A few cities just bowl you over and Edinburgh is one of them. With the cliff-top Edinburgh Castle connected to the Holyrood Palace by the gently descending Royal Mile you form the backbone of the Old Town. Near by is the Georgian flavored New Town and the heart of transportation, Waverly Station. This description sounds too detached from reality and I was intent on remedying that.
Seems I had done a pretty good job when last I was in Edinburgh. Every place I revisited rang with familiarity. Many places I saw from afar today I knew I had visited before. It sounds like conceit but I impressed myself! My energy level is always high when visiting this city of art, culture, and commerce. Though poking my fingers into old familiar places is how I started my day, I did visit three new sites.
The Museum of Childhood was a stumble-upon which warmed my heart. I thought it was about toys as I started looking at the exhibits but then I realized it was more. Toys and the joys of childhood were the themes: joy, innocence, and simple pleasure. Smart people put that place together and I am glad for the serendipity that brought me there.
Last I was in Edinburgh the new Parliament had recently opened but the building was not available for viewing. Having recently seen the Wales Assembly building I was curious to see what the Scotts had. After all, the Welch aspire to have what the Scottish have politically so perhaps the same can be said of their government building.
As in Wales, I was given courteous and broad access to their government building. Where the Welch have an old and a new Assembly building, the Scotts have an entire campus of building all built to a theme. Again I was thrilled to see how open and trusting they were to visitors, how willing they were to have parliamentary debate be seen by guests in the gallery, and how modern everything was about their nascent government. As with Wales, it was a pleasure learning about their government.
Lastly I visited the National Museum of Scotland. Come on, who could resist that especially since it’s near where Harry Potter was written, it charges no admission fee and the roof is available as a viewing gallery to the city!? It also happened to be amazing with insights into all thing Scottish. Well worth the effort and a fine way to finish off my latest visit to Edinburgh.
- Edinburgh Castle Gate at the head of the Royal Mile.
- Skates from the Museum of Childhood.
- The Scottish National Parliament as viewed from the gallery.
- Striking profile of Edinburgh Castle perched upon its rock.
- Photographic fun from atop the National Museum’s viewing deck.
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