Off to Edinburgh we go!!
So, after much deliberation, planning, discussing and more deliberation, we finally took the plunge and here we are in Edinburgh! For a while now we have wanted to spend a bit of time living in the UK, and what with me being made redundant and Glenn free to work from wherever there's internet, we thought now was as perfect a time as any. So, over the next year Glenn is planning on continuing his web business from here in Edinburgh and I am undertaking a PG Diploma in Career Guidance and Development at the local Edinburgh Napier University. This blog will act as a bit of a diary for us, and an update for you all on what we've been up to (if you're interested!!)
Just to get you up to date, we got the boat over from the IOM on 24th September, and have spent the first few days settling into our new pad in Morningside, getting induction out of the way at Napier Uni, and more importantly, finding out where our local cafes and bars are 🙂
I can't believe we haven't even been here a week yet (it's Friday evening), we're feeling a lot more settled in than I thought we would by this stage. The flat we're renting was unfurnished, but we bought the bed and kitchen stuff from the previous tenant which meant we had a bed to sleep in from Day 1. We were very lucky earlier this week, spotting a gumtree advert for a business in the city centre getting rid of their furniture as they were closing so we picked up an IKEA sofa, 2 wicker chairs, 2 lamps, bin, some computer screen thing for Glenn and a pack of highlighters for me (?!) for £105 in total. So the flat is looking more like a home now, although we are still in need of a dining table and chairs and a few other accessories (which will be one of the weekend's tasks).
Morningside itself is a lovely little suburb just 2 miles south of Edinburgh city centre. There's a nice mix of students and families here, and the housing in the area ranges from tenement flats (where we live) to hug detached properties in lovely leafy streets. Down or just off the main high street you'll find a couple sports bars, an old man's pub, posh pubs, coffee bars, little Italian cafes and restaurants, Indian restaurants, cinema, Waitrose, Tesco, charity shops, little shops selling unique furniture/jewellery/home accessories etc so plenty to visit right on our doorstep.
My uni is about 4 miles west of Morningside in Sighthill...a fairly industrial area with not a lot going on except traffic and flats. I guess that means I'll be able to focus on my studies when I'm there at least! The view back towards the city from uni is pretty nice though, and it was a very nice feeling coming back to the flat from Day 1 in uni...so I'm definitely happy with the location of our little abode for the year.
Hoping to get the rest of the furniture sorted this weekend, along with a visit to the 24 hour ASDA to stock up on our essentials and perhaps a walk into the city centre. There's meant to be a good walk from Morningside up to Blackford Hill so we'd like to get that in too if the weather stays fine!