This is one of those “I Take Too Many Photos” posts; Just so’s you know.
In the space between the phone interview & the face-to-face one, I stayed in North Berwick for a couple of nights.
I’d been told about North Berwick by the other escapee from Pukey Van Der McGee’s reign; It sounded like an interesting place to visit, and then events conspired, as they so often do.
Granted, when I boarded the train to flee the booked-solid Edinburgh (some form of popular ball game was being played; ‘rugby’, I believe they called it), there’d be no firm date and time on the face-to-face interview, so I was anticipating a weekend off. When I got off the train, the phone rang, and that … changed.
Didn’t get as much done on the interview or the relaxation fronts as I’d have liked; The AirBnB WiFi was not, as they say, all that, and the looming terror of an interview involving multiple sections & a presentation on something I’d looked at once or twice did somewhat impact the relaxation end of things.
That said, it’s a pretty spot.
There’s a beach.
There are seascapes and mystic islands accessible only by rainbow bridges.
Or you can wait until later in the year and book one of the Seabird Centre tours; Whatever works for you.
There’s also The Glen (North Berwick Glen), which was very relaxing to wander through, and has the remains of a couple of mills, which for some reason I didn’t photograph.
The AirBnB I stayed at was comfy, and had a nice line in self-service breakfast/snacks, an approach I’d not seen before.
I’d not mind going back there, to both the AirBnB & the Town; There are things I’d like to have seen, but time, and mood, and more immediately the weather, didn’t really allow it.
Over the course of traveling, I’d been prompted by Google Maps to upload pictures of locations, or review them, or confirm/correct information about them. As I’m easily amused, I did this thing.
They have a tool which will show you places needing data improvement in your area, and something which came up was the dire-looking takeaway on the Cowgate in Edinburgh, beside the hostel I was staying at. It had no photos, so I took one during the day, when it was closed, but felt that it might be nice to have one of it actually open.
I was going for “Shining Beacon Of Deep-Fried Carbs In The Night”, but I’m told it’s more “Looming Creepily In A Dismal And Desolate Alley”.
There was another bout of snow which had people scurrying for shelter, and idiots like me out for a walk.
View from the parade ground in front of Edinburgh Castle on a blue-skyed and sunny day.
At the time I figured out that Edinburgh was booked solid, I had no clue when the face-to-face interview would happen.
The hope was next week, but one of the folks doing the interview had a very tight timeframe because of a conference, so that might not happen. I’d booked the couple of nights in North Berwick (could have stayed in an airport hotel, but North Berwick was cheaper and looked much nicer), and then booked a week in a dorm at the dear old Safestay.
Once the interview confirmation came in, that dorm thing had to change, and I was able to switch to a private room for the three nights I needed; Said room had one of those bunks with a double bed & a single, which … gave me a spot to put things?
Also had a view of the courtyard between the two wings of the hostel.
The bar is down there, and the awning you can see to the right covers the terrace for said bar, so I am so glad I wan’t in this room on Friday or Saturday nights.