The purpose of this report is to share our travel experience on our study trip to Edinburgh, in order to let the other students know what we have visited and what we have learned. The official part of the trip started on Monday. But, as a class, we decided to go three days earlier to enjoy Edinburgh in our own way.
City walking tour
On Monday morning, we did the Sherlock Holmes walking tour. This walking tour was not an ordinary guided tour. We saw many places where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes books, lived and studied. This walking tour was really interesting. The tour guide was costumed as Sherlock Holmes and was very enthusiastic about Sir A. C. Doyle, so it was very exciting for us to follow him and find out how the author came up with the story of Sherlock Holmes.
Lectures at University of Edinburgh
In the afternoon, we attended at the University of Edinburgh. There we heard five presentations given by lecturers of the School of Geographical & Earth Sciences. The presentations were about: the resettlement of lynxes, the potential of the bicycle in Scotland, GIS in Africa, surveying the earth with the ICESAT2 satellite, and finally, some former students told us how they started a new start-up. Afterwards, we went with the lecturers for a beer in the oldest students’ union building in
the world to have a talk with them about the student life in Edinburgh.
Visit to ESRI UK
On Tuesday morning, we met in front of the offices of ESRI UK. There we had the chance to listen to 6 presentations about what ESRI is and what they do as one of the most important suppliers of
GIS software. They explained their projects, and talked about their training and working life including how they had come to ESRI UK. Some of the members of the ESRI UK team have worked for a long time at ESRI; others had just started a few months ago. For us, it was very interesting to see how it is in such a big company.
National Library map collections
After lunch, we visited the map collections of the National Library of Scotland. There we saw a presentation on the history of the maps and how they were digitalised and georeferenced. Later we had the opportunity to see the archives of the map collection. In addition, we had the chance to see
some of the old historical maps and the copper engraving tools.
The Gin Discovery Tour
On Wednesday morning, we visited the Edinburgh Gin Distillery. There we heard a very interesting presentation of the history of gin. They also showed us how they produce their gin, and we could smell all the ingredients they use.
Conclusion and recommendation
In conclusion, our stay in Edinburgh had both educational and entertainment contents, in the right
proportion. We suggest to the future students to take part in the study trip because it is a not-to-bemissed experience.
Authors: Raphael Hubler, Elia Ferrari, Enea Gentilini
City walking tour
On Monday morning, we did the Sherlock Holmes walking tour. This walking tour was not an ordinary guided tour. We saw many places where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes books, lived and studied. This walking tour was really interesting. The tour guide was costumed as Sherlock Holmes and was very enthusiastic about Sir A. C. Doyle, so it was very exciting for us to follow him and find out how the author came up with the story of Sherlock Holmes.
Lectures at University of Edinburgh
In the afternoon, we attended at the University of Edinburgh. There we heard five presentations given by lecturers of the School of Geographical & Earth Sciences. The presentations were about: the resettlement of lynxes, the potential of the bicycle in Scotland, GIS in Africa, surveying the earth with the ICESAT2 satellite, and finally, some former students told us how they started a new start-up. Afterwards, we went with the lecturers for a beer in the oldest students’ union building in
the world to have a talk with them about the student life in Edinburgh.
Visit to ESRI UK
On Tuesday morning, we met in front of the offices of ESRI UK. There we had the chance to listen to 6 presentations about what ESRI is and what they do as one of the most important suppliers of
GIS software. They explained their projects, and talked about their training and working life including how they had come to ESRI UK. Some of the members of the ESRI UK team have worked for a long time at ESRI; others had just started a few months ago. For us, it was very interesting to see how it is in such a big company.
National Library map collections
After lunch, we visited the map collections of the National Library of Scotland. There we saw a presentation on the history of the maps and how they were digitalised and georeferenced. Later we had the opportunity to see the archives of the map collection. In addition, we had the chance to see
some of the old historical maps and the copper engraving tools.
The Gin Discovery Tour
On Wednesday morning, we visited the Edinburgh Gin Distillery. There we heard a very interesting presentation of the history of gin. They also showed us how they produce their gin, and we could smell all the ingredients they use.
Conclusion and recommendation
In conclusion, our stay in Edinburgh had both educational and entertainment contents, in the right
proportion. We suggest to the future students to take part in the study trip because it is a not-to-bemissed experience.
Authors: Raphael Hubler, Elia Ferrari, Enea Gentilini