New Flatmates

I realized that I've not told you much about my new flat, the one I've moved into since leaving my university student flat. I moved across town which, in Edinburgh terms, means I live about a 10 minute walk away from where I used to. My old flatmate, Rhoslyn, was kind enough to get her mom to drive me (but mostly my stuff) over the day before I left for Venice. So when I came home from that trip I went straight to my new summer home. Hah, that makes it sound posh. Actually, for a student flat it's quite nice. It's in Marchmont, a more residential but still studenty part of town. The flat's quite spacious, and has a lot of character and nice high ceilings, things my former flat sorely lacked. It's in one of the many old stone flats that are all over the city.

The human flatmate situation is in flux for the summer, with various familiar faces subletting, moving in/out, etc. However, the old stone flat buildings of Edinburgh are notoriously infested with mice. I've seen one in our flat, and while cooking dinner at my friend Katie's yesterday one just ran right across the floor while we were chatting and cooking away. Bold as brass. So I get to share my new flat with the mice, the giant spider I saw sneaking around my wellies last night, and the mildew. It's not been as frigidly cold lately, but it's been incredibly humid. So much so that the hand towel in the bathroom won't dry. Oh well. It'll be a good summer, if it ever gets here.

Now for a few pictures from my trip to Venice. See, I can follow up on my promises sometimes.

In the Plaza San Marco:


On the Grand Canal:


Near the bus station, at night:


Just an average canal. They're all over the city. Boring:


A (slightly) cooler canal:


Also, today's the longest day of the year! According to BBC Weather, today in Edinburgh, sunrise was at 4:27am and sunset is at 10:03pm. Hooray for long days! It really is bizarre to look out the window at 11:30pm and the sky will still be fairly blue. It's sort of like being a little kid again -- oh, it's getting dark outside, time for bed! However, I do like the early sunrises; they make it far easier to get out of bed at 6am to get ready for work.