'Why do you have Saffi's passport' he asked as I took out my passport to show the British Airways agent as we boarded the plane.
'It's not Saffi's. It's mine' I replied as I glanced at the photograph just to be sure.
'It looks like Saffi' explained my son.
We were on our way to Europe. Edinburgh was our first destination for the two-week trip I had planned for my son and me during his spring break. I booked an evening flight for Wednesday so as to not have him lose too many days from school. So I picked him up at the end of the school day and went home first to finish packing.
Though I had planned to pack light, it did not work out as such this time. I was not sure what to expect nor was I really prepared for an overseas flight. The last time I flew overseas was in June to spend a week in Edinburgh with my fiance at the time. Now I was on my way back to Edinburgh to meet my husband later in the week.
The flight was direct from Austin to London. Sage had the window seat directly over the wing. I sat in the middle. Luckily the aisle seat was empty as it allowed Sage to stretch out and sleep later in the flight.
As we were settling in and preparing for takeoff I told Sage I had a surprise for him. I told him to look in the middle section of his new travel backpack for a small red case. As he opened it, his eyes lit up. 'Oh thank you mama!' he exclaimed as he examined his new camera.
After days of research for something I had hoped would be close to what I had over a decade ago with my first point-and-shoot, I chose another Canon. This one was small and light and transferred photos wirelessly, something I did not notice during my research. But I hoped it would be good as his first real camera to record the memories we would make on this trip.
He proceeded to figure out the buttons and shot a photo of the plane before we took off. More photos followed of the wing and one of us both. Then we settled in for our journey to Heathrow where we would take another plane to Edinburgh.
Once in Edinburgh found the AirLink 100 bus to take to city centre. We sat in the front seats in the top section where Sage was photographing along the way. I was happy to see him so excited.
Our bus journey ended at Waverly station. I was unsure where our flat was but knew the general direction. Tired and hungry we somehow found our way and made it up the 80 steps to our rental. As I tried the key the door was opened and a guy stood in front of us. I thought we were breaking into someone else's flat but it turned out the guy was from the cleaning company.
As I glanced inside I wondered if we were in the right flat. The photos I saw online did not match what was before my eyes. It was much smaller and not so nice looking. Photographs lie, I thought. Disappointment set in and would not let go. I regretted trying to go cheap and wanted to go elsewhere. Once again I saw that trying to save money is not always a good idea as you get what you pay for - as in our wedding photos.
We dropped off our bags and walked the long distance to lovecrumbs. As the shop was not far from closing time, the cake selection was limited. I ordered us a slice of orange cinnamon cake and a cappuccino. Sage enjoyed it. Afterwards we walked across the street to Sainsbury's for cheese slices and apples.
We then walked to Blackwell's book shop where I got Sage a small wooden unique puzzle of Vincent Van Gogh's 'Starry Night'. He completed it in little time once we returned to the flat. On the way home we stopped by a bakery by the Elephant House for one of the last croissants they had left. We ate that along with cheese for dinner and watched The Simpsons on the television which hung on the wall a foot above the ground by the dining table.
Our first day in Edinburgh was a short one. Settling into a new place takes a while longer when jetlag comes into play.
