This post may contain affiliate links that I earn a small commission from at no cost to you. Please see my disclosure page for information.

Edinburgh: An Old Town with a New Beginning

I’ve been living in Edinburgh again for two weeks now, after spending most of the last year living in the south of Spain. It’s not a completely unfamiliar place for me to move to – I used to live here in 2013 and 2014.

This time though, I’ve moved under very different circumstances, returning to join a fiancé that I didn’t have the last time I was here. Friends have left. Groups have changed. I’m living in an area I barely spent any time in before, and it’s familiar and completely different at the same time.

These musings were written in my first few days living in Edinburgh…

Moving to Edinburgh, Scotland

My skin feels drier.

The air is palpably different, although I couldn’t tell you how.

I think I’ve forgotten Spanish already, although it’s only been a day.

Edinburgh is like another lifetime in another world.

It’s grey, but not depressing. The blue sky peeks through the clouds, and the chimney stacks of old buildings reach to meet it.

I spot Arthur’s Seat in the distance through the bare branches of trees that tell me I’ve definitely gone back in seasons from the already burgeoning summer in Spain to what feels like the middle of winter.

I smile involuntarily.

HOME.

The word beats through me. It feels like it, not completely yet, but know it will.

The wind blows unseen raindrops that nip at my cheeks. I duck my head and continue on, hands buried deep in my coat pockets to combat the cold. A coat I had tailored in Vietnam, on my way to moving to Edinburgh the first time. I’ve really only ever worn it here.

Two women nudge past me along the footpath, pushing buggies and chattering in Spanish. I only notice the language is foreign when one of them says sorry in English as I move to the side to let them through.

Tesco is like a beacon of light against the grey of the surroundings.

Exploring supermarkets in new places is one of my favourite past times, and shopping for old favourites when I visit former homes. The prices here shock me for a moment. I’m not in Spain anymore. And I’m unemployed.

Still, I buy familiar things and think about how I’ll miss my favourites in Spain now.

Speaking in English at the checkout is strange. That will fade quickly I guess. I’m afraid a year of learning Spanish will be undone all too easily.

When I leave the supermarket I look the wrong way when I cross the street. At that moment I realise how much I have to get used to it again.

But I tell myself I’m ready for it. For this life and for Edinburgh to be my home.

I take a bus into Edinburgh’s city centre the next day.

The first time I took a bus in Edinburgh it had tartan-covered seats and I remember thinking how typically Scottish it was. That day I went to the Elephant Cafe, made famous as a location where J K Rowling wrote some of the Harry Potter series, and I walked up to Edinburgh Castle. Tourist destinations of choice.

I ate scones and drank tea and marvelled at realising a dream of living in Edinburgh.

I was excited at having just moved to a city with so much culture and history. New Zealand is just a baby in comparison.

Just over four years later and this bus is much newer. Tartan is no longer the fabric of choice for Lothian Buses it seems.

Being back in a city I know so well but in circumstances that are so unfamiliar is strange.

I don’t wish for a repeat of the past. I’m happy.

But settling in may take longer than I like.

I’m renewing my relationship with Edinburgh. We’re getting used to each other again. Finding our rhythm.

I had a blog before this one, that covered the two years when I lived in Edinburgh before and after living here for one month I wrote: “I get the feeling this is the kind of place that gets under your skin, that you might not realise how much you like it until you leave, and then you miss it with more feeling than you thought.”

It turned out to be not quite true.

I realised how much I liked Edinburgh when I lived here, and I missed it just as much as I thought I would when I left.

But it definitely got under my skin.

Edinburgh, I’m home.

Sonja x

10 thoughts on “Edinburgh: An Old Town with a New Beginning

  1. Amy (Two Drifters) says:

    No more tartan on the Lothian busses? I hadn’t noticed! Love this post because having been to Edinburgh, every aspect of this feels familiar. I must admit to a twinge of jealousy. You’re in a place that also feels like home to me, but I don’t know when I’ll be back next. xx Best of luck as you settle in you Scottish lass, ye!

    xx

    • Migrating Miss says:

      Haha not on any I’ve been on recently! I miss it a bit. I know what you mean, I felt that way about Edinburgh for so long but now it is home again it’s hard to get used to not thinking I’ll be leaving soon! Thank you xx

  2. Jaimee says:

    Th is is such a sweet and honest post. I can relate to a lot of it. When I left Belgium and then came back again I totally felt these things too. It was a familiar place but a totally different situation and mindset. The first time I had it pegged as a short term thing and then the second (final) time I knew it would be a long term thing and it was so foreign even though I’d been living there for 10months before!
    Love this post! I hope you’re settling in! Xx

    • Migrating Miss says:

      Thanks Jaimee! It is a really strange feeling. I always knew I was leaving before, even when I lived here for 2 years, and since then it’s been really short stays so it’s strange to get used to thinking I’m not leaving anytime soon. But good! You’ve made an amazing life for yourself there and I hope to do the same here 🙂 XX

  3. Annika says:

    Oh what a lovely post! Coincidentally, I am contemplating returning to Scotland after having been gone for almost 6 years. I definitely missed it and was forever spoiled for having lived there 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *