The last day of the trip included mostly travelling. We had plenty of time to enjoy the last hotel breakfast before packing the bags for the last time and heading to the train station and Edinburgh. Our hotel was literally right next to the train station so the walk wasn’t long. Our train departed at 11.01 and at the station we made perhaps the last observation of Scotland related to our fields of studies: the trains ran on diesel. In Finland, almost all of the passenger trains are electrified so it was surprising that a train track between the capital of Scotland and businesswise one of the most important cities in the UK still relies on fossil fuels. At least one can spot tens if not over hundred wind turbines during the journey.
Once again we found ourselves reminiscing the trip as some of us got our excursion shirts signed by others on the train. It was time to remember the best quotes of the trip and write them down! We also tried to find our inner artists and draw some funny pictures of puffins, for example.
Back at ”Ebinbruh” we now explored the new town for places to eat as the tram to the airport departed on that side of the city. It was a beautiful weather and some quickly found themselves on a terrace or ”terde” whilst others had bit of a struggle to find a place to eat. One place also ran out of vegetarian burgers and forced a small group to go to McDonald’s for the first time on the trip.
After the trip we took the tram to the airport which was pretty straightforward as the city only has one tramline. On the airport, there were long queues waiting for us – luckily not as long as at Heathrow but the Scotts could also take a look at Helsinki-Vantaa to improve the experience. Some also took the last chance to purchase some souvenirs from the airport shop. For all the Harry Potter fans, there’s a shop called the Enchanted Galaxy you might want to check out.
Ironically and to our amusement, the plane first flew back North and turned towards home on top of Aberdeen. It was interesting to look for the places we had visited and the our wind power enthusiasts also enjoyed seeing wind farms and individual turbines from up high. You can, for example, see the Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine we visited on day 11 in the picture below right under the whitest cloud.
In the next picture, you can see Aberdeen and Aberdeen Bay Offshore Wind Farm. Aberdeen is right below the small peninsula and the wind farm on the left.
We arrived to Finland late of schedule and the hopes of catching the last metro were gone. Everyone was a little frustrated waiting for their bags and finally getting to sleep in their own beds again. Some shared a taxi while others departed on their own ways, maybe hoping to reunite once again.
What a trip we had!
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