Edinburgh
We were briefly encouraged that the sun might come out this morning - but that lasted for all of 15 minutes and then it was quit cold for a bit and I wished that I had my sweater and jacket. There were people walking around today in full on winter coats, but they say this is normal for August in Scotland.
We visited the Edinburgh Castle first which is more of a castle complex. It has been used continually since the 1100s and even today has military offices and officer housing on the complex. One of the highlights of the visit was seeing the crown jewels and the coronation stone which was just returned to Scotland in 1999 after spending 700 years in London under the royal thrown. The guard made a joke that the English royalty need a soft seat over the coronation stone to sit on and the Scots only needed the stone because they are tough. It's fun to see the Scots constantly make fun of the English and assert their independence. Another highlight was seeing the cannon fire at 1:00 precise as it has done every day (except 2 holidays) for hundreds of years so the ships out in the Firth of Forth could set their clocks each day. We also visited the Scottish military museum, war memorial, great hall at the castle complex.
We found an alley protected from the wind where we could sit down and eat our sandwiches. This city is packed with visitors because there is a festival going on right now. It's something like a Sundance Film Festival + music festival + alternative arts festival. It's a bit of a zoo - I think I'll have to add Edinburgh to the list of cities to return to on the off season when it's not so crowded.
After lunch we enjoyed the very kid friendly National Scottish Museum for a bit. It was very hands on and the kids loved it. We saw everything from the skeleton of a whale that was stranded in the Firth of Forth recently to Victorian dresses with the huge hip extensions, to Dolly the cloned sheep to displays on physics, chemistry, technology, etc. We could have spent more time here. The kids were happy it wasn't art and the girls were happy it wasn't weaponry and military stuff.
Our finally stop of the day was a tribute to JK Rowling and Harry Potter walking tour. The kids loved it (and so did I - Eric wasn't sold, he hasn't read the books, so his loss). We wandered the graveyard near the cafes where she wrote the books. We saw gravestone of Thomas Riddel and a McGonagall who's names inspired her characters. We visited the school were her children attended and learned about the different "houses" in the school (4 like Hogwarts). We also saw areas of Edinburgh that inspired some of her fictional locations like Diagonal Alley.
Dinner was out on the town tonight at a great grilled chicken restaurant with yummy sides and sauces.
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| Edinburgh Castle |
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