Edinburgh

We were all relieved to be heading to Edinburgh and for Lars and Roxcy it was one step closer to home. We had done very well living in a small van for a month but we were looking forward to spreading out a bit and sleeping in a real bed. I had been looking forward to spending some time in Edinburgh, the last time we were there was in the 80's ... a lot has changed since then, including us.

We drove out of our way to visit this Cheese Mongers ... I love cheese! I am sure I have said this before, my favourite cheese in NZ is Blue River Sheep's Milk. I love buying cheese from our local cheese monger in ChCh who has the best selection of cheeses and great bread. 

We woke really in the morning at our Blair Castle campground and started driving to Edinburgh while Lars and Roxcy were still asleep. Pete thought that it would be a good idea to visit The National Museum of Flight outside of Edinburgh before we dropped off our van. Our Satnav got sulky and dropped off the internet just as we came into the city. It was very stressful trying to navigate our way to the museum. There was a moment of panic when we thought we would have to go analogue. We made it to the museum ok but arrived early and had to wait for about an hour so Pete decided to clean out the van before we dropped it off.

I would feel completely safe with this flight crew.

I booked an airbandb for our stay in Edinburgh. I had no idea where it was or what it was like other than the photos on the airbandb site. It is a little scary for me when booking accommodation online and I have no idea of location or proximity to where we want to go. When we pulled up outside the door Roxcy saw how old the apartment block was she became a little concerned about what might be on the other side and that possibly we might be staying in some derelict, unsafe place.

Roxcy was in love with our apartment when she saw it and went straight to setting her room up organising her wardrobe and her desk which looked out the window and onto the street. Lars just jumped on his bed and lay himself out and did not really care about where his clothes went ... which was mostly on the floor.

Our airbandb was about a 30 minute walk to all of the main sites that we wanted to see like Edinburgh Castle. It was a beautiful old building ... beautiful old stair case, lovely wood and these amazing tiles on the floor. Our apartment was almost like a home away from home and a lot more comfortable than living in a van.

We walked up to the end of our street to do some grocery shopping when we got settled. I just love these old buildings and it was so fun to sit at our window at night and watch people in their apartments living their lives.

Roxcy just loved setting up home. We were given tickets and passports to enter her room. There were notes with instructions from Roxcy all over our apartment and beside our bed. Pete and Lars went to the movies one night to see The Current War ... about the battle for electricity between Edison, Tesla and Westinghouse. I thought that the film would be boring for Roxcy and Lars had just been reading about Tesla so I thought the film might be of interest to him. Roxcy was really upset with Pete and me. She tried very hard to persuade us to take her with them but we were firm in our decision. As you can imagine there was some moments of serious distress for her. When we got back to our apartment Roxcy proceeded to take away Pete's tickets and visiting privileges to her room and said "oh and by the way, tickets to get into my room can expire. By the way Pete, your ticket has expired."

I spy with my little eye ... Lars ... I really like the idea of apartment living. There is something exciting and edgy about living in a city and the energy of peoples lives being right at your door.

Edinburgh Castle ... looks very foreboding and Gothic. I was a little underwhelmed by the Castle, but it looks very intimidating on top of the hill.

Lars our protector.

Edinburgh was the busiest city we visited in Scotland, and the only big city we visited ... people everywhere!

We loved the buskers ... Lars and Roxcy were fascinated by this elevated Dobby and spent quite a long time walking around him to figure out how he did it, we visited him several times doing a 360 view of him to figure out how he was standing above ground. There were a few buskers like this. We finally figured it out ... the staff is bolted to a platform that is under Dobby's robe and there is rod that runs along Dobby's sleeve and down his back that is attached to the platform and the staff. 

I really enjoyed watching Lars and Roxcy enjoy this busking act. They were laughing out loud at him ... he was very funny. I love the energy that buskers bring and how they draw in a crowd. This man was particularly good at it.

I found the best hot chocolate in the world here in Edinburgh ... it was delicious. We found this really yummy Italian restaurant ... I told them I like my hot chocolates strong and dark and they did it, so we went back for another one a couple of days later as well as pizza.

I booked a Harry Potter tour. Quite a lot of the Harry Potter series was written in Edinburgh so Harry Potter is BIG here and there are lots of different tours that can be taken. Our tour guide had done her Masters degree on Harry Potter and tourism. I have a whole new appreciation for Harry and his friends and JK Rowling. Lars was riveted the whole time and very engaged with our guide, he would chat away to her.

Our Harry Potter Tour took us down some really interesting streets, like this one. There is a Harry Potter museum and book store where you can buy wands and other Hogwarts magical instruments.

Apparently JK Rowling got her inspiration for character names from the Edinburgh grave yard. Her children go to a private school right next door and have their own personal security guards while at school. This is also the graveyard where Greyfair's Bobby (a Skye Terrier) sat by the grave of his dead master everyday for 14 years.  

I think Lars is a very handsome Harry Potter! Pete was often seen writing down quotes from Lars and Roxcy on his phone and wants me to include them in our posts. Movie quote from Lars ...

Pete ... "Lars this film might be a bit old for you."

Lars ... "I've seen a hundred PG13 films in my entire life."

Pete ... "A hundred Lars, are you sure?"

Lars ... "Maybe more!"

Roxcy looks very convincing as Hermione Granger. We learnt from our tour guide that anyone who had red hair was considered a witch and were either drowned, burnt or hung. If you were thrown into the river with stones chained to your feet and did not drown this meant that you were witch and would then burn you at the stake. Not a lot of positive options. I loved to remind her how lucky she is not to have been born in the 1600s. One of Pete's favourite quote from Roxcy ...

Roxcy ... "Pete, it's not fair you didn't cook my chicken when I asked you to."

Pete ... "Roxcy, it's not good for your development if I stop doing everything I am doing just because you say I'm hungry, especially when I am doing something important like reading a book."

Roxcy ... "Wait! You were reading a book!!!!"

I really love this photo of Lars ... do I have too? He was really upset that we did not buy him a wand and this was the best look I could get out of him.

We visited the Edinburgh Museum ... which is amazing for children. There are science, animals and technology sections. You could spend hours here ... I loved the light and the spaciousness of the building.

We went for a ride on a large ferris wheel on the river ... it was very high, but not as high as the one on the River Thames in London. Lars wanted to spin us very fast but I couldn't do it. We had a birds eye view of Edinburgh. Roxcy was so cute as we came down ... she said ... we are ok Liz ... don't look down.

We found a very cool Hi Fi store and stopped to have a look. There is some beautiful audio here. I loved this turn table. We walked past this store every day on our way into the city. The guy was a real enthusiast as most techno people are and it was a really nice moment stopping to look and check out his store.

Home again ... safe at last! Lars and Roxcy were so excited to be going home ... and had sent through their list of favourite foods, pizza being top of the list.