Yesterday I left Edinburgh, after six years of living there, with a heavy heart (and heavier bags). Whilst it must be said that I am incredibly excited for what London holds for me, going back to University and the prospect of spending more time with a couple of my favourite people I feel a few words need to be said about the city that I have loved and left. Apologies. This could get heartfelt and gross...
Beyond the beautiful architecture (and it is beautiful), the cold weather (and it is bloody cold) and the fringe festival is a city full of hidden gems. The things Edinburgh is famed for don't fail to disappoint but down quiet alleyways, in unassuming church halls and nestled behind hills are myriad treats unique to Embra. We discovered music that takes you out of the city to windswept northern islands, played by the friendliest people in wooden halls across the city. We found a secret wild west town a street away from our house, a wonderful garden woodland behind Blackford Hill, we climbed mountains, walked along rivers, published books, rowed boats, ate well, and bought more books and prints than we knew what to do with!
I love Edinburgh the way I love no other place I've ever been. Even through the cold, dark winters and a time when I was very sad there were things in Edinburgh that never failed to pull me through (predominantly coffee and a vanilla fruit bun from Peter's Yard.) There is something in the air perhaps, or a way of being in the people that live there, that propels you forward. The right yellow-y autumn light on a tall Edinburgh building and your heart soars. Its a fact.
Finally, and this is dull for most of you but in case the relevant people are reading, I shall miss my friends. The people who put up with me being socially useless, who joined the silly book club I set up and revealed themselves to be wonderful opinionated and eloquent, who accompanied me on trips to the coffee shop on a weekly basis and who dressed up 1960s style to quench my need for a Mad Men birthday party. Its hard not to sound smug but the people that I've met over the past few years are some of the warmest, funniest, wisest and most talented people I could ever have dreamt of calling my friends. Having never really been a person with hundreds of friends, I have been happy to have found a tidy handful to spend my time with. In them I have found a way to be more myself (urgh, this is getting schmaltzy) and have been constantly amazed by their creativity, noble endeavours, bravery and baking skills! Leaving them behind has been the biggest wrench and one that will pull me back to Edinburgh again and again. Here's to you gang! You're all splendid.
So now to the future! I start my masters soon, and I have one or two schemes in the offing that should be revealed soon. I hope you folk continue to follow this blog whilst I settle into life here. Hopefully there'll be lots of posts in the future as I get to grips with big city life!
