第四天是我們來愛丁堡的最終原因，因為當日老公終於可以跟他失散了三十四年多的親爸爸會合。

The 4th day was really what we came to Edinburgh for, because that day my husband will finally get to see his biological father for the first time for over 34 years!

話說在三十四年多前，我的荷蘭籍奶奶可能因一時之氣，離開她的英國老公，自己提著兩名小男孩回荷蘭，當時我老公只得三四歲。奶奶還經律師在荷蘭寄離婚紙給我的老爺。其實當年荷蘭與英國的距離就如現在荷蘭與香港的距離。老公七歲當年曾經跟奶奶回英國找他的親爸爸，但最後被老公的婆婆關門拒絕探訪。我其實可以想像到當年我老爺可能所受的創傷是很大的，失去妻子還失去兩個兒子。當然啦，當年是誰的對錯完全不輪到我們理，我們亦沒興趣知。

The story behind this is about 34 years ago, my Dutch mother in law decided to leave her English husband suddenly, and took the 2 kids along back to Holland. She arranged the divorce in Holland via an attorney. Most probably at that time, the distance between Holland and the UK was like the distance we now have between Holland and Hong Kong. My husband did go back to the UK with my mother in law when he was seven to look for his father, but it stopped by the door of his father’s mother who did not welcome their visit. I can very much imagine how much my father in law must have been going through at that time with losing a wife and his kids. Certainly it does not matter at all anymore to us on who’s right or who is wrong.

四五年前，在我懷有Julian時，老公決定再次嘗試找他的爸爸。其間，他的爸爸也搬過家，而奶奶所供應的出生日期資料一共有三個日期。還有的是，原來老爺是兒時被收養，羅便臣一姓是他的收養父母之姓，跟出生姓名又不同，令尋親路又曲折了一些。經過互聯網絡和一位私家偵探的幫忙，我們終於找到他。老公即時給他寄了封信，但起初老爺沒有收到那封信，是後來我老公再跟他聯絡才找到他。

About four five years ago, when I was carrying Julian, my husband decided to give it another try to look for his father. His father had moved already then, and we had 3 different birth dates provided by my mother in law. Also, my father in law was actually adopted, so Robinson is really the last name of his adopting parents, which is different from his last name listed on his birth certificate. All these made things a bit more complicated. We used the internet and an expert to locate him, and we did find him! My husband sent him a letter first, which my father in law didn’t receive initially. Luckily my husband did try again to contact him.

這幾年老爺的身體不大好，所以一直都只是經電郵、手機短信、和電話聯絡。他已是七十歲呢，還懂用電郵，都算不錯！他還未退休。他住在愛丁堡以外的外效，他決定跟我們在愛丁堡會合。起初他說在Princes Street 的North British Hotel會合，但我們找來找去都找不到。直至我們問過幾位路人才知道那酒店已改名為Balmoral Hotel。我們就先在對面等，然後知道他們在裡面的咖啡室等待我們，我們就入去找他們。我們之前無收過他的近照，所以只有他知道我們的樣子是怎樣。幸好，我們終於找到他。

The last few years my father in law’s health condition has not been very good, so we had only been keeping in contact via emails, sms and phone calls. He is already in his 70′s and he actually uses emails and SMS, which is amazing! He has not retired yet, and lives in a small town outside of Edinburgh. He wanted to meet us up in Edinburgh, and asked us to wait at the North British Hotel on Princes Street. We couldn’t find it at first, but then after asking around, we found out that the hotel that is now known as Balmoral was formerly known as North British Hotel. We waited for a while on the opposite side of the road, and joined them then in the cafe inside. When we went in to look for them, we were a bit anxious, since we had not seen a photo of him before, and only he knew how we look like. Luckily, we found him.

他真的不像一位七十歲老人，只是因健康狀態不佳關系，行路遠些就辛苦些，要慢些和中途休息。他和他的現任太太已結婚三十多年，但沒有孩子。他們從家出來是搭火車的，不過原來每天只得三兩班火車出入愛丁堡，而路途還需時一個半小時。我們曾經提議我們到他那兒探訪，但他還是張就我們。

He definitely looks younger than his age, it’s just that his health condition does not allow him to walk for a longer distance. He needed some rest from time to time. He and his current wife have been together for over 30 years and have no children. They came over by train, and there were only 2-3 trains per day running between their town and Edinburgh. The journey took them well over an hour and half. We did propose to visit him at his place, but I guess he wanted to make it easier on us.

起初老公甚為緊張，怕會不知說甚麼好，又怕失望。我跟他說不要期望太大，那就不會失望嘛！不過，我是局外人，當然容易出此言！起初，在咖啡室內Julian狀態不大好，原來是因為他肚子餓，雖然他之前已吃過一份三文治。我們跟著就去了某餐廳吃遲了的午餐，在那兒Julian就乖很多。他主動要跟爺爺坐，爺爺當然很高興，即使要兩位男仕跟一位小童迫在一起，都完全無所謂。

My husband was kind of nervous before the meeting up, worried not knowing what to say and having silent moments. He worried to be disappointed, so I told him not to expect much, then he won’t get disappointed if things were to not have worked out. It was certainly easy for me to say as being an outsider on this. When we were in the cafe, Julian was not in the mood, as it turned out he was hungry. He did have a sandwich at noon. We went into a restaurant after we left the cafe to have a meal. Julian was then back to his usual self. He wanted to sit next to Grandpa, and certainly Grandpa was happy to hear that, even though the two men with a child in between had to squeeze themselves a bit to sit together, they didn’t seem to mind.

Julian跟爺爺混熟後，還笑爺爺的大肚皮，和說喝了白酒的爺爺面兒紅，令爺爺被他的妻子說他不是。爺爺跟Julian即時有了一份很特別的感情，很是溫馨。而老公亦跟他談天說地，對大家完全沒有陌生感覺，因為老公與老爺的性格上很相似。而坐在老爺妻子旁邊的我當然跟她談談，因為我心想不知她對此感覺如何。她是波斯人，是個很文靜的女子，她在婚前已知我老公的存在。見到這對老夫老妻，覺得他們很登對，我們完全感受到他們的愛。

Julian started teasing Grandpa’s big belly and Grandpa’s red cheeks. Grandpa and Julian seemed to have built a bonding within such a short time. It was really sweet to see. My husband also spent quite some time chatting with his dad. My father in law was no longer a stranger to us, plus it seems like their personalities are quite similar. I also went chatting a bit with his current wife, since I could somehow imagine she might feel a bit awkward. She is from Iran or so, and is quite a quiet lady. She knew my husband’s existence before she got married. Seeing them, we really think they are one great couple together, as we can really feel how strong their love is.

見到他們三代同堂，我很感動和感激上帝呢！

I really am thankful to see this 3 generations together.

之前一天說會給Julian買玩具，在我們等老爺時，我們路經一間Disney Store，就讓Julian選了一份玩具。他那天很高興，不過因為我們說要回家後才拆它出來，那他就不停問何時回家。

We mentioned about buying Julian a toy the day before, so when we were waiting for my father in law, we walked pass a Disney store, so we let Julian choose one toy. He was really happy with it, just that after we told him he could only unpack it at home, he kept on asking when we could go home.

這對背景很令人感受到老爺對孫兒的愛！

This picture is quite touching to me, as you can really see Grandpa’s love towards his grandson.

是時候要回火車站讓他們上火車回家。

It was then time to walk them back to the train station for them to catch their train.

到了火車站，老爺總是不想走去月台去，想跟我們多聚一回。

We got there a bit early, so we sat down, and it seemed like my father in law did not want to head off to the platform yet but to spend a bit more time with us.

這是Julian拍的，不錯嘛！

This photo of Daddy was taken by Julian. Not bad I must say!

Julian跟爺爺今次的最後擁抱

Julian’s last hug during this visit with Grandpa

老爺亦有深深緊緊地跟我擁抱，之後當然是跟老公好好的擁抱。當時我見到亦有些感觸起來，因為不知今次以後，能否再次見面。我們希望老爺的身體會好轉，那樣他還可以好好跟Julian和老公共享家庭樂。當然啦，我們會盡量安排再次見面的機會。

My father in law also went hugging me tight to say goodbye. And of course, with my husband, a very big meaningful hug. I even got a bit touched by that. We wondered when we would see each other again. We hope his health condition would improve, and we will try to make some trips over to have some family time together, especially for Julian and my father in law to get closer.

道別後，老公只想坐下來，修整一下自己的情緒。他很是高興，沒有任何失望感覺，亦很高興可以跟他共享一個愉快的下午。他覺得現在終於可以填補他內心的一個空缺。

After having waved goodbye, my husband just wanted to sit down somewhere to gather his thoughts. He was very pleased and delighted by how well the meeting went, and had really enjoyed the afternoon spent with his father. He said he finally filled the gap he had from his childhood.

我們於是就步行到一間中餐館，桂林餐廳，是朋友介紹的，我亦見到不少網站讚許他們的質數不錯。那兒的侍應很友善，跟荷蘭的唐人餐廳像是好點兒。我負責點菜，Julian亦吃了不少。我覺得食物方面還是荷蘭的好味些，價錢比荷蘭貴些。

We went walking to this Chinese restaurant recommended by a friend of mine, Kweilin Restaurant. I also saw some good reviews on it over the internet. The waitresses were very kind and friendly, so in comparison, they seemed to be better than the ones in Holland. I ordered the food, and Julian ate quite a lot of it. Just that I still think the Chinese food in Holland is better, so as the price in Holland.

吃飽後，我們就回寓所去。因為本來想再約那位荷蘭籍Babysitter幫手看著睡了的Julian，因在短時間內找個新替工很難，尤其是我不熟那兒的人。找了整個早上，打了三次電話給她都找她不到，真令人失望。幸好，當日早上，我在寓所的招待處上網跟一位認識了不久的Blogger在綱上談了一陣子。她是在英國愛丁堡工作的香港人，本來我們未去愛丁堡前她已提議幫我看Julian，但因她工作繁忙，我亦不想打擾人家，所以就找了別的Babysitter。只是當她聽到我的遭遇後，她就提出幫我看Julian一晚，況且這是我們在愛丁堡的最後一晚。於是，在我替Julian洗過白白後，她就到了我們的寓所。我和老公就出了去市中心坐下來喝東西，好好享受二人世界。最想不到這位J小姐竟然怎也不肯收錢，連車費也不肯收！我真的萬分感激這位朋友呢！

After dinner, we went back to the apartment. We initially were going to have that Dutch babysitter to look after Julian after he had gone to bed, as it was not easy to find another person in short notice, especially we don’t know many people there. Just that we tried the whole morning, calling her 3 times, and still couldn’t get hold of her. Fortunately, that morning I was online at the reception of the apartment, and chatted for a bit with a blogger that I have recently been in contact with. She is from Hong Kong and is working in Edinburgh. Before we went to Edinburgh, she did propose to help me watching Julian, but since she was quite busy at work, and I didn’t want to bother a friend, we had then arranged babysitters. Now that she heard what I had experienced the day before, she suggested coming over to help one night, and especially since that night was our last night in Edinburgh. She arrived shortly after I got Julian bathed. My hubby went then into the city for a night cap and enjoyed a bit of “us” time. We were very surprised by this Ms J who refused our money, and not even for the taxi cost! We are very grateful and thankful for her help!

最後一晚了，要跟這美麗的海境道別了！

Our very last night in Edinburgh, we had to say goodbye to this wonderful seaview.

Tags: Balmoral, Edinburgh, family reunion, father in law, Grandpa, Kweilin, North British Hotel, seaview