Edinburgh

I'm from Glasgow so those of you from Scotland will understand how difficult it is for me to say this but, you know, Edinburgh is a very pretty city.

Not that I saw much of the city this time right enough. I left my parents house in Dundee not long after 6 to catch the train from the north that some of my colleagues were already on. The sun was strong and the sky was blue. It wasn't yet half past eight when we arrived in Edinburgh and disgraced ourselves by showing our true country colours negotiating tram lines, taxi ranks and the rush hour traffic. We got some breakfast and then a taxi out to Heriot Watt University, arriving within seconds of the start of a long but interesting day about Trees in Hard Landscapes.

Our bus back into town meandered through some of the Edinburgh's finest conservation areas but took so long that we didn't have time to eat anywhere other than a quick take out from Pret before our half 7 train home.

My first colleague left the train at Montrose and the second at Stonehaven and then it was my turn, leaving only the Huntly bound traveller whose day ended somewhere around 11pm.

It's fair to say that Aberdeenshire is quite out the way, especially for those who live in the far east reaches of the shire, and a central belt based course which runs from 9-5.30 is going to make for a l.o.n.g day.

For me, I arrived home just after half past ten, to my mum who gave up what was probably the first (and maybe even only) term time day off in her working life to allow me to attend the course.

This one is for you mum. Thanks x