We perused through a number of 'Sports' stores in Edinburgh and we could not find any football…read morejerseys for my husband. He was set on getting a Heart of Midlothian Football Club jersey as a souvenir from Edinburgh and so we decided to head to the stadium's gift shop which is what this review will be based on. Their team store had possibly some of *the cutest* merchandise I've seen for a football club in terms of merch for the little ones. There were west highland terrier, dinosaur, and bear shaped stuffed animals. They had pop it toys, adorable westie pencil cases, and clothing just to name a few. For the older crowd, they had a wide range of items that included your typical jerseys, keychains, apparel to nicer items like stainless steel water bottles, coffee mugs and tumblers, and a mix of candies. They didn't have my husband's size available in the jersey that he wanted, but he was able to snag some shorts as a souvenir which is a successful trip in my book! Definitely recommend a stop here if you're a football fan and wanting some Heart of Midlothian souvenirs!

They actually built a castle out of used watches and clocks, and called it "Timecastle." Sounds…read morelike a sci-fi TV show or something. First-Hand Experience: More info about my personal experience at this stadium - I believe that other than Celtic Park, Tynecastle is up there with Dundee United as the most intense atmosphere in Scotland. I've now seen 4 games here (including one when I was still a teenager), and it's left a permanent mark on me. It's a thrill to be in here. It's dark and imposing, it's intense and cauldron-like. It's the heart and soul of Edinburgh football. Everyone was very nice to me (even Hibs fans in town), and I can't think of a club other than the Old Firm and DUFC that inspires more intense passion from supporters than HM1874. Yes they have been around that long. I was most recently here at Tynecastle just last year in late 2014, and will be visiting again in 2016. It needs a bit of a facelift but it's still 5 stars all the way from me. So when I was doing my first tour of Scotland in 2011, I also hit up every single stadium in the country. My obsession with footy (soccer to Americans) is the reason. Every stadium review - like all my reviews - are based on first-hand personal experience, usually from multiple visits. As recently as Fall 2014, when I was "stuck" in UK for 3 months, I went to most of them yet again while travelling. I have pictures of me at many of them, which I will post later. Also, when back in Scotland I plan to take more pix, and add more stadia! So watch this space! *** return to regular review *** Anyway, Tynecastle is one of the great stadiums of British football. It's grand and intense and has a wonderful atmosphere, with the third highest average crowd of any club in Scotland. It probably has the best atmosphere of any club in Scotland. It holds 17k and has been around since 1886. It has a beautiful big illuminated Hearts mosaic badge on the outside of it. Bravo. Scotland played many games here as recently as 2003. In 2004, the owners tried to sell the stadium but the "Save Our Hearts" campaign saved it. In other news, it's Gorgie-ous.

I come here every Wednesday with my five a side football team partaking in the student league and I…read moreabsolutely love it there, despite my team narrowly avoiding coming bottom last season! I have played in various different five a side pitches and these pitches are amongst the best I have played on. There are good facilities with changing rooms adjacent to the pitches, which are always kept clean and there lockers are also available. One thing that does intrigue me about World of Soccer is that 5 a side games last an hour, with about a 2 minute half time "break". No where else have I seen a 5 a side game go on so long and is a real test of endurance. My main reservation about World of Soccer is the price. To enter your team you need to pay £25 and this is fine if there are loads of your mates wanting to play. But if there are only 5 or 6 of you, it can be quite costly at around £5 per person.

I used to come here every week for 5 a side, hopping on the 37 to get suitably knackered and…read moredepressingly outskilled by some cocky little 13 year old gobshite. Apart from this ritual humiliation, I had great fun there. The teams are split into two main types, the school kids that are really keen and generally pretty good (if dirty) and then there's the uni / post school kids, who are just doing it to keep fit and have a bit of a kick about with their mates. Because of this some of the matches can be irritating, with some people taking it way too seriously and getting aggressive. On the other hand you can have some really good laughs, when people just treat it as a good laugh, and nothing too important. There is definitely the competitive element, but when it is played as a game not life or death, the matches are hilarious. There are a good number of pitches here (about 10 if I remember correctly) and it is not too expensive to play. The downside is the turf which is so irritating. It rips your skin to shreds like sand based astroturf and there are these bloody little black bits of rubber, which go places you won't even imagine.

My brother is a huge collector of football programmes, he buys lots of them from ebay and it is…read moresurprising how much they can go for. I am however not really into it, having to pay £3 for a memento of the day really isn't worth it, when you can get the exact same information on the internet. But if this is your thing, then I can imagine that this shop would be a treasure chest. The programmes are mostly Hibernian, but there are a few others like Scottish national team programmes as well. Some of the programmes go decades back and would make a great gift to a supporter to get a piece of the clubs history. They also offer programmes from recent matches, and if you are looking to keep a complete set of programmes for a season, this shop would be a God send if you were to miss a game.

This is an excellent park for kids of all ages. It's huge with a great range of apparatuses and a…read moreskatepark for all to enjoy. There are trampolines, spiderweb, a sand park among other things. Very fun day out.

This is a park which remains very popular among the local people especially amongst the younger…read moregenerations due to its skateboard and bmx park which is always heaving with young people who appear in their own way to be enjoying themselves. The actual park itself has a good number of proper pitches and I have played 11-a-side on the pitches here. My personal experience, however, is not particularly good and I consider the pitch we played on to be a bit of a joke seeing as it was on a rather steep slope (although I will concede that half the pitch was flat). Luckily I happened to be playing on the flat side both ends swapping sides half way through the game, but considering the fact that we were paying to play on what was a better golf course than football pitch I wasn't that impressed and it ruined the game. It isn't, however, a bad recreation ground, but one that is certainly not worth paying for.

Leith Links, one of Edinburgh council's premier parks is situated in the heart of Leith, just near…read morethe bottom of Leith Walk. This green delight is squeezed between three streets, with large houses looking over the park on East Hermitage Place. The park is large and has numerous walkways cutting throughout. As I walked around it I noticed that this park provides space for many sports. It has a bowling green which is across from Duncan Place. Furthermore, it is home to the local amateur football team Leith Athletic (Unsure how good this team would be to watch and how good they are in comparison to local favourites Hibernian!). Also, the park has two children play areas, one with slightly larger slides and playing frames. The park was quite busy when I went for a visit to it, with it being very popular with joggers and young families. There are plenty of big green spaces to relax in the sun, however, in colder weather I would imagine this park, with being so close to the sea would be pretty cold at best!

Leith Links is north Edinburgh's answer to the Meadows, a beautiful and extensive green oasis…read morecriss-crossed with paths, dotted with playgrounds, and the perfect place for a stroll, a run, or to walk your dog. It's actually much quieter than the Meadows and doesn't get overrun with picnicking students, making it a much more tranquil place to spend time (although the north east corner can get a bit whiffy due to the nearby sewage works). At the same time, the Links still have a lot going on, from allotments and a Children's Orchard located in their midst to visiting circuses. The park also plays host to regular festivals such as the Leith Festival in June and the Edinburgh Mela in August. Another claim to fame is that, although no longer used as a golf course, it is the place where the rules were first laid down, making it officially the home of golf - take that St Andrews!

My nephew goes for football training here and it's a great venue with great facilities and the…read morecoaches are all fantastic and very professional.