Inside Napier University's Morningside Church building is where you can book yoga classes…read more It costs three pounds a time, and the tutor is really good. You will come away from the class feeling amazing; and the teacher's voice is so relaxing! These lessons are for beginners only.

I'm always on the hunt for new yoga classes so when I found out about a free taster class at a new…read moreyoga studio - I was there in a flash! The class was led by Sarah, who practices under the name 'Yogabeet'. The class was vinyasa style, that flowed at a pace that allowed us to fully explore each pose, feel the stretch, build strength and yet still build up warmth and increase the heartrate. Yogabeet as well as other instructors will be holding classes at this newly renovated studio - right in the heart of the New Town. The entrance is a typical door that leads to a small hall and not quite refurbished hallway (should be finished soon). Halfway up, on the landing, are toilets and space to change. So far, nice but nothing out of the ordinary. I then reached the door at the top of the stairs which opened onto a big open space with the most amazing high, glass ceiling - something I would expect in the Assembly Rooms, not in a small Georgian terrace. In the summer, the natural light must be amazing but on this dark winter night, the atmosphere was created by multi-coloured lights that accented the architectural details. The wooden floors were perfect for any type of fitness class. The walls were covered with unframed artwork. I found out that the space is also used as an art studio and for art classes. Tonight the easels and stools were pushed neatly aside, making space for plenty of yoga mats. All in all, the location was so easy to get to, the space was GORGEOUS, there was plenty of room for everyone to have their own space. The only small niggle was that the room was a bit chilly. Possibly because the space has only just started to be used on a regular basis, maybe it will take a few weeks to get the chill off. For the yoga class, luckily I had on layers which I could remove as I got warmer through the class. I can't wait til January when the new timetable kicks in! Details of classes are on the facebook pages for Yoga Mountain and Yogabeet. I've also reviewed the Yogabeet class on my blog, Healthy Edinburgh.

Picturesque building in a great location overlooking princes street, the courtyard although small…read moreand quite busy with tourists, holds a statue of John Knox. You need ID to access the library but if you wait around for someone to come in or out you might be lucky and once inside you will be greeted by beautiful stained glass windows. It's unclear though where visitors are allowed to roam so some info on this would be helpful.

As well as being a stunning building to admire from the outside, New College is an excellent venue…read morefor hosting events as well. It stands on top of The Mound and so has an imposing look, visible from Princes Street and beyond. Like Edinburgh itself, which has old and new towns, the university has Old College and New College. Also like the city, both old and new are quite old indeed. The building dates from 1846 and houses the School of Divinity at the University. However, there are also rooms that can be rented out for events, and that's what brought me here. Our ball happened in Rainy Hall, a stunning hall, with crests and coats of arms all around. Walking in through the main gate of the college brings one to the very Hogwarts-like quadrangle, which makes for some great photo ops. Once inside the building, all of the interior architecture also captures one's attention. However, I am far from an expert on this, so that's quite enough comments about architecture! Rainy Hall is an intimate venue for events. It comfortably accommodated our ~60 attendees, but much more than this and ceilidh dancing would become somewhat difficult. Catering and bar service are provided by the University's own Edinburgh First, with friendly, efficient staff, and a good selection of drinks at the bar. The food quality is very good, though portion sizes leave a lot to be desired. My recommendation to visit New College is twofold. As a tourist, the astoundingly beautiful building makes for excellent photographs. On top of this, for reasonably small events of up to 70 people, the Rainy Hall is an excellent venue to consider.

Craiglockhart campus is a modern University. The building itself is open plan providing different…read morestudy areas. It encompasses a very popular Starbucks which is always very busy particularly between lectures. I have found the staff to always be helpful and supportive. There is an open-door policy so one can get help and advice at any time. The computer facilities become full during the day and it is sometimes hard to find a computer particularly when one really needs one. There is ample parking but this is regulated by the University. As a result one must pay £48 to park in the car park. This pushes students out into neighbouring streets which I dont believe is favoured by local residents. I would recommend Napier Craiglockhart to anyone. This building is mainly for management, accountancy and law with other subjects being taught at other campuses. There is plenty of transport from the city centre as there is a bus which comes on campus. The staff offer real support making an enjoyable learning experience.

I did training for a job working on behalf of the University of Edinburgh here and the facilities…read morehere are really great. As you would expect for an informatics forum it is kitted out with good levels of equipment the students that frequent it. The Informatics forum's main purpose is to be the hub for informatics students (of course), but also the humanities and social sciences department and the student support service department. The design of the building is really great and is a true example of how modern architecture can really complement and cohabit amongst older buildings.

The Informatics Forum, just like the Dugald Stewart Building is a very recent appearance on…read moreEdinburgh University's George Square campus. Because it's essentially the same building. But somehow, probably because it houses people who might actually have careers (instead of the plain ol' geeks at the Dugald Stewart side of the establishment), it's actually way snazzier than DSB. I only know this because I went into the Informatics Forum for one of those hour-long above-minimum-wage experiments that you do when you're unemployed and desperate. They had paintings! Or, one painting. But that's one more than I've ever seen in the Dugald Stewart Building.

My friend gave me a guided tour and all I can say about this University is I really wished I had…read moregone here (and could afford it). It's so amazing, and pretty, and people are friendly, and they have all these cool events advertised (like a cheese party!!!). Teviot row house is also the oldest student union building in the world (My friend told me) and it looks great! they have a sports bar, library bar, and other various bars for different functions and settings.

Home to some of the ugliest buildings on earth (can I get a round of applause for Appleton Tower's…read moresheer foulness please?) the University of Edinburgh was the place of my 'further education'. Superficially the Uni does well in the league tables (23rd in the world I think) but the real student experience is pretty patchy. The main library is probably the best example of this. Spanning over six floors this building houses millions of books and resources but for some reason there never seemed to be any of the ones I wanted! At the beginning of every year at least one of my courses was complaining that their books hadn't been put on short loan and that keen students had already checked out the course work for the year. There was also a constant issue of people hogging computers, leaving their books and coats on the table and then heading off to Bristo Square for a leisurely lunch. Annoying! Nonetheless I did enjoy my studies at Edinburgh a lot. The uni attracts some brilliant lecturers especially in the History and Politics departments (my degree). Dr Day, Dr Cogliano and Dr Bates were my favourite historians although I would have to say that the international relations and politics of human rights courses were very impressive. In recent years the University has come out quite badly in 'student satisfaction' surveys primarily because of the time it took to get coursework marked and returned. As I left I could see that there were real efforts being made to reverse these patterns but as far as most of us were concerned it was a bit too little too late. Despite this I would still say that Edinburgh is a great University and I miss it a lot!

Whitburn Academy is a six-year comprehensive, non-denominational school. The school building opened…read moreoriginally in 1967 and was extensively refurbished and upgraded in 2001/2. It now provides excellent modern educational facilities for pupils from Whitburn and surrounding villages. There are 4 language laboratories ,6 Computing/Business Education Classrooms and 2 IT suites. There are now 10 Science labs,5 Craft & Design labs, 4 Home Economics Rooms, 4 Music Classrooms and 4 Music Tuition Rooms. There is also 1 Gymnasia,1 Games Hall,1 Conditioning Room plus 1 Dance Studio. Also an all weather pitch and changing pavilion plus a Swimming pool. My three children attended this school and all achieved good qualifications. Some of the staff have been there for a long time and this is good when you go to parent nights as they know you and you feel more comfortable discussing your childs education. The Academy is an important part of the community, used for Pantomimes and other shows, the starting point for the yearly gala day and of course it's most recent claim to fame was when local boy, Leon returned after winning X factor!

The main thing that springs to mind when I think about Meadowbank is Sports Days from back in the…read moreday when I was at school, and the Velodrome and athletics track, which seemed to go on forever at the time. Sadly, my athletics skills never won me any trophies, but I did enjoy basking in the sun with an ice cream and watching other sportier class mates sprinting round the track. Chomping ice cream and lazing about, despite being good times all round, isn't exactly beneficial to your fitness, so I would suggest coming here and taking advantage of the extensive facilities. Whatever your fitness method of choice, there's a good chance Meadowbank will meet your needs. There's a gym, two fitness studios with tons of classes on offer, seven days a week, plus three sports halls where you can play badminton, tennis and squash, outdoor pitches, a 400m 8 lane athletics track, and a 250m outdoor Velodrome.

The best thing about Meadowbank Sports Centre is that it feels like playing in a real stadium -…read moreeven when you are just playing on the Astroturf pitches. The proper pitch there is impressive- not only a perfect pitch, but the stands tower over you whilst on this pitch. It is most likely that you will visit here for the Astroturf pitches. Get together enough people and you should be able to get an hour's session for £4. It's not the cheapest, but in winter it can be the best on offer. The pitches themselves are fairly large - much bigger than Power League pitches and 7-a-side would be ideal. The only downside is the low fence at one end which does not stop quite as many balls as you would hope. Given that the gate is off to the side and given that they sometimes practise javelin throwing on the patch behind, this can be annoying - it will, however, teach you to keep your shots down.