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Writer's pictureCathie Rooyen

Edinburgh bus

Saturday 14th October 2023.


At 6.30am the cats called. I jumped out of bed to look. Nope, not my charges. I must've been dreaming, I think. A short while later realise that it's outside but my male had gone downstairs to the street to join in. A cat party, it seemed. I lay there monitoring my breathing and coughing. I felt a lot better but I hadn't properly moved yet.


After a shower and a phone call with a friend about rugby (she wanted the All Blacks to win), I impulsively decided to make the most of the sunshine and looked up the bus timetable. I'd used the bus in August for my whisky experience interview so I knew where the bus stop was. Gosh, that interview feels so long ago! I walked up to the bus in the icy breeze, but admiring the view of the bridges again.

The bus shelter had a few people huddled together and turns out there was a couple out from Australia. The wife complained about the cold, so we started chatting. The bus was packed when it stopped and one young passenger couldn't get on, I was surprised by how full it was. It was representative of the city centre though, loads of people everywhere.



I'd decided that if I started feeling yucky, I'd just get on a bus back. The hour long journey is interesting and scenic and I needed to break out of my cabin fever. Edinburgh is a fascinating city and there's always tourists on the main streets. There were also a few buskers about, but I was too cold to dawdle. I walked over to the Old town but forgot about the stairs, my heart sank when I saw them. So I deliberately walked slowly and paused at each landing. Coughing fit averted.



There was a Palestine demonstration in front of the art museum and by the time I was on my return bus, there was a large crowd chanting. My bus was late and I'd been pacing to keep warm in the shade, so I felt grateful to get on the luxury bus although I still couldn't get a window seat to take decent pictures of the bridges, haha.



I'm feeling a lot better than yesterday thankfully but there's a couple of rugby matches on the TV tomorrow, so I'm thinking I'm going to book a seat on the couch.




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