Home Sweet Home, well, in Edinburgh anyways...

I decided to do the night train back to Edinburgh... and got much more sleep than I did on the bus to London, thankfully :)

So, this morning, as I was sleepily walking with my backpack and wrinkled, travel weary body up the mound to my hostel, I was once again amazed at what a beautiful place Edinburgh is and how lucky I am to be living here. The Christmas festival is starting tomorrow, so all of the Christmas decorations are up... The German market has taken over one of the main walkways in the middle of town, a huge ferris wheel has gone up in the Princess Street Gardens (by far the most beautiful place in town), an outdoor ice rink will soon appear, everyone seems especially friendly.

To fully appreciate this time, I decided to walk through the park, the long way, winding up the Mound to get to my hostel... one of those things that every tourist does, but is usually taken for granted by the locals. About halfway up, I turned to see the hazy sunrise through the clouds... beautiful every morning, but especially memorable this day: coming home to Edinburgh, feeling warm inside my coat despite the icy wind around me, slowly pushing the sleep away from my body and waking up to this moment of peacefulness.

It was so wonderful to be back where everything is familiar and I know everybody... I told everybody about London and heard about what went on here over the weekend, moved back into my old bed in my old room, got a cup of coffee, and settled into my favorite couch by the fire for a nap, back into my old routine again.