Upon my return to Edinburgh I discovered a massive change to the city: fall.

Now the beloved season of fall, a time for layers and Pumpkin Spice Lattes, is something I thought unforeign to me. California, despite being California, does in fact get some form of seasons. I knew that leaves changed colours, and the weather got a bit more chilly. However, my Californian mind proved duly unprepared for the beauty that a Scottish Autumn presented.

Fall came to Edinburgh

The leaves, the colours: everything overwhelming beautiful, so much so that I thought my head might explode and my heart burst. After travelling around England and Germany, both of which provided small sensations of doubt about my romance with Scotland, I presumed my return to Edinburgh would be slightly anticlimactic and lend a feeling of ambivalence. Oh, how very wrong I was, for I fell into a deep and passionate love with this city all over again. Lucky for me, my house mate Hannah experienced the same feelings of shock and awe, and bewildered by our emotions and unable to repress our excitement, we elected to run wild and free about the city. And thus, with what intended to be only a short walk to brunch transformed into “Myriah and Hannah’s Big Day Out.”

Sunday morning, with rain not falling, we set out for brunch at Clarinda’s Tea Room; an adorable tea stop which we passed daily on our way to work. After fumbling with the door and shyly entering the tiny and nearly empty restaurant, we gained a state of shock. The room was incredibly adorable. Imagine the most stereotypically small and quaint English tea room, and then multiple that cuteness by ten, and perhaps then it can come close to Clarinda’s. With a solid five minutes of geeking out past after we sat down, we proceeded to fawn over the menu for another ten, unable to decide what to order as everything sounded not just delicious but adorable. I finally committed to a hearty meal of Vanilla Tea, a Sausage Roll, and a Scone. The tea tasted lovely, and the roll incredible as well, however the scone emerged as the main star of the show. Never before have I been so in love with a breakfast food, and I have loved many breakfast foods. Hannah and I both savoured our scones, drawing out their time of consumption to an almost unnecessarily and ridiculously long amount of time. However, it proved worth it, and I enjoyed every it down to the last delicious crumb.

Walking back to the flat in a wee food coma, we again gawked at the beauty surrounding us. Fuelled with a love for the seasons and a desire to make the most of our last day before retuning to work, we committed ourselves to spend more time outside and hike Arthur’s Seat. Thus, retuning home for only a few short minutes to change our clothes, we once again set out to the cobblestone streets with a thirst for adventure.

However, our zeal to be active and exercise took a hiatus when we passed through Holyrood park. Fall had truly arrived there. After a nearly twenty minute pause to run through the leaves and take Instagram worthy photos of the scene, we resumed our trek up the mountain.

One thing those who hike Arthur’s Seat fail to tell you, is that the higher you climb, the colder and more windy it grows. Sure, it seems intuitive to think this. However when it is deceivingly sunny outside with only a slight breeze, the intense cold and powerful winds which occur along the trails prove very unexpected. With a confusing sensation of icy winds but boiling body temperatures, Hannah and I huffed and puffed our way to the tipity top.

The view was entirely worth it. From the top, all of Edinburgh can be seen, looking more like a painting than anything that could exist in real life. The natural beauty of the city combined with the heavenly appearance of the surrounding landscape truly made my heart pitter patter with emotions. That, or the fear of falling off the side of the cliff due to the massive winds provided the butterflies in my stomach. Having secured a few solid pictures, we careful began our decent (after pausing play in the winds where we literally could stand, leaning forward, and not fall due to their sheer force).

The view from Arthur’s Seat

Returning back to Earth, after what felt like a trip to the heavens, we realized our purple and blue hands demanded the warmth that only holding a Hot Chocolate could satisfy. Hence, our bonding continued as we searched Royal Mile for worthy Cafe to warm our spirits. Fifteen minutes later, with chocolate and marshmallows in our bellies, we returned home. Thinking our day over, we retired to our separate rooms and proceeded to upload and edit the photos of the day. However, a surprising hunger got the better of us, and with little food in the fridge and a craving for Indian food, “Hannah and Myriah’s Big Day Out” resumed for a final step in its adventure.

Beginning our journey to the outside world simply a bit peckish, we soon realized a strong hunger creeping up, and hastened our pace. Our eyes frantically scanning the sea of restaurants and shops we soon found Mother India, and were compelled to step inside. The tiny restaurant presented the most powerful smell of delicious curries and spices, so much so that despite the host claiming there were no seats available, our desperate faces granted us his sympathy and two seats at the bar. With the promise of food, after ordering Hannah and I returned to bonding, making pleasant conversation and giggling away.

However, the hunger for Indian food was very, very real and can be best capture by recounting the following scenario:

Hannah and I, in mid conversation, fell silent when the waiter brought our food. In a state of complete awe, we stared as each plate of Pitta, Rice, Masala, and Samosas filled our small table. When the waiter left, Hannah proclaimed “Okay, let’s split the rice.” We did not speak for the next five minutes, inhaling our foods, only pausing to say “This is so good.” I still don’t remember what we were talking about before the food came.

Despite the generous amount of food we ordered, we consumed every last bite in about only twenty minutes, causing us to enter into the most beautiful food coma I have experienced in some time. Taking a moment to rest, we unwillingly pulled ourselves out of our seats to bid adieu to Mother India and return to the real world. We walked home, arriving back just in time to collapse onto our beds. Our big day out, like our vacation time, was now over, and it was time to return to work.

Cheers,

The Travelsmith