Breakfast Views

Acutely aware that it is now mid-summer and that it has felt like a metaphorical 5 minutes since my last post. In an attempt to not have this journal / blog / thread / twitter feed (delete as appropriate) fall off the interwebs I thought I would post my breakfast view this morning.

The Falkirk Wheel

The Fakirk Wheel

The Falkirk Wheel has just won a TripAdvisor People Choice award for 2023, so well done to the team in Falkirk Am very happy to be associated with such an engineering marvel and the whole Scottish Canals staff.

Starbucks

Starbucks Logo

Starbucks Logo

So, the first ‘real’ Starbucks opened in Falkirk this week. I call it a real Starbucks as it is not in a Cineworld that doesn’t allow you use your Starbucks card (and therefore doesn’t give you stars for free coffee). There is another Starbucks near Falkirk, but it is in a hospital, and recently they haven’t been keen on people popping in to the hospital for coffee, something to do with a virus.

It’s a fairly typical Starbucks, people meeting for chat, hipsters (yes even in Falkirk) writing on their MacBook’s and girls looking like they have just left a yoga class. Maybe you can answer this; do girls go to yoga classes to burn off enough calories so they can go to Starbucks afterwards for the 600 calorie frappacino? As a coffee purist it pains me waiting on coffee while people in front of me in the queue order drinks that take what seems like an eternity to make.

It is 10 degrees outside and their coffee has ice in it, like seriously, do they know what country they are in?

I digress.

Starbucks Falkirk

Starbucks Falkirk

This location started out as a Sony Store, which turned in to a Carphone Warehouse and is now a Starbucks. I can already tell there are probably more people in this location now than at any time in the two previous incarnations.

I find the seats here lacking comfort, am sure they are designed to maximise customer turnover. The hipsters are unbothered by such things like comfort, as long as there is a WiFi connection and a mirror somewhere to groom their beard.

So what brings me to Starbucks on a repetitive basis? It is the knowledge that I know exactly what I am getting and how it will taste and the comfort and memories that are rejuvenated with it. Every skinny triple shot grande latte that I have ever bought has tasted pretty much the same.

I do not care that 99% of their beans are ethically sourced.

This is not to say that I am not adventurous, it’s just sometimes you want a taste of what you know. So welcome Starbucks, to Falkirk, may your water run hot and your beans grow plentiful.

Sheds

I have been taking photographs of the Sheds at the new(ish) attractions of the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel the past week. At this time of the year these attractions are crazy busy with tourists, even at night. The shot at the Kelpies was taken just after sunset which was around 10pm. I must have counted at least 40-50 people there.

Cargo Yard Sheds at the Falkirk Wheel

Sheds at the Kelpies

Legion

I was offered some complimentary tickets to the opening evening of the “Legion” event organised by Rough Castle Experiences last Wednesday. It is described as a family night like no other. At The Antonine Wall you can take a walk back through time to see a magical woodland and performances by experts in theatrical combat and aerial artistry.

The history was to be brought to life by a sate of art sound and light technologies, live action and lots of imagination. Unfortunately, lots of imagination was a rather large understatement. I was rather underwhelmed, but I find it hard to put my finger on exactly why this was. The actors that were meant to be pushing the story along as you wandered through the trail just failed to convey what their part was. If this was so that they didn’t ‘break character’ the stewards also gave no commentary and there were no signs describing what the point of some of the pieces were either.

So you kinda felt lost with the story while wandering the woods with some lighting and at one point a projector displaying a film that was meant to set the scene. There was also an unnecessarily long delay in seeing the acrobatic piece, which coincided with a “retail opportunity”. I was glad that my ticket was complimentary as I would have felt ripped off if I had paid £18 for an adult ticket. To charge £3 for hot water and a tea-bag while waiting on a performance was a touch rough.

I wish I was the sort of person that could let little things go, but this photograph kind of summed it all up for me. Good intentions that fell short. If nothing else it made me laugh, and take a photograph, I may also have tweeted it, instagram might also have been involved. It was exceptional. I accept that this is small minded of me, I will work exceptionally hard at being better.



 

Anyway, I took some photographs and video for your viewing pleasure! Thanks for reading.

Falkirk Trinity Church

Vote day for the UK remaining or leaving Europe gave me chance to go home. As it was a sunny day I got a few photographs of from Falkirk's Trinity Church - Faw Kirk. The church stands on the historic site of Faw Kirk and was probably the first Christian structure in Falkirk. It is believed that Faw Kirk gave rise to the town's name, Falkirk. The church is also the burial ground and resting place of William Wallace’s finest knight, Sir John de Graham, whose body is said to have been carried from the battlefield and laid to rest in the kirkyard by William Wallace himself.