To ensure I'm staying on top of my studies, I decided to take a much-needed field trip.
I can already hear my father moaning about how my idea of a "field trip" totally does not constitute schoolwork.
HOWEVER - I have a class project wherein we must research the eastern area of Edinburgh to develop further tourism and leisure facilities in the area. This massive project involves an inventory and audit of preexisting resources and facilities, opportunities and problems of our devised plan, extensive research in the form of book studies, questionnaires, interviews, and meetings with local authorities to discuss the actual planning of our project, a SWOT analysis, and a complete development plan. Literally? I'm building an enterprise. Watch out!
While still part of the ever-expansive Edinburgh, this area is called East Lothian and lies about 30 miles east of Edinburgh's city centre. It stretches all the way across the coast on the north with small towns like North Berwick and Dunbar dotting the rocky beaches and playing quintessential home to dozens of beautiful golf courses. The views were absolutley breathtaking and getting out of the city centre to enjoy the coast was a much-needed activity.
We arrived in North Berwick by train, an hour's trip from Edinburgh city centre, and began our adventures at the Seabird Center, a small museum that overlooks four huge rocks at least 6 km offshore. These rocks, of which Bass Rock is the most recognized, are havens for literally thousands of island birds. From the Seabird Center, you can control cameras that are placed on the rocks to see the nests of all the birds. It was incredibly interesting, and I actually learned a lot (yes...about birds.) I also learned that once in a blue moon, whales and porpoises make guest appearances in these waters that meld the Firth of Forth and the North Sea.
We continued to explore the coastal region before departing on a half hour bus ride to Dunbar, another small coastal town known for its fishing. We stumbled upon an old castle that overlooks the sea and walked along the "downtown" area - two parallel streets each a quarter-mile long. East Lothian was very consistent in the sense that each town had two main roads usually running parallel to each other that housed pharmacies, school uniform shops, pubs and restaurants, coffee houses, and one-stop-shop storefronts. North Berwick, Dunbar, and Haddington, the three towns we visited, were all very, very small towns which my classmate did not enjoy. However, the small-town feel left me wanting to visit more, learn more about the cities, and explore all these hidden treasures have to offer.
Besides the fact that we literally did about 8 hours of walking (meaning yes, I subtracted out bus travel time, lunch, and our coffee break), I got to see such a cool side to Edinburgh that I never would have known about had it not been for my class. See Dad?? I'm learning something!!
I returned home with my ankles the size of New Jersey (thanks Mom and Grandpa!), immensely sore feet, my camera filled with pictures of the coast, a project idea, and the strongest desire for fish and chips I have ever encountered.
While I may have walked for 8 hours during this field trip, I ate back every.single.calorie in fried haddock and chips that same night. I look at it as "balanced" and "deserved".
Overall? An utterly and completely AWESOME day.
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