Okay, we get it, you're rich, you have a boat...

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This weekend Graham and I took a field trip down to the waterfront -- the banks of the Firth of Forth to be precise. We got there by way of a very lovely walk through the Princes Street area (in the beautiful sunshine), down through New Town, around the Water of Leith walkway, and into the heart of a very residential district of the City.

The water is very easy to see from the Royal Mile, but apparently it is a lot farther down the way that it looks, as it took us the better part of two hours to get there.

As waterfront go, it is not the most attractive place in the world -- but Graham and I think that is mostly because they just havent developed it well. Well - they havent developed PARTS of it well. The part we ended up on at first was full of warehouses and not yet finished apartment complexes. Its main attraction seemed to be a Pound Stretcher store and a lobster shack -- which by the way looked very nice and Graham and I are already thinking about when we can get back there to have some dinner. THe actual coast of the Forth is actually very similar to a lot of New England beaches -- there are a lot of seagulls, the air smells like fish and salt, and there are a lot of rocks.

Unfortunately, the area we were in was in the extreme opposite direction from the waterfront area where all the actual STUFF is. We managed to spend much of the afternoon wandering aimlessly, looking at the water, and trying to find all the waterfront "stuff" we had heard about.

We finally asked someone, who told us we were going in the wrong direction, pointed us in the right direction, and a 10 minute bus ride later we found ourselves at the lovely Ocean Terminal -- the lovely new shopping mall and home to the Royal Yacht Britannia (according to my TimeOut Edinburgh guide, the Royal Yacht is the second most visited tourist attraction in Edinburgh -- go figure.) As Malls go, though, Ocean Terminal is very nice, and I think I will be going back there -- probably solo, though. Shopping is my thing.

After our really long walk, Graham and I did find something we could both enjoy at the mall -- coffee! Costa coffee to be precise. We sat and did the beverage thing for about an hour -- Graham got an Orangina and I got a really nice cappucino and a giant macaroon. Then we went to take pictures of the Royal Yacht. We were thinking of maybe going in and taking the tour, but decided against it for the following reasons:

1.) We were tired -- we had been walking for hours after all.
2.) It was expensive. Approximately $10 With the student discount.
3.) Did we really want to see someone's really expensive boat. Hense the title of this entry -- We get it, you're rich, you have a boat...

All in all, though, I think we had a good day. I have posted some pictures of our waterfront related fun day for your enjoyment.

As an addition to this entry, I have also added some pictures of campus, and another picture of -- hahaha -- the Starbucks we discovered on our ramble through town last week. It has the best view of any corporate eating establishment I have ever been in -- but I can't help wondering how a Starbucks in Edinburgh could be so lucrative that it can take up real estate like that -- the view is unbelievable.

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Photos

Graham in front of the big boat
All in all, it is still a very nice boat

Attention Captain Obvious -- this is a picture of me in front of the big boat
I am not even going to bother explaining this

Me in front of the Firth of Forth, looking out to Fife
This is the view from the waterfront area we ended up in after our walk -- Ocean Terminal and the Yacht were about a mile away

Mmmm...Coffee
I probably won't be going here very much over the course of the year, but this is the best Starbuck's view I have ever seen -- its right on Prince's street, and thus is always crowded, but beats the crap out of the Starbucks at 150 E. 42nd

McEwen Hall -- where (hopefully) I will be graduating
This is one of the main buildings at the George's Sq. campus -- people often skateboard ourside of it, but for my purposes, it will be known as the place where they give out degrees.

Teviot Hall
To the best of my knowledge, this is where the Student Association has one of its Union Halls -- I have no idea what its other uses are, but it is another one of the main Uni buildings

Comments

[Jill-O-E]

I enjoy your posts so much...
Wow! That Starbucks view IS awesome... Also, "Shopping in my thing." You think? ;)