Edinburgh

Booking a ticket departing at midnight, arriving seven am the next day, saying “sleeper” on the ticket and on the train, I figured I would get a berth. Or a chair that would flatten. Or something that one can sleep on. In India the British legacy leaves a smoothly functioning train system, with three or four types of sleeper trains, the cheapest one features berths only, and the most expensive one providing pillows and blankets and wake-up tea and what not. So after drinks and dinner last Friday in The City, with David, Roswitha plus bf, and some friends of theirs, I headed well ahead of departure for Euston station, with the nice prospect of a good night’s sleep while thundering through nightly meadows and agricultural land to final destination Edinburgh. Well, the only thing that made this train a sleeper was that its passengers are provided with a unit to cover one’s eyes with when sleeping with the light still on. And that was it. Regular chairs, which couldn’t be moved, and the heating so strongly on fire that whenever I dozed off I wake up from the warmth shortly afterwards. So you may understand my physique Saturday morning when walking through the awakening Scottish capital wasn’t best prepared for an awesome weekend with my ex-co-trainees (Minke Julia Iris Quin Bob Roelant) from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, almost two years back already. But apparently the torrential student’s rhythm that my body was once used to left a legacy of its own, as I felt great during the morning and afternoon and evening and night until I fell asleep at four pm, after a wonderful day out and about, cooking at home (@ Minke’s) and pubbing and clubbing until late. Climbing the mountain, pub lunch, catching up with our differently evolving lives since the time that we were all interns at BZ… Great times, great reunions, and the vibe was at it always had been, even though we hadn’t been together in this composition for well over a year. I loved it!!

The preceding week was a great one too. Sunday brunch and fireworks with Vasiliki and Michael, Monday watching Skyfall with David, Tuesday watching football with Martijn and Marjolein (Dutch colleagues from work), Wednesday running ten miles through nightly London, and Thursday muscle ache and drinks at the Australian High Commission (they don’t have an embassy). Each droplet of leisure time available is filled with great undertakings, sometimes alone, mostly in lovely company. Coming home from Edinburgh today already felt a bit like truly coming home, a most peculiar feeling I developed in New Delhi, Katowice, and Sanmenxia as well, and which is already materialising here too. Two months have passed, only two more weeks to go. Which I will enjoy to the fullest!