i left my left ventricle in edinburgh - III
on sunday morning i packed my bag, straightened my hair, threatened to straighten nbb's hair for him, and then we got into his car and drove to n.b.'s place near Marchmont. goodbye stockbridge! we found him dumping the 'evidence' in a massive dumpster on leamington terrace. when we accosted him from behind, he looked positively jittery. i wonder what was in those bags..... dead ex girlfriend? annoying flatmate? don't underestimate n.b.'s abilities. he did once get arrested for rioting in delhi, so Inspector Rebus (who also lives in marchmont) would do well to keep an eye on our lad.
n.b.'s place is on the 5th (?), well top floor of a tenement building. his bright kitchen looks out at the castle. at the moment, there's a scaffolding on the castle facing side of the building, on which n.b. and his friends perch and drink whisky these light summer nights. it's sheer poetry. i had a very strong impression of cubic space in the building, with its stripped floors and high ceilings. square stairwell, square lobby, square bedrooms, square kitchen. rectangular loo... my own completely eccentrically shaped bedroom would occupy a third of n.b.'s room, and our entire flat would fit in the kitchen+ lobby of that tenement. the lucky thing, n.b.! and he pays some ridiculously small amount of rent even though the landlord has only managed to find occupants for 2 out of the 5 bedrooms! sigh.... i really should think of moving to Edinburgh.*
well, then we went shopping to a nearby Tesco in Bruntsfield Place, we saw a bit of n.b's lifestyle, with the pretty waitress serving free bruschetta samples on a street corner, with the meadows in the distance where our man plays footie with random lads most weekends, and we debated religion and politics in india for a short while. back at the flat n.b. and i started to cook up an indian foodstorm, while nbb helped, but got increasingly antsy as the hour of his paramour's arrival came nearer. we cooked, she came, we sat down to eat, and n.b.'s spanish girlie friend (as different from girlfriend), arrived. much like a whirlwind, she cut bread, slapped up a salad and poured some sparkling rose. awesome way to spend a sunday afternoon, stretching lunch on forever.
all too soon, it was time to walk me to the station. people in the meadows were sitting bravely through a spitty rain shower on their picnic. they all (not the meadows people, just our lunch gang) came 'til the platform, indian style. as the train pulled out, i didn't feel excited about going back to london at all. this has really never happened, ever since i've lived in london. wherever i go, the thought of coming back home always excites me; it's thrilling to think of coming back to my city, my metropolis, my life in the big time. on this occasion, i watched the stones on the station walls slip by and thought, i'd left something here that i'd miss in london. maybe i'd found something instead of losing it. very weird. i never wanted to be the kind of londoner who suffers the city instead of enjoying it. i don't think that i am one yet, but being in edinburgh and loving it was very galling. i caught myself repeating those cliches about the tube, the air, the simpler life... i almost cheated on london.
the trip had another pleasant surprise to offer. the train took the east coast route, 'til Newcastle, and the views of the North Sea were gorgeous. Wild and windy scenes with massive waves and empty shores... scotland and the north are not your tame english meadowful countryside.
home felt good after all. but edinburgh was unsettling. it made me question if i am 'settling' for london. and i remained unsettled for more than a week, until i went for a salsa class with ex boy number one / beardyman, spent an uncharged and fun evening with him (pretending that he is nbb is a very good tactic), and felt nothing afterwards. the music stopped and i went home happy and complete. if the story must have a moral, it is that doing what i want to do makes me feel good. and i am at the happy point in my life where i never have to do anything that i don't want to do. Except things like filing tax returns.
goodbye edinburgh. you're beautiful, it's true. but i'm already taken.
*except that i won't. London is still my chosen and beloved home. the trip to auld reekie turned my head a little, but crushes are like that.
n.b.'s place is on the 5th (?), well top floor of a tenement building. his bright kitchen looks out at the castle. at the moment, there's a scaffolding on the castle facing side of the building, on which n.b. and his friends perch and drink whisky these light summer nights. it's sheer poetry. i had a very strong impression of cubic space in the building, with its stripped floors and high ceilings. square stairwell, square lobby, square bedrooms, square kitchen. rectangular loo... my own completely eccentrically shaped bedroom would occupy a third of n.b.'s room, and our entire flat would fit in the kitchen+ lobby of that tenement. the lucky thing, n.b.! and he pays some ridiculously small amount of rent even though the landlord has only managed to find occupants for 2 out of the 5 bedrooms! sigh.... i really should think of moving to Edinburgh.*
well, then we went shopping to a nearby Tesco in Bruntsfield Place, we saw a bit of n.b's lifestyle, with the pretty waitress serving free bruschetta samples on a street corner, with the meadows in the distance where our man plays footie with random lads most weekends, and we debated religion and politics in india for a short while. back at the flat n.b. and i started to cook up an indian foodstorm, while nbb helped, but got increasingly antsy as the hour of his paramour's arrival came nearer. we cooked, she came, we sat down to eat, and n.b.'s spanish girlie friend (as different from girlfriend), arrived. much like a whirlwind, she cut bread, slapped up a salad and poured some sparkling rose. awesome way to spend a sunday afternoon, stretching lunch on forever.
all too soon, it was time to walk me to the station. people in the meadows were sitting bravely through a spitty rain shower on their picnic. they all (not the meadows people, just our lunch gang) came 'til the platform, indian style. as the train pulled out, i didn't feel excited about going back to london at all. this has really never happened, ever since i've lived in london. wherever i go, the thought of coming back home always excites me; it's thrilling to think of coming back to my city, my metropolis, my life in the big time. on this occasion, i watched the stones on the station walls slip by and thought, i'd left something here that i'd miss in london. maybe i'd found something instead of losing it. very weird. i never wanted to be the kind of londoner who suffers the city instead of enjoying it. i don't think that i am one yet, but being in edinburgh and loving it was very galling. i caught myself repeating those cliches about the tube, the air, the simpler life... i almost cheated on london.
the trip had another pleasant surprise to offer. the train took the east coast route, 'til Newcastle, and the views of the North Sea were gorgeous. Wild and windy scenes with massive waves and empty shores... scotland and the north are not your tame english meadowful countryside.
home felt good after all. but edinburgh was unsettling. it made me question if i am 'settling' for london. and i remained unsettled for more than a week, until i went for a salsa class with ex boy number one / beardyman, spent an uncharged and fun evening with him (pretending that he is nbb is a very good tactic), and felt nothing afterwards. the music stopped and i went home happy and complete. if the story must have a moral, it is that doing what i want to do makes me feel good. and i am at the happy point in my life where i never have to do anything that i don't want to do. Except things like filing tax returns.
goodbye edinburgh. you're beautiful, it's true. but i'm already taken.
*except that i won't. London is still my chosen and beloved home. the trip to auld reekie turned my head a little, but crushes are like that.
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