There are places you seem to be drawn to, at least I am, and I am absolutely taken by a small (wee) cafe by the apt name of "The Wee Cafe" in the city of Edinburgh. I know there are other locations, it's a chain of modest restaurants in the area, but there is just something about the Edinburgh location that has my mind thinking that as soon as I hit the ground at the airport, have my bags secured in my hotel room, and have a fresh breath to draw, my first thing to do is to walk the new and older streets of the city of Edinburgh to reach my destination. It's not as if it's elaborate, ornate, or even overtly decorated in a manner that would cry out to all tourists to bring their bellies and thirst. I am just drawn to it, and so I'm going to go.
I have literally dreamed of walking through the doors of the cafe, but not in a manner that is even the least bit fantastical or mysterious; no, I just see myself in a booth, and I see myself eating waffles with bananas, and I see myself drinking coffee there. I see myself crossing over the threshold, and maybe it's just a clear sign that I will in fact be in the city soon, but whatever it is I find it assuring and lovely. I feel as if I could quote the menu back to anyone interested. I get on the site and read it. I look at the photos of the staff, the layout of the cafe itself, the food, the guests, even the streets outside of it. I Google-drive the streets coming from the Scotsman hotel, going back to it, and then when I decide that maybe I want to stay at the Caledonia or the Holiday Inn, I "drive" myself back to The Wee Cafe in my little imaginary car that we all use when we use Google maps to "get around" wherever it is that we're going - - aren't we the most peculiar of species?
Some of the foods you'll find at The Wee Cafe are such that you could make at home without any problem; it's just that going out to the cafe, sitting in an airy pretty place, and socializing with good-natured people is such a draw these days. The prices are good, there's nothing stopping me from going, and it's more or less just something I want to say I do, not did, but do. The Wee Cafe may very well end up being where I go to write, to study, to people watch - - to be me; which is exactly why I think my heart and head chose it. I saw it online and thought to myself, "Yep, that's the place." It's exactly like what I would open if I opened a cafe, and they serve what I would serve, they welcome people like I would welcome people, and you don't have to be fancy-schmancy to come in and just enjoy a good hot cup of coffee and banana waffle with chocolate syrup drizzled all over it - - don't forget the whipped cream, please, no, never forget that!
Waffles with fruit on them, drizzled as I said, in chocolate (probably Hershey's if I had to guess) and dosed with a topping of whipped cream. You can find that. You can find beans, sausages, eggs, toast, and honey. You can find chocolate raspberry coconut bars, you can find cheese rolls, cinnamon toast, and green tea too. You can order off the menu, the standing whiteboard that tells you what is served, how much it costs, and maybe gives you a hint as to what they've run out of so you won't order it if you don't see it - - I don't know, but it makes sense to do it that way. Maybe an entire football team and their coaching staff have just left the joint having ordered every last chip in the place; there are no more chips at The Wee Cafe until another shipment comes in, so you erase that particular food item from the whiteboard - - makes perfect sense. I would do that.
I'm going. I've made up my mind, I'm going to The Wee Cafe, and I'm bringing my journal. I may end up making it a habit and bring my laptop as well, but the first few visits will be a writing experience. I know that taking the bus from Inverkeithing every day or so maybe a bit of an annoyance for some, but for me it will be that leg of the adventure where I listen to music on my headphones, write actual letters to my friends in the States and pretend I'm being carriaged about by a horse-drawn buggy on my way to this or that castle to meet this or that person to say this or that thing, or do this or that with them for however long it is I choose to do this or that. I am, after all, my own. The Wee Cafe will be my "base" to cling to, hide out in, and write from wherever it is in my soul that decides to exhale from on any given day. It will happen.
Carry on people - - nothing to see here; just a woman and her mind playing tricks on her soul until she can one day put her hand on the jamb of the door before crossing the threshold of an ordinary oasis and know she is safely harboured.
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