Day 15 & 16: Edinburgh

Not too much has gone on for the past few days except for a lot of work on Thesis. Yesterday we took a bus out to visit Heriot-Watt University. They have a construction program so we were able to listen to a short presentation by two of their professors. Afterwords, we came back to Edinburgh and went on a whiskey tour. I thought it would be kind of lame at first because you go on a ride in these big barrels, kind of like something that would be in Disney World. But it was actually pretty interesting, as they explained the process of how the whiskey was made, of which I had no idea. Once the ride was over you're brought into a room with four different small bottles with cotton balls in them, each with a distinctive smell of the four major whiskey producing regions in Scotland.

From Day 15 & 16

A short presentation explained each region and you were then asked to pick which one you liked best, and then they brought out a bottle and poured you a small glass of the type of whiskey you liked best.

From Day 15 & 16

Next you went into a room which contained the world's largest whiskey collection. It was mighty impressive to say the least. The picture doesn't do it justice, every wall of the rooms was filled top to bottom just like in this picture.

From Day 15 & 16

Thursday, we left this morning to head out to see a presentation about the new tram they are building in Edinburgh. Currently the only public transportation available in the city are city buses. However, starting in 2012 there will be a tram that runs through the middle of the city and out to connect with the airport. It has been a controversial project because some people feel the bus system is fine and that a tram running through the city along with all the electrical wires required will negatively affect the old time feel of Edinburgh. After the presentation we left to go out to a construction site were they were building part of the rail line for the tram.

From Day 15 & 16

From Day 15 & 16

Having seen that we continued on to get a look at the Firth Bridge. Not much to say here except that it is very impressive, especially for having been built in 1890.

From Day 15 & 16

Finally, we went on to get a look at the Scottish Parliament. Wow. I always had heard it was a controversial building when it was completed in 2004 but I had never actually seen it. It looks more like an art gallery than a building for the Scottish government. Not only that, but it cost 440 million pounds. Incredible.

From Day 15 & 16

From Day 15 & 16