Edinburgh observations

Edinburgh observations, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Two observations about my 10th visit to Edinburgh this year (11th if I count that VLSI conference in the 1970s).

Pies: Edinburgh is a great place for pie eaters. The health food shop Real Foods at Tollcross where I got my mueseli has two whole long shelves of pies and pasties in its chiller cabinet (too nervous to take a photo!), including Henderson's branded ones (tip: unless you like soggy pastry, don't let the wee lassie at Henderson's microwave them for you!). The 99p pasties and 80p samosas from Real Foods were fantastic! Why can't we have the same variety down south? Edinburgh also has the Piemaker shop on South Bridge (sadly the Tollcross branch has closed) for a quick street snack.

Smoking ban: yes it's great there's a smoking ban now in force, but if you just like sitting outside a pub and watching the world go by with your pint of 80/-, you'll have difficulty finding a table these days, cos they're all occupied by the smokers!