but it will have to wait as a distant possibility in our short stop in the neighborhood. We cross the street and find The King’s Arms that looks like it is still serving. Once inside, I look around and see what must be regular customers warming regular spots. They eyeball the four of us. I ask the woman behind the bar if they might still be serving food. “No,” unfortunately. I make a mental note to check this out later, it looks like they might serve fish n chips in addition to scotch and beer. I am determined to explore the scotch here. We finally stop in an Indian restaurant, The Everest, that is still serving for another thirty minutes. We sit down at a table in the front by the window. The staff happily serve us wine and food and we happily eat and drink. It is all good, but I am surprised how early everything appears to shut down here. Then again it is Wednesday evening and we are on the outskirts of god knows where in Edinburgh, half way around the world.