Day 7-10: Edinburgh and Dunkeld, Scotland, UK — Seeing (the world) 2̶0̶2̶0̶ 2022!

We set aside our Sunday in Edinburgh for something very special. Twelve years ago, when we first visited Edinburgh, we stayed in the lovely home of a lovely family, on a Home Exchange. At the end of that exchange, we had a chance to spend an afternoon with that family, including their sons who were something like 3 and 10(?) then. Over the years, I’ve stayed in touch with Kelli via Facebook, so we were hopeful we could get together again this time. And it worked! Kelli planned a really nice day for us, which included a drive a bit further north into Scotland, a long-ass hike (Kelli must have mistaken me for a real Coloradan. Haha!), and dinner.

Dunkeld. Why is this country so damn gorgeous everywhere? Unfair!

Sagan was still suffering from some back pain, so he opted out of the hike part and entertained himself lounging around next to the river in town. But the rest of us hiked something like 8 miles on a surprisingly hot, sunny day by Scotland’s (or really anywhere) standards. And I know I sound like I’m complaining about the hike, but it really was great. I only mean to say that my pre-travel body was not accustomed to such a workout, and I really needed it. It was gorgeous and wonderful way to catch up on all sorts of topics, while also helping me burn calories for the yummy pizza and drinks we had at the end. Kelli and her family are just as fun as I remembered them being before, though her 3 year old is now a giant like Sagan. And the older boy couldn’t even join us because he’s off being a friggin’ adult now. How dare he?

I hope we won’t wait 12 years to get together again.

Story might have developed a friend crush (or mom crush?) on Kelli that day. Who can blame her?

Monday was our last full day in Edinburgh, so we filled it to the brim. Story really wanted to go to the zoo, so she and I got on a bus to enjoy a mom-and-daughter adventure. I’ll be honest - the zoo wasn’t quite as perfect as I’d remembered. I think a lot of exhibits had to shrink down for COVID and still haven’t opened back up. Plus they still haven’t re-started the penguin march yet, which was a real highlight for us in 2010. But still, we did have a really nice time there together. Story played at every playground, and we made sure to see all the cutest animals (sloths and even koalas included!) My favorite part was watching animal scientists at work, testing monkeys to see if they could remember the trick to getting a piece of food. I have already forgotten what the trick was, so clearly I am not a very intelligent monkey.

After the zoo, Mike met up with us so we could visit Corstorphine Hill. This was another favorite spot from our previous trip, and it’s just a bit east of the zoo. It was interesting to see the difference in the plant and animal life from this time to last. In 2010, we didn’t have a single day without some bit of rainfall (usually nice and soft). But this trip was all warmth and sunshine, and the formerly-squishy grass of Corstorphine Hill was more dry and, well, not squishy. There also weren’t a zillion little bunnies hopping everywhere this time. But still, it was beautiful and a very cool spot to climb up and see off into the distance. The purple flowers are still everywhere, and it was great to share this with Story this time around.

Mr. AchyBack Sagan joined us for the rest of the day, which was spent on the east side of town.

I feel like this picture captures a lot of Edinburgh at once. Modern signs for Waverly Station, the hustle and bustle of locals and tourists, double decker busses, and a whole lot of beautiful, old buildings.

Our main goal was to hit Dynamic Earth, my favorite science museum in the world so far. It’s set up to make you feel like you are traveling back in time (via a time machine that feels suspiciously like an elevator) to different geologic eras. I don’t really know how to explain it well, but it was a place that gave me some true “a-ha” moments the first time we visited. I couldn’t wait to share that with my kids, now that both are old enough to remember it. My favorite room is so simple compared to the rest, but it gives you this excellent vision of what evolution looks like. You don’t just see that standard monkey-to-ape-to-man progression which leaves the (ahem) less-educated of our species asking, “If we evolved from monkeys, then why do monkeys still exist?”

Story would not have survived this era, because she would have tried to hug every dangerous animal.

At Dynamic Earth, you see instead a wall of creatures that starts with a couple of tiny organisms and then grows to more and more kinds of organisms. Some of the originals die off over time, but many stick around alongside their new buddies. Again, I can’t really describe it well enough, but trust me, it’s very well done. They also have games and sculptures to make it fun and easy to learn all sorts of concepts. I made my kids sit and play all the way through a couple of games, because I’m totally calling this a science lesson that will go towards our homeschooling hours.

Hanging with my great-great….great-grandma.

After Dynamic Earth, we crossed the street to hike up Arthur’s Seat. I’m still not clear why it’s called that, but it’s a cool hike up with a great view from the top. Sagan skipped this one as well, but Story zoomed all the way up and then decided she wanted to run down, like our friend Julia, who was finishing a 100-mile race back home at that time.

We’ll rename it “Story’s Seat” when she becomes rich and famous.

We finished off the day with a nice dinner and a bus ride home. That pretty well ended our time in Edinburgh for this trip, but I hope we’ll be back at least a few more times in the future.