Dogs Aplenty

 

Lots of Dogs

Let's add dogs to the list of what Scots are fond of. We already know they are fond of cheddar cheese and walking. And, when we are out walking, we encounter dogs aplenty. Haven't seen a cat yet. This is not an overstatement, we see 50+ dogs per day while out on our walks. Scots are fond of dogs.

Interestingly, we have never heard a dog bark. Never had a dog jump on or threaten us. Never seen a dog without its owner. Almost never seen a dog on a lead. This is not to say those things don't happen, but we have not seen it. Pictured is a dog and owner we saw on a popular walking path. We asked ourselves how this can be; so many dogs, so well behaved. Now we can add one more item to the list of things Scots are fond of, dog behavior. The official Scotland Control of Dogs Act 2010 (updated in 2020) lays it all out in considerable detail. The Act states that dogs must be "kept under control effectively and consistently." It appears that Scots take this seriously, like a point of pride.

Cheddar Cheese

Lots of Cheddar

So, there we stand, in front of the display case in the supermarket; see photo. And we are a bit taken aback. We know from experience that Scots, as well others in the UK, like cheese. We do too. And, we have come to expect a wide variety of flavorful cheeses to be commonly available. This is true for the large supermarkets, for the small express grocery stores, and true in the extreme at the cheese shops. As an aside, we have two cheese mongers within but a short walk from our flat. Back to the point. We were taken aback by an entire display case of just one kind of cheese, cheddar. Who knew that the Scots had such a liking for cheddar. We found a wide variety of other cheese types in a separate display case. Let's hear it for cheddar cheese.

Speaking of grocery shopping. This is our fifth day in Edinburgh, and we have grocery shopped five times. That's right, we have shopped for groceries every day so far. Let me explain. Firstly, the refrigerator in our flat was empty. Since we intend to prepare most meals in the flat, you get the rest. Secondly, without a car, all of our groceries are being carried back to the flat in our daypacks or in a handheld grocery bag; limited capacity. Thirdly, our favorite grocery store (Sainsbury's) is a 1.7 mile walk each way; lucky that our second favorite (Tesco) is a mere half mile walk each way. Besides, one of Mike's hobbies is cooking. He actually enjoys grocery shopping, especially in different countries. Some like museums, he likes grocery stores...

Stockbridge Market

Stockbridge Market

We went to the Stockbridge Market today; it is located but a short walk from our flat. Since it is held every Sunday, we expect to return often. They had about 40 vendors selling crafts and foods; most of it local. The huge pans of Spanish Paella pictured gave off an irresistible aroma. This is quite a well-known market. After all, it has been going on since 1825; first across the street, then moving to its current location a century ago.

Here is a bit more local history. The Stockbridge name of our Edinburgh neighborhood is taken from Anglic stocc brycg, meaning a timber bridge. The bridge spans a stream running through Edinburgh named Water of Leith, which empties in two miles into an estuary named the Firth of Forth, which empties into the North Sea. Great names.

And, even a bit more local history. Our flat is in a building built 25 years ago; that is when the 19th century tannery complex and silver mill that stood here were redeveloped. We are on Silvermills Lane; named, naturally, after the former silver mill. Although the tannery complex is gone, as is the silver mill, the medieval routes of both East and West Silvermills Lanes were preserved in their entirety.

Much Daylight

City Vegetable Gardens

One of the many benefits of being in Edinburgh in summer is the daylight. We have a lot of it. 17+ hours. The sun is currently rising at 4:40AM and setting at 9:40PM. Take a look at a world map and you will see that Edinburgh's latitude is 800 miles north of Montreal, Canada. And since our top floor flat has so many windows, the light pours in. That is a real treat, especially compared to the heavily wooded siting of our house in Roanoke.

With so much daylight and with adequate rain, the conditions are perfect for gardens. We see them most everywhere we walk. Since we are in a city, most houses are connected in rows or stand alone but quite close to each other. Invariably, the yards we have seen are well-tended gardens. It seems to be a national value, and pride. Likewise, communal vegetable gardens are commonplace. The one pictured abuts one of the walking paths(greenways) we use, that are everywhere in the city.

Nice Flat

Exceeds Expectations

Wow, what a nice flat.

Since there is no comprehensive single centralized flat rental system for Edinburgh, we surfed many of the individual letting agency websites looking for something that suited us. The flat we were looking for had to be in the Stockbridge neighborhood, had to be in a quiet location preferably on the top floor, had to be fully furnished with utilities included, could be one or two bedrooms, and needed to fall within our price range. Well, when we were looking five months ago, when considerable uncertainty continued to exist about Covid and travel, the inventory of flat listings for the summer was quite limited. We found only one flat that looked like it would be suitable and immediately booked it. We hoped that the photos/description on the letting agency website were accurate.

Turns out, the flat exceeds all expectations. How nice is that. It is located on a dead end super quiet street very close to everything we wanted. It is a big bright top floor unit with plenty of windows on three sides in a recently constructed four story building. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and modern appliances and furnishings. We are thankful, pleased, and delighted.

Uneventful Trip

Edinburgh Airport

Well, the trip over was uneventful. That is about the best we can hope for in today's travel world. We picked up a one-way rental car in Roanoke, drove to Washington Dulles Airport, boarded an on-time United Airline flight with direct service to Edinburgh, quickly cleared customs, Uber'ed to the Letting office to pick up the key to our flat, Uber'ed to the flat, and settled in by 2PM. Total door-to-door travel time was 12 hours. Nice.

This contrasts sharply with the harrowing trip we had prematurely returning to the US from this very spot two years ago. Covid struck the UK seemingly overnight. One day we were out and about enjoying an event at the Edinburgh Castle. The very next day we packed and left our flat. Since the Edinburgh airport had just closed, we took a 6-hour train ride to London, overnighted in an airport hotel, boarded the very last flight from there to Washington Dulles, drove a one-way rental car to Roanoke, and quarantined for two weeks. Anything but uneventful.

Returning

We Are Returning

We are delighted to be returning to Scotland. After covid cut our trip short in 2020, we have been intending to return to Edinburgh and pick up where we left off. Our lifestyle there and the people we were getting to know really suited us quite well. We will spend June-August in Scotland.

We have rented a flat in the Stockbridge neighborhood in the capital city of Edinburgh; that is the same neighborhood we enjoyed previously. The flat is close to everything:  shops, restaurants, grocery, city center, transportation, and sights. We have rejoined the hiking club and are booked on several day hikes. Scotland, with its National Right to Roam law, is a hiker's paradise; all trails on public and private land are available. We will also be looking to book travel to other areas around the country. Should be fun.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _