Here in Edinburgh...

“This is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful it breaks the heart again and again.”

Alexander McCall Smith

They're from Glasgow, but still. This is a good song to listen to by a Scottish band while reading. 

Edinburgh is a place on this planet that seems to exist outside the normal flow of time. Though it has it's share of Kentucky Fried Chickens, Starbucks and even once held a Microsoft Corporate Office, it blends these reminders of the modern era seamlessly into it's beautiful foundation of weathered and moss-covered structures. Some of which have stood for nearly one thousand years. At the top of the Royal Mile sits Edinburgh Castle with it's many turrets and out-of-use moats. This structure seemingly has no place in a metropolitan area of today, and yet, there it stands both set apart in historical magnificence and blending in with the overall timbre of the city.

Parthenon? No. Unfinished awesomeness.

You may have noticed that I am a bit of a fan of architecture. It's shouldn't be surprising to you then, that every place we stop on this adventure, I am in awe of. Growing up in Chicago (home of some of the best cityscape architecture, covering a plethora of styles and eras), I was raised on the importance of being proud of the structures that raised well above my head as if in defiance of the skies. To see some of the monuments and testaments to human ingenuity in person solidifies my opinion of the best humanity has to offer. We can get shit done.

The Royal Mile from atop Nelson's Monument.

Edinburgh's Royal Mile at night.

We arrived in Edinburgh early on Monday after getting up at 3:30 a.m. and taking an hour long taxi ride to the smaller London-area airport (Gatwick). Though the plane ride was only an hour and a half, it was an exhausting trip and by the time we got to our hostel around 9:30, all we wanted to do was sleep. Again.

Thankfully, the check in time wasn't until 2 p.m., so we were forced to find something to do until that time. With so much beauty and not much energy to enjoy it, we found a nearby park and settled into a park bench. Princes Street Gardens is a former pond, drained and turned into parkland. Edinburgh is one of the most serene and peaceful major cities you will ever encounter. Perhaps it's the constant rain or the unending reminders of ancestry, but there seems to be an overall respect for the serenity of nature and the joys that come with it. As all my worries and pains began to be swept away with the gentle Forth breeze, my consciousness also began to be wicked away, rolling down the gentle, evergreen grass hill in front of me. Sun is rare in Edinburgh (so I'm told), so for us to fall asleep on a sun-drenched park bench as the most corpulent, white clouds you've ever seen raced across, low in the sky, felt like a tiny slice of heaven.

Vicky sketches one of her mind's many hilarious images in Princes Street Gardens.

Being the most walkable urban area I've ever witnessed is another striking feature of Edinburgh. In the four days we've been here so far, we have walked countless miles and have been astonished that we continue to run into something incredible. Whether it be a new pub, narrow, winding staircase/alleyway (they call them 'closes' here) between buildings, delectable eatery or simply a free walking tour of the city to join, Edinburgh never ceases to entertain, educate or amaze. This is, simply put, the most inspiring city I've ever had the pleasure of setting foot in.

Looking down the original inspiration for Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter series.

Edinburgh is not just a grand, inviting cityscape, either. Oh sure, it's got a great vibe during the day and a wonderful nightlife, but if you can get yourself to one of the many high roads here, you'll see that it is surrounded (closely, might I add) by natural beauty. Arthur's Seat. The Firth of Forth. Calton's Hill. Between the otherworldly cloud cover, the jovial stories of the locals and the rhythmic breathing of the city, being here is being witness to a constant glorious dance between tangible history and future inspiration.

Vicky basks in the magnificence that is Greyfriat's Kirkyard (cemetary).

First Impressions...

Well, Blogosphere. We made it across the pond in one (very tired) piece! Though a bit worse for wear, thanks in large part to the 10 hour direct flight from Los Angeles, we made it to the UK, through customs, onto the London Underground (The Tube, Picadilly Line to the Central Line), met my brother to get his keys and to my brother's flat in Bethnal Green, whereupon we rediscovered an energetic spark!

No. No, we did not.

After regrouping and realizing we were, in fact, in another country, we dealt with the strange fact that our bodies said it was the middle of the night, but our accurately reconfigured watches said it was actually mid afternoon in sunny London. We dealt with it in the only way we knew how. We took a nap. Once awake, we plotted out our evening and proceeded to go with my brother to his and his wife's favorite watering hole, The Star of Bethnal Green.

The Star of Bethnal Green.

After a couple of rounds of ales and chips (fries, you non-British mooks), we headed back to complete our first foray into the Old World. A few things struck me as we lounged in the room dripping with wood and brass and history. For one, as much as I love Chicago because it is one of the few places in the U.S. that can claim 'history' as one of it's charms, I walked past a pub that had the date '1666' on it. I can no longer see faded daguerreotypes of people holding up glass mugs of beer in zoot suits without thinking that time period, once ancient to me, is actually more 'modern history' to the images conjured in the halls of some of London's more seasoned pubs. Seriously. People have been drinking at some of these places for nearly half a millennium. What. The hell.

The next morning, after coffee and crumpets (hell yes, those crumpets), Vicky and I went on our first of what promises to be many walks through the city. Traveling along the areas surrounding Bethnal Green Ave, Brick Ln, Whitechapel Rd, and Shoreditch High St on our way to the London Tower and the Tower Bridge was an absolutely special memory to create.

Vicky poses in an alleyway near Allen Park.

Once across the Tower Bridge, we took in the majesty of the Thames River from it's bank and marveled at the audacity of the fact that there has been a major civilized population there for nearly 2,000 years (even before Betty White was born).

What.

Despite being floored by a wave of awesome, Vicky had the wherewithal to take a quick sketch of the bridge from her point of view.

Seriously. You artist types...

After heading back towards Bethnal Green, we nipped into an area called Box Park in Shoreditch. We met a local, drank a local and played a few games of the UK's most famous sport... Ping Pong. All in all, an amazing first day and a half here, across the pond.

As we sat and decompressed after our 7 mile walkabout around just parts of Central London, I kept coming back to the same thoughts, not only am I making a once-in-a-lifetime trip come true (again), but I'm doing so with the most wonderful woman, the most wonderful person I have ever met. The person who was kind enough to call me 'husband.' My wife. All the history and all the Ping Pong and all the beer in the world will never make me lose sight of the fact that while traveling is an amazing adventure in and of itself, it pales in comparison to the adventure of creating memories with someone you love and who loves you enough in return to make you a better person along the way...

See you in the next adventure...