Posts filed under 'edinburgh'
February 10th, 2008
Jan and I went for a walk alongside the gorge of the Linn Dean Water that falls down from Soutra Hill onto the plain of the Lothians. It is a walk that can offer a view that which stretches all the way to the Forth Estuary. It’s often possible to get a crystal clear view of the city of Edinburgh in the distance from here, but low cloud along the distant river made this impossible today. Still, we got lovely views of the East Lothian landscape from the ridge, and spent a very pleasant couple of hours traipsing through the moss and the heather.
Postscript - I should add that I’m not scowling in the photo above - the low sun was directly in my eyes at that point. Honest! 
Technorati Tags: walking, soutra, linn dean, edinburgh, east lothian
May 7th, 2007
A long trip today: Edinburgh to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Istanbul, and then Istanbul to Ankara, with a couple of waits in between each leg. I left Edinburgh at 6.00 this morning, and I got to Ankara on schedule at 7.0pm local time (2 hours ahead of the UK), but my luggage did not! There’s a bag floating somewhere between Amsterdam and Turkey in that great big virtual carousel in the sky, and it’s mine.
Ankara seems to be an attractive, low-rise city - lots of space, clean streets, bustling without being impossible (or impassable). The new airport (Esenboga) is just 7 months old - it is vast….and empty! I presume it will get busier over time.
I’m only here for a little over 24 hours, but I’m looking forward to meeting some people from the Turkish Ministry of Education tomorrow - should be a good discussion!
Technorati Tags: turkey, ankara, istanbul, education
April 9th, 2007
Continental flight 037 from Edinburgh to Newark (I am on route to Costa Rica) landed ahead of schedule but then managed to get stuck on the tarmac with a fault in the landing gear that you would not allow it to make a right turn. A tug was called for, but first one, then two, fire trucks arrived alongside the plane, all lights blazing. Comforting, indeed!
We had the pleasure of a two-truck escort all the way to the gate.
Technorati Tags: edinburgh, newark, continental airlines, fire trucks
March 27th, 2007
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A third major crossing at Queensferry has been on and off the agenda for years, decades even. The Scottish Cabinet gave their backing to the principle of a third crossing at this point back in February. The latest suggestion is a tunnel, and a group campaigning for this has been lobbying my erstwhile employers in West Lothian Council to offer their support.
With some doubts about the long term viability of the road bridge (which I saw under construction in 1964, I’m afraid!), there might be some urgency about the decision, one way or another.
Technorati Tags: forth estuary, queensferry, tunnel, west lothian council
March 15th, 2007
Just another boring photo of a boring plane in a boring airport? Well, may’be, but the name of this KLM Airbus A330 on the tarmac at Schiphol, Amsterdam, caught my eye. Click the photo to see the name below the cockpit window!
Technorati Tags: klm, airbus, a330, parliament square edinburgh, schiphol, amsterdam
March 10th, 2007
Following my earlier praise of the Shelter bookshop in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, I ought to point all leftist, left-ish and liberal readers towards my favourite Edinburgh bookshop, namely Word Power in West Nicholson Street - if you don’t already know it, click the map to see where to head to! It’s just around the corner from the Scotsys branch on Nicholson Street, and a stone’s throw from Edinburgh University’s main campus surrounding George Square.
This is a tiny shop that I came across a few years ago and have been going back to since whenever I can. If you have an interest in politics, in social issues, in the world order, in gender, in education, in political philosophy and in other similar areas, this should become a stopping-off point for you. For such a small shop it has, for instance, a great stock of books on globalization, with titles that range across a variety of perspectives on this oh-so-topical issue. I dropped in this afternoon and, if I had had the money, I could have walked away with a dozen or more interesting titles - I made do with two books that particularly caught my eye: The Power of Identity, by Manuel Castells, and Global Citizens, by Marjorie Mayo.
The Castells books is - unfortunately - the second of a trilogy of titles - looks like I’ll have to complete the trio! Can’t have an incomplete series, can I?
Next time you’re in Edinburgh, do yourself a favour and browse the shelves of this gem of a bookshop!
Technorati Tags: book shops, word power, edinburgh, scotsys, university of edinburgh, manuel castells, marjorie mayo
