Ten Questions: Sarah MacMillan of the Regent School of English

Published on Wednesday 7 January 2009 09:26

SARAH MACMILLAN, 58, hosts foreign language students for the Regent School of English on Chester Street

1 What is your earliest memory of Edinburgh? I remember walking around Blackford Pond with my father and my brother, feeding the ducks. I would have been about three.

2 What are your memories of school? We used to get bottles of milk at Morningside Primary. It was just after the war and I think they were trying to get some good food into us.

3 Where is your favourite place in Edinburgh and why? Probably the Botanics. Partly because it's nice in summer or winter. We often take the grandchildren – I've got six – and they rush around.

4 What are the best things about Edinburgh? It's so scenic and friendly and it's very cultural. We have so many visitors and it has a really good atmosphere.

5 What would you change about the city? The trams. I think it's so silly. We had trams when I was a child – we should have just kept them.

6 Describe a perfect Edinburgh day/night out. I like walking up Princes Street at Christmas time, with the Winter Wonderland and the German Market. And I do like fireworks. Going to a nice restaurant would be good too – I like Positano in Newington. It's a lovely Italian, really friendly and if it's your birthday, everyone ends up singing Happy Birthday to you.

7 Which sports interest you? Netball and dinghy sailing. I was captain of the school team for dinghy sailing at secondary and I was netball shooter. I don't do either now – the last time I tried to sail I nearly capsized!

8 What was your most embarrassing moment? Falling down the stairs in a very posh Edinburgh hotel the night before my son's wedding. It was a mixture of high stiletto heels, a little bit too much alcohol and the fact the posh hotel didn't have a banister on the stairs. I went backwards and my head only just missed a chest at the bottom of the stairs. Luckily I was quite relaxed when I fell – I just ended up with a sore behind.

9 What is your greatest achievement? Having a family. I have three sons and a daughter, and six grandchildren.

10 Sum up Edinburgh in three words. Vibrant, exciting, beautiful.