It seems a bit daft to go into Edinburgh for a day out when I work in the centre of town every day! But, I never actually do anything in town, I get the bus into town, spend all day in the office, and then go home. So, yesterday we decided to spend some time in the city and maybe start a little bit of Christmas shopping.
Frazer had been curling with some mates in the morning so I got the bus up to Edinburgh to meet him - seemed daft to take two cars. We had lunch in a Chinese buffet - tried Saigon Saigon this time and it was excellent. I always think it must be a sign of a good Chinese restaurant when Chinese people eat in there! It was delicious, and, as normal, we had far too many of the startery things and ended up too stuffed! We had a wander through Harvey Nichols - mainly because I had never been in there - and saw the view from the restaurant at the top, which is stunning. Unfortunately, there were people sitting right by the window, so I didn't get a picture. Harvey Nicks was pretty amazing, but you'd need a mortgage just to buy half the stuff in there!
We walked past the protest camp in St Andrews Square a few times. I've looked up why they're protesting, and I do kind of get it, but I'd have more sympathy for them if they wen't just a bunch of immensely middle class students with enough money to buy brand spanking new smart massive tents to be extremely comfortable in. We saw one of the protestors wandering around chatting on his mobile which kind of gives off the wrong signals! I don't disagree with the principle, what I disagree with is that some of the people protesting are people who have quite clearly benefited from rich mummies and daddies and they're basically just looking for attention. Yes it's very unfair that the rich (and the banks) get richer and the poor get poorer - I think that's basically it. However, there are always jobs out there for those who want them - as long as you are willing to do anything to earn a penny. It's constantly in the news how there are so many unemployed graduates now - why are they hanging around waiting to jobs to present themselves to them, and why aren't they doing temping jobs (of which there are many if you look at temping websites) or working in Tesco or somewhere? I'm sure prospective employers would look far more favourably on a CV which states that someone has been temping for a year in a bank than being unemployed for a year claiming the dole. However, I digress...! Go ahead and protest if that's your thing - they do have a point after all - but don't be hypocritical about it and do it just because you're jumping on the bandwagon.
Anyway, from one extreme to the other...we went to The Dome for a drink, although we didn't actually manage to get one. The Dome used to house e head office of the Royal Bank of Scotland, but in 1993 the bank moved all the business to the St Andrews Square building (outside which the protesters are camped) and the building was transformed to what it is now. It is absolutely stunning - on a summer's day when you walk in, you feel as though you should order a Singapore Sling! In the winter it is full of lights and garlands with cinammon attached so not only does it look Christmassy, it smells it too! It is beatifully opulent! It was packed out though, so I just took some photos and we went back to the car slightly disappointed, but we had a really lovely day, just the two of us.
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Location:Edinburgh
