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EDINBURGH , SCOTLAND

 
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Does anyone live in Edinburgh who can recommend it as being "grrate"?
List the things you like about it!
Centre for Art and culture: Including the finger-on-the-pulse international Edinburgh festival
Wonderful architecture : rivals some European cities like Prague. Oh Ok not quite.
Some of the stuff I was involved in developing has surfaced there (via Canada) .

regards
[ October 28, 2003: Message edited by: HS Thomas ]
 
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I went to Edinburgh University during the Summer Semester when I was 19 (This was when "Frankie Goes to Hollyrood" had just come out).
Edinburgh University has an Artificial Intelligence Center that is world class.
If you run up Arthur's Seat, there is an awesomely beautiful lake.
The Festival is cool, the Fringe is even more cool (IMHO). "STOMP" got its start there as "Pookisnakenburgher" or something equally unpronounceable.
Alisdair Grey is from there. Read "Lanark", it is very original.
"Trainspotting" was set there. That could be good or bad.
Doon-side: it rains every damn day.
[ October 29, 2003: Message edited by: Tim Allen ]
 
HS Thomas
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Looking good , looking good!
Funnily enough while in the US I got talking to an American waiter (ex-Navy) who went to University in London but was just back over to see family and earn some cash(posh restaurant). I learnt a lot about London I never knew.

Says a lot about me !

About the art galleries tucked in back streets, the real wine affoniandos places, the book shops that cater to all strema of thought.
Similarly, met a retired US Army helicopter pilot who had flown in the Far East and spoke of the area with great affection. Now reduced to touristy flights and playing on the Vegas circuit, a prisoner of circumstance.
Tim you are the third ex-Army / Navy American I have learnt things I ought to know.
Ever thought of becoming a politician ?
regards
 
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I went to Edinburgh for the first time this summer during the Fringe Festival.
it IS by far the most beautiful city I've ever seen, be warned though ... practically every single street is a hill ... and probably a steep one! Exercise you legs before coming or you'll soon feel it!!
 
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Edinburgh is OK, but Glasgow is better.
The Festival and the Fringe are both over, so the whole "artsy" scene will have upped and left to a large extent. There are still plenty of galleries, theatres and the like. There is, of course, also the castle.
A few companies offer walking tours through old Edinbugh. This is more interesting than it sounds due to the way Edinburgh is built - large sections of the old city are underground.
A top, top hotel to stay at is the Raj on Corstorphine Road. Not exactly Scottish (it's Indian themed) but a good place to stay nevertheless.
Erm, what else? Jeez, there's so much. Depends what you're in to really. The Science Centre (or whatever it's called - Our World? Soething like that). The Giant Carbuncle and Total Waste to Taxpayer's Money (aka the Scottish Parliament Building). Britannia. Prince's Street. The list goes on.
 
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I lived in Edinburgh as a student for four years, and I have to say it my favourite city bar none! The people are in general very friendly, the city is not too big and not at all congested. The center with princess street, the gardens and the castle are amazing. And if you mention the center you must mention Waterstones, a huge bookstore with mahogany stair cases and bookshelves. The bookshelves stretch from ceiling to floor and span the entire walls, four stories worth, and with a Starbucks on the top floor where you can sit down by a bay window overlooking the gardens and the castle, there isn't more you could want.
There is so much going on there, the place has a very young studenty culture, it is a total risk with the weather, could be beautifull sunshine or rain.
There is no way you would regret making a visit, it is also only 30 minutes by train to Glasgow, so you could check out Glasgow while you were in the area, (30 minutes is all you'll need! ), or hire a car and go where you please, (up north).
edinburgh pictures:
http://www.edinburgh247.com/photos/
pictures from up north:
http://www.caithness.org/atoz/dunnet/aerialdunnethead.htm
 
HS Thomas
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Thanks for all the advice. I canna wait, moon.
Scotty , I've sent some of those pictures as postcards.
Gaelic
Maybe I'll get there by Burrns night. Though I think I should drop the phony accent.
regards
[ October 29, 2003: Message edited by: HS Thomas ]
 
HS Thomas
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Dundee is to get a face-lift.
The renowned Canadian architect Frank Gehry to help with a �1 billion project to modernise the town centre and redevelop it's dreary Seventies water-front. Councillors hope Gehry will be able to repeat the miracle he effected in Bilbao where his magnificent Guggenheim Museum has transformed the otherwise grim industrial town into one of Spains biggest tourist attractions.
Perhaps they'd dedicate one to David Hockney , a Northern lad. Never understood his paintings - too Californian.
regards
 
Anonymous
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Im working in Edinburgh right now
Its a nice city, if you like art theres about three or four big art galleries, its got a great nightlife; plenty of bars and clubs, if youre a student every night is a party!
Its not a city in the American sense; compared to cities in America, Edinburgh would rate as a small town, maybe about the same size as Green Bay. Still you dont need a car to get about Edinburgh, theres a good bus system to get you about town and if you like walking, I reckon you could probably walk from Leith on the northside to Kings Buildings (Edinburgh University campus) on the southside in about just over an hour. Someone in a previous mail said that Edinburgh is pretty hilly, its really only like that in the city centre, where Edinburgh castle rests on the mound. Away from the city its quite flat, nowhere quite as hilly as other cities (like Seattle for instance).
If youre from overseas and youre just coming for a short vacation, the best time to come is during the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival in August. The place goes absolutely crazy at that point, bars and clubs are open late, so its possible to go on a 24 bar crawl if that takes your fancy
When are you coming over and how long are you staying for?
Cheers,
Mark
 
HS Thomas
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Edinburgh would rate as a small town, maybe about the same size as Green Bay.


Not for much longer. We may have given away a well kept secret.
When am I coming and how long am I staying.
Holiday break around Burns Night, perhaps. Do I come with a clutch of poetry. I could do that ! And again in August. See it at it's best and worst.
Long term , dunno. But I can now see a great future for Edinburgh. I've turned down a few jobs in Edinburgh recently but I may have to work in London for a wee while longer.
regards
 
HS Thomas
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Edinburgh: About the only time of year Edinburgh gets hot is during the year-end pre-Christian festival of Hogmanay.
Hogmanay
Bundle up and watch the torch light procession on the 29th , eat battered haggis, sing AULD Lang Syne with people who actually understand the words.Possibly the worlds biggest street party.
If you can't (or won't ) get to Edinburgh, check out whatsonwhen.com or timeout.com for global happenings. There are events at Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Haiti, Morocco, Beirut (during 16 years of civil war Beirut never took off it's party hat and now with the city centre re-built and US policies turning off jet-setting Arabs by the planeload (?) it's attracting more tourists than ever. Bop away at the superhip club BO18 , court danger at Atlantis where live piranhas swim beneath the dance floor or head toward the mountain resort of Faraya-Mizaar and mingle with the Mid-East apres-ski set.
regards
[ November 02, 2003: Message edited by: HS Thomas ]
 
HS Thomas
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So we've heard the official story as to why Hogmannay in Edinburgh was cancelled. Any unofficial story lines ?
To cancel an event at �700 a go is .
I wonder how party-goers in Beirut fared ?
 
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IMHO Edinburgh is overrated for Hogmanay. I mean its great if you actually live in the city; you can just go to the street party, and then in most cases just walk or eventually get a taxi out to your home.
However, like me, if you live just 15 miles outside the city perimeter youre screwed. There are no buses running, no trains either, and those b**t**ding taxi drivers will quite easily charge you upwards of �100 (I'll put that in dollars, aprx $170 so our American friends can drop their jaws in shock). All for what is more or less a 20 mile journey, taking no less than an hour.
The weather last night was very cold, and with heavy rain. Not the kind of weather Id like to stand in for at least two hours. Also bear in mind that a lot of people who go to the street party dont have tickets, they slip in before they close the barriers to ticket holders only at 5pm. So I cant imagine theyd hang about in such bad weather till midnight either.
Ach well, I hope you all had a good Hogmanay!
Cheers!
Mark
[ January 01, 2004: Message edited by: Mark Fletcher ]
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