Another Great Show

Royal Lyceum

One of the aspects we like about being in Edinburgh is the abundance of arts and theater. Recently Beth enjoyed a musical at the Royal Lyceum Theater; it is Scotland's leading producing theatre. The theater is located not far from our Stockbridge neighborhood; a walk past the Edinburgh Castle takes you there.

Since it has had only four minor renovations in its almost 200-year history, it remains largely in its original and unaltered Victorian state. One of those renovations involved installing electricity for house lighting, the first theater in Scotland to do so.

 

Irn-Bru

Grocery Store

A recent post focused on coffee drinking. Let's take a look another drink. We are talking about the most popular soft drink in Scotland; it out sells Coca-Cola as well as all other competitors. The drink is Irn-Bru. It is  very sweet, carbonated, fruity, and it has ten times the caffeine of Coca-Cola; yikes. It has been around over 100 years and is exported all over the world. Scotts each drink upwards of 10 gallons of the orange colored soda per year.
 

Coffee

 

Coffee Shops

Back in the day, because the East India Company had a monopoly over the tea industry in Britain, tea became more popular than coffee, chocolate, and alcohol. Tea was seen as inherently British, and its consumption was encouraged by the British government because of the tax revenue.

Times have changed. Coffee is now in the lead. 63% of people in the UK drink coffee regularly, compared to just 59% of people who drink tea. And this suits Beth just fine. She holds our Stockbridge neighborhood in especially high regard because of all of the coffee shops. We are not talking about one or two, or even five or ten. In our neighborhood, which is rather compact, Beth has counted, there are almost 20 coffee shops. Virtually all of them are locally independently owned. One coffee shop also sells books, another plants, and another sells doggie items. Many have outside seating as well as inside. It is a social coffee culture.

Mail Management

Mail Slot

Receiving postal mail is as easy as can be here in Edinburgh. Virtually every address, including our flat, has a mail slot in the door. That makes it easy for us to continue receiving mail even when we are not here. It just piles up on the floor in the entryway inside our flat. Side note, virtually all of the mail we receive here in Edinburgh is junk mail or advertisements. But that is beside the point being made about how easy it is to get mail when not here.

In contrast, dealing with postal mail in the US when we are away is problematic. Same side note as above, virtually all of the mail we receive in Roanoke is junk mail or advertisements. Even so, we want to be aware of the occasional important item - never know when that Nigerian lottery will pay off ;-)

We have had the US Postal Service hold our mail while away, and we have picked that mail up upon returning. However, they will do that for a maximum of only one month. Limited benefit for when we are away on longer trips. We have also had the US Postal Service forward our mail to our son, more problematic since the forwarding has been erratic. We are aware of the option to subscribe to a mail forwarding service, rather expensive and just as erratic as having it forwarded to our son. So, we are doing about the only thing we have found that works consistently. We are having someone collect our mail on a frequent basis. She does this when she comes often to water our house plants and check on our house.

First Dinner Guest

Gumbo

Fun time. We had our first guest over to our flat for dinner last week, a friend we made from our hill walking club. She and Beth have become particularly good friends. They correspond regularly and have enjoyed theater, museum, coffee, and dinner outings together.

To be sure, we have been out to dinner at restaurants with friends, and we have had dinner in the homes of a couple of those friends. We have also cooked dinner for friends from the US who have visited us. However, this was the first Scotland friend we have had over for dinner.

Mike wanted to share a regional US dish, so he made a big pot of Louisiana gumbo. He said it was as authentic as he could make it considering that not all of the ingredients were available (had to substitute a mild Cumberland sausage for the normal spicy Andouille sausage). "Ith do shàth!" (eat to your satisfaction in Gaelic).
 

Gardens

Allotments

We see these everywhere, public plots used for vegetable gardening. They are called "allotments", and their history goes back hundreds of years. Edinburgh has about 30 allotment garden sites with almost 2,000 plots. Each plot is approximately 2,000 square feet and costs about $200 per year to rent (half plots and quarter plots are available). They are hugely popular with a waiting list of about 15 years. Yikes.

During WWII the demand for and number of allotments increased; given the rationing and shortages at that time, many found it was their only source of fresh produce. The term "Victory Garden" was popularized at that time. In recent times, pressure caused by high-density building has resulted in decreasing the amount of allotment land.
 

Learning Curve

Top Floor Flat

Since we have always owned our home, we have had no experience renting. Not in the US and certainly not in the UK. Consequently, we had to deal with a pretty steep learning curve when securing a place to live here in Edinburgh.

We needed a UK bank account even though we are US citizens. Then we needed periodically to transfer money from the US to our UK bank. Thankfully, that can be done without the traditional $50 (or more) international wire fee; we do it using the Wise online transfer company for only $10. And since utilities are not included, we had to arrange for gas service, water service, electric service, and internet service. We also had to figure out how to pay the property taxes. By the way, our two bedroom flat is shown in the picture:  top floor, end unit, with windows on all three sides.

 

Easter

Dumyat Summit

What a great way to spend Easter Day; we hiked with our hill walking club to Dumyat Summit (see photo). Since this was a "B' walk (walks are graded in increasing difficulty from "D" through "A"), we covered a fair number of miles, considerable elevation gain, with sections of difficult footing. We were rewarded with terrific weather and terrific views.

Here are some details. We walked one mile from our flat to the station to rendezvous with our club for the 9:30am train for a one-hour ride to a the Bridge of Allan village near the small city of Sterling (famous castle and battle). From there our group of group of 13 exited the train and immediately began proceeding up hill, initially through forest, then across and up treeless slopes. Views were limitless, as were the yellow blossoms of the shoulder height gorse shrubs. At about one hour before noon we stopped for "elevenses," the term for a coffee break at 11am. Most everyone hill walks with a thermos of hot coffee. Onward and upward. Dozens of others were out hill walking as well; easy to look out across the treeless hills and see them.

After a few more hours of hill walking we were rewarded by reaching Dumyat Summit where, after posing for a photo, we scurried to just below the wind blown summit to enjoy the lunches we brought. Mike surprised every one by handing out chocolate Easter eggs. From that vantage point we could see the Sterling castle and the River Forth in the distance; nearer by we could see the the roofs of dozens of bonded Diago storehouses (Diageo is a British multinational alcoholic beverage company that owns a vast portfolio of brands, including well-known liquors like Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky, Smirnoff vodka, Baileys cream liqueur, Captain Morgan rum, and Guinness stout). We could also see the elaborate victorian stone tower commemorating William Wallace (he led his Scottish troops to victory over the invading British at The Battle of Stirling Bridge).

We descended along on a different path that eventually wound through the beautiful University of Sterling campus and then back to the Bridge of Allen village where, as is customary, we stopped at a pub (which thankfully for Beth, also served coffee latte). After another train ride we were back in Edinburgh where we walked back to our flat in time for a late dinner. By the way, the round trip train ride cost only $11.00 each.

 

Cost of Living

Supermarket

When we compare the cost of living in Edinburgh with that of Roanoke we see that rental housing is more expensive in Edinburgh and groceries are less expensive.

Average home price Roanoke $400K - Edinburgh $450K

Average monthly rent Roanoke $1,350 - Edinburgh $2,400

Average monthly utilities Roanoke $300 - Edinburgh $300

Average monthly grocery Roanoke $650 - Edinburgh $500

Half gallon of milk Roanoke $1.80 - Edinburgh $2.80

Cup of coffee latte Roanoke $4.50 - Edinburgh $5.50

                                                Pint of Guinness beer Roanoke $6.00 - Edinburgh $6.65 

Groceries

 

Grocery Shopping

Since we cook most all of our meals, grocery shopping is a necessity. And since we are enjoying a car-free lifestyle, grocery shopping is a bit different from what we do in the US. Here, we walk. And when we walk, we carry our groceries back to our flat in the daypacks we normally use for our hill walks (see photo). And since each daypack holds less than one normal plastic grocery bag back in the US, we grocery shop often. Speaking of plastic grocery bags, there are none. No paper bags and no produce bags. If you need a bag, you purchase or bring a reusable one.

Because we emptied our refrigerator when we last departed our flat, we had quite a bit of grocery shopping to do upon our arrival this trip. In fact, we grocery shopped every day for the first five days here. Now our refrigerator, freezer, and pantry are full. Our favorite Superstore (what a supermarket is called here) is a two-mile walk each way; our second favorite is a ½ mile walk each way. Plenty of small grocery-marts are close to our flat.

Since Mike likes to cook (yes, he really does), he says he enjoys doing the grocery shopping, something about the new and different choices as he roams up and down the aisles. Eggs are not refrigerated, venison is always available as is fresh salmon, the variety of cheeses is off the charts, lamb is plentiful as are fresh-baked breads... 

Volunteering

Volunteering

Six of one, a half-dozen of the other. Popular expression about a pair of items being of equal importance. That is how we feel about this trip to Scotland. A lifestyle trip, and a volunteer trip. As far as volunteering goes, Beth is ahead of the game.

When we were here last summer she contacted one of the historical churches; Saint Cuthbert's Church is located in the Old Town section of Edinburgh just a short walk from our flat. Since they were in need of a personable visitor guide for their historic building, they invited her to stop by for coffee and a chat. Before the end of the chat, and I am not making this up, Beth began volunteering. That's right, when a bunch of visitors showed up, Beth took the initiative to greet them and offer them information. She is a natural.

The other volunteer initiative she took when we were here last was to contact a local hospital:  Western General. It is located about a mile from our flat. After all, she has been volunteering three days a week at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for years; why not try similar here. Since that hospital, as well as virtually every other medical facility in the UK, is under NHS (National Health Service), Beth found herself engaged in a very long and involved volunteer application/screening/training process. That process even involved fingerprinting and a FBI background check. After clearing all of those hurdles, the last step is for her to meet soon with her volunteer supervisor and establish job duty and schedule specifics. 

Supplements

Supplements

Here is a practical matter for people in a certain phase of life. Supplements (see photo). That's right, we are talking about fiber supplements and vitamin supplements. And we are talking about bringing a large supply in our airplane carry-on luggage, much easier and less expensive than buying here. Besides, we couldn't find a suitable Benefiber substitute anywhere over here when we previously looked.

Yea, I know, this is fascinating (sarcasm). Like I said, a certain phase of life. And since we will be here on this trip for six months, we carried a lot of supplements. We carried so many that we received special attention from the TSA officers at the Roanoke airport when we tried to progress through security. It turns out that some ne'er-do-wells actually disguise powerful/deadly street drugs in supplement containers. Similar for cocaine and other powdered narcotics, packaged in containers of fiber supplement. Who knew. Well, TSA sure knew. We didn't. But now we do. After TSA performed some testing on our supplements and after they asked us some questions, we were allowed to bring them on the plane. I am guessing that our names have been added to a list somewhere...
 

Six Months

Six Months

We are here for six months. To be sure, that is a long time, which is what we very much wanted. We like long trips. In fact, if you ask Mike, he will share an empirically derived math formula about trip duration. That is what engineers do. Skipping over the math, suffice to say that a six month trip is astronomically better to us than a one week trip.

We have gone on a couple of six month trips before. We volunteered in Hungary with Habitat for Humanity for six months, one of the best times of our lives. We went to Tanzania to volunteer for six months; since that trip ended up being one of the worst times of our lives, we cut it short. We previously tried to do a six month volunteer trip to Edinburgh; Covid cut that one short. So here we are, optimistic and excited about this six month trip.

To state what is perhaps obvious, it takes a bit of preparation to be gone for six months. Sure, the downsized house in a HOA community helps, as do the automatic backup generator for that house, the security system and cameras, the internet thermostats, the internet water control, the internet smoke detectors, and the internet yard irrigation. However, mail can only be held for one month (and forwarding overseas is a non-starter), indoor plants need watering, adjustments need to be made to auto insurance, the refrigerator had to be cleaned out, cars prepped for inactivity, last minute doctor and dental appointments were needed... On and on. Good thing we have a master check list.

Furnished Flat

Bed Linens

We took occupancy of our flat last year. And, since it was fully furnished, we were able to move in without much effort. Last summer, we arrived for a month with a couple of large suitcases packed with sets of clothes that we have now left in the flat. Bed linens were the only thing we had to purchase. While here, we reconnected with friends we had not seen for two years, and we rejoined our hill walking club.

Last autumn (they don't say fall here), we enjoyed a full two months in Edinburgh in what we now consider to be our second home. Our hill walks took us through some spectacularly colored foliage and through some especially fierce winds. As the season progressed we experienced some early winter heavy frost and light snow. Mike is proud of the fact that he is the only member of the club who went on every single hill walk during those two months. Actually, he went on a third hill walk with friends each week as well. Maybe he is trying to be a Scot...

 

Back in Scotland

Travel Packs

We are back in Scotland in Edinburgh.

But first, the backstory. After spending the entire summer here in 2022, and having the time of our lives, we developed a plan that would allow us to spend considerably more time here.

That plan involved selling our Roanoke house and downsizing into something that would facilitate taking long trips; we moved one mile into a HOA community where we could rely on others to take care of our yard. We then took occupancy of a flat in Edinburgh. It is in the Stockbridge neighborhood where we have stayed during all previous Edinburgh trips; terrific location. Now, it is relatively easy for us to come and go as often as we like for as long as we like. Sweet.

And since the flat is fully furnished, we can make the trip with not much more than travel packs on our backs (in the photo we are standing in front of Saint Stephen's Church wearing travel packs - our flat is next to the church).