Introduction
I went to Edinburgh for a conference (the 2014 UK Moodle Moot, to be precise - not quite as Tolkienesque as the name, since it’s about software for running educational web sites). There wasn’t a great deal of spare time for taking photos, but I managed a few anyway, so here they are.
Monday
I did some work on the (very pleasant) train ride direct to Edinburgh, and arrived in reasonable time so that after I'd checked in at the hotel there was still a little of the afternoon remaining.
I went for a short walk with no plans in mind. From the main road near the hotel, I spotted a very large chimney and simply walked in that direction.
Tuesday morning
The conference organisers had helpfully selected a venue two miles from the official hotel. This gave me a good reason to walk through a fair chunk of picturesque south-west Edinburgh several times.
(By the way, the venue was actually very nice: the Corn Exchange. I did appreciate the old plaque informing us that it consisted of slaughterhouses and a market. Nobody actually tried to slaughter me at any point.)
Taking main roads, there were two plausible routes. On Tuesday I went by Dalry Road and Slateford Road. Near the start, a slight diversion took me closer to yesterday’s chimney - it seems to be part of an old distillery, now mainly demolished for housing.
Tuesday afternoon
Back the same way, this time accompanied by my colleague Tim (not pictured; apologies to him for stopping and taking photos all the time).
Tuesday evening
A fancy meal had been laid on for us at the ‘Our Dynamic Earth’ exhibition, near the Scottish Parliament and Arthur’s Seat.
The exhibition looks pretty neat (they have a really big block of ice which you can touch, for instance) although we didn’t get to see much of it. After the meal (vegetarian main course: terrible; pudding: pretty good) and a few short speeches, some entertainment had been threatened. I escaped from the building and picked up a bag of crisps and a chocolate bar, then walked back to the hotel.
Wednesday
Second and last day of the main conference. I walked there and back along Dalry Road as before, and then Gorgie Road - not quite as direct, but I wanted a change.
Wednesday afternoon
I took a slight detour by an overhead railway line to have a look at a distillery and a factory which, apparently, is the world’s leading manufacturer of opiate alkaloids. These are right next to a football stadium, so you can get your sport, drink, and drugs within a few hundred metres.
Wednesday evening
I thought it would be nice to take a walk around the castle area, since I hadn’t done much tourist stuff.
And finally
I had quite a nice hotel room on the fourth floor with a balcony. (Great views and good exercise - the lift didn’t work.) Here are a couple of views from it, on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
The actual conference ended with a developer meeting on Thursday. I got a rather late train back to Milton Keynes and then walked home through the city at one in the morning. Which was also interesting, but I didn’t take any pictures, so this is all!