Woke up to a leisurely Saturday morning and headed off with a bunch of friends to celebrate our own version of Valentine's day away from home. We had the somewhat brilliant but crazy plan of walking all the way to Leith, the Northernmost district of Edinburgh. The coastline of Leith hugs the Firth of Forth, which sounded dreamy to me. I love being near water bodies whether they be rivers, lakes and oceans. And besides, there's something inherently romantic about standing at the border where land simply dissolves into water, and opens up into an expansive, sun-streaked horizon.
At the same time however, the romantic Firth was a good 1.5 hour walk away from Pollock, which is way down South. And in addition to making our pilgrimage to Leith, we also embarked on a 2 hour 'scenic' stroll while there, covering Leith Walk, Commercial Street, the Harbour and Bernard Street, before hopping down to Ocean's terminal for some window shopping. So having been on my feet for the past 6 hours, I'm still undecided whether today's walkaton is something to be proud of, or something I'll look back on tomorrow (with aching feet) and go "what on earth..."
But nevertheless, it was Valentine's Day and such a special occasion does merit special activities.
Highlights of the day (apart from the gruelling walk):
1. A Good Lunch - Finally!
After weeks of sneaking out bread from the Pollock dining hall for lunch, it was amazing to finally have a good sit-down meal which I could actually eat with fork and spoon. Small luxuries which are never appreciated till you have to be content with cold rolls stuffed with leftover scrambled eggs from breakfast!
You might think I'm making it out to be worse than it sounds. However I dare say, you'd feel the same if you'd been eating the same thing for 5 whole weeks. And I must confess, I really like my food. I don't (and certainly can't) demand high standards for every meal, but I feel that in an ideal world, eating should be an experience, not a mere matter of subsistence.
Well, no gourmet food today obviously. I know my limits fiscally. But I did take great pleasure in treating myself to a hot meal of meatball linguine, followed by a decadent and sinfully delicious chocolate fudge cake treat topped with condensed milk, syrup and vanilla ice cream. The photo does not do it justice at all.
Best ever. And all for the grand price of 5 pounds 40 pence. We Pollockers rejoiced.
2. Views of the Firth of Forth
We tried to spy the Royal Yacht Britannia from the 2nd floor viewing platform at Ocean's Terminal. The angle was somewhat disappointing given how half the ship was obscured, but nevertheless I was able to gaze upon the vast expanse of the Firth which was somewhat calming and restful.
Am unsure what that strange red contraption is, but it looked a lot more interesting than the Royal Yacht which kind of just sits there. I also wonder about the buildings on the other side of the Firth. Who lives there? What do they do? Would I be able to go visit?
3. Sights around the Water of Leith
The rather unimaginatively named Water of Leith is a river which flows through Leith and opens up into the Firth of Forth. This charming river is surrounded by these rather spacious, cobblestone walkways which reminded me a little of Clarke Quay back home in Singapore. There are also interesting, eyecatching structures on the river banks which made for quite a pleasant sight and subsequent camwhoring - a tendency, Simona claims, is endemic amongst girls and Asians.
Walking past the Water of Leith earlier in the day...
Returning to the River sometime later as the sun was setting
All in all, a quiet and picturesque place. I would love to come back one day when the weather is less cloudy, and to just soak up the atmosphere around the Water of Leith. However next time I think I'll give my feet a break and hop on the nearest bus!
4. Impromptu Poetry Session
Valentine's Day excuses a lot of things, including amateurs bursting out into moments of poetic inspiration while walking along the coast. Well, somewhat inspired anyway - we had a little poetry contest amongst ourselves, following a predetermined literary template set by Felyna which went as such:
I am __________,
You are ________,
_____________ end
_____________ my friend.
(Rules: poem has to include the word "sea")
My on-the-spot nautical-inspired contribution, which I am somewhat embarassed to type out:
"I am the sailor/You are the harbour/And just as the sea has no end,/So too, my journey to you, my friend."
Hilarious. I would never dare say this to anyone in all seriousness.
So that concludes my eventful day. Will spend tomorrow working on my essay - one of my two essays sadly - and giving my limbs a break from all the walking hours I've accumulated this week. In the meantime, Happy Valentine's Day y'all!
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