Edinburgh Day 1 (7/29)

After getting *0* sleep on the overnight flight from Dulles to Heathrow, a delay on the ground meant that we spent 30 minutes on the taxiway waiting for a gate. This made what was already a tight connection to my Edinburgh flight a real risk. After hustling through trains, security, and a literal sprint through the terminal, I arrived at the gate for my connecting flight 1 minute prior to the scheduled departure time. Luckily (though indicative of things to come…) the flight had been delayed 30 minutes, and hadn’t yet begun boarding.

We boarded half an hour later, and after sitting for *another* hour on the tarmac, we finally took off on the final travel leg to Edinburgh. At least it was a short, uneventful flight.

Now, having landed in Edinburgh, the real adventure could begin.

The first goal, once I reclaimed my baggage, was to find the cast housing. Advice from another show mate led me toward the Tram. An easy 30 min ride later, followed by a less-easy walk trudging with 3 bags of luggage, I claimed victory after reaching our AirBnB. Several cast mates had already arrived, and they showed me around before leaving me to unpack and unwind.

With my bags (mostly) unpacked and some clean clothes on, several of us ventured out for an initial grocery run. We struck out at the nearby Tesco Express, so we rolled a bit further down Leigh Walk to the Sainsbury’s to get our staples.

We trekked back to the house, where everyone cooked and ate dinner, and hung out in the kitchen. The dinners were mostly successes, which isn’t guaranteed when working for the first time in a stranger’s kitchen. Failures being the red lentil pasta, and the odd rice recipe on the Scottish rice package. I didn’t risk much, having just made a chicken wrap that only needed microwaving.

After dinner, the grind of all the recent travel came crashing down on most folks. We held on as late as we could, knowing it would make the time-adjustment easier. That said, all but one of us were in bed before 9pm - the only holdout being a cast mate who had a day-job meeting (!) at 10pm local time (!!).

Tomorrow, the rest of the initial crew arrives, and we prep our set and start rehearsals!