Edinburgh #2: Dean Village and Arthur's Seat

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I was surprised at how much sleep I had manged to get in the dorm room. The super creaky floors hadn't woke me up too much too often. I had read online that it could be murder to get a shower as the bathroom for my room was in the kitchen and therefore used by all and sundry, who also had bathrooms in their rooms, which we didn't. However getting up pretty early solved that problem. I also had a very healthy breakfast of a pork pie, gotta enjoy them while I can as I won't be able to get them on my return to Asia.

My plan for this morning was to head to Dean Village. I knew nothing about it, but the girl on reception had recommended it and said it was a short walk away. I stopped off for a proper coffee at a little deli/sandwich shop. Oh, to be rich and be able to afford all these things. Travelling in the West definitely involves a lot more self-catering. I got a bit lost on my way to Dean Village and ended up wandering the streets for a bit. The streets were very impressive though. Beautiful, tall, terraced houses that curved round small private parks. I wonder if they were still all houses or if a lot had been turned into flats. Eventually, I ended up on the main road. I had never been to this part of Edinburgh before, I always just think of the Old Town and Princess Street as Edinburgh, but there weer lots of shops and restaurants to visit here, too. I found the path leading away from the main road that took me down to Dean Village. The village is tucked away under Dean Bridge. I wandered around the village. The houses are all beautiful and well cared for. It was really pretty. I got some nice pictures of the river and surrounds. The area is pretty, but there isn't much to do there, so I wouldn't be in a rush to re-visit. I wandered around thinking there must be more to it, but there wasn't. I saw the signs for the Water of Leith walk. I wish I had known that there was a walk to do in the area, as I would have done that, but Dean Village seemed to be in the middle of the walk.

I headed over to the Old Town, stopping at any place on the way that took my fancy. Th Parish of St. Cuthbert is at the foot of the castle. Christian worship has taken place on the site for thousands of years. I didn't go into the church itself, but wandered around the graveyard. Some famous people are buried there, but I had never heard of them. Some of the gravestones were very ornate, they looked beautiful. I passed The Elephant House, the cafe where JK Rowling had sat and written the Harry Potter books. Being a fan of the Harry Potter series, I would have liked to have went in for a cuppa, but it looked busy. Maybe I can visit in the future, maybe in off-season, maybe it will be quieter, but I am not holding out much hope.

It had started to rain, of course, so I picked up my pace to reach the museum I wanted to visit. It was definitely a good idea to be indoors now it was raining. I had picked the National Museum of Scotland to visit as I felt it would give me a good overview of Scotland and as an added bonus it was free to enter. I did make a donation though as those are, of course, welcomed and if you want to take a floor plan, they give a suggested amount to donate. The museum was massive and I knew that it would take me a good few hours to get round all of it, and that my brain would be full long before I finished looking. It reminded me of visiting Te Papa all those years ago when I lived in Wellington. There was so much to take in, that I used to go every couple of weeks and just explore one bit of the museum and then return to visit a different section on a different occasion. Unfortunately, I wouldn't have time to do that here in Edinburgh.

Since the museum spanned several floors, I headed down to the basement and decided to work my way up. This floor was concerned with Scottish history with two rooms entitled 'Beginnings' and 'Early People'. The 'Beginnings' one was all about the evolution of Scotland's flora, fauna and landscape. Not my cup of tea, so I was pretty quick walking through that one, not taking much in. I also didn't linger too long in the 'Early People' one, as I prefer more modern history. I then headed up to the 'Kingdom of the Scots' which spanned several floors. It was interesting to learn about how Scotland developed and its history from the 12th to 18th century. There were lots of displays to look at. The museum had a good mix of different things. Along with the Scottish national history, there was a hall filled with information about a selected group of other cultures. I really like looking that one. There were also galleries about technology, with lots of interactive displays to keep the many children there occupied. The fashion galley was also interesting to look at as it had a wide variety of clothing in it. There were also some natural world galleries filled with information about different creatures.

The 'Scotland Transformed' hall gave a great deal of information about Scotland in the 18th and 19th centuries including the Jacobite Rebellion. I learned all about Scotland's role as an engineering powerhouse in the British Empire and that many people had migrated away from Scotland. My favourite part of the museum was the last and most contemporary gallery. 'Scotland: A Changing Nation'. I concluded my trip to the museum by walking up the last few flights of stairs to the roof terrace. This area was really nice and if the weather had of been better, I would have liked to stay out there for longer. The views out over the city were gorgeous. I loved the mountains in the background and how the light lit them up. To be honest, even if you aren't into museums, this place is worth visiting for the view alone.

Late afternoon/early evening I decided to head up to Arthur's Seat. I remember reading about it in a novel years ago and decided that I must go there if/when I visited Edinburgh. I get a lot of inspiration on places to visit from books I have read. It doesn't matter if they were set in a different time/era, I still want to visit them. Near to the bottom of Arthur's Seat, I saw a local news broadcast being filmed, what a gorgeous sight people get to see on the local news. Arthur's Seat stands 251 metres above sea level, so is pretty small in comparison to the mountains I am used to climbing, but since I hadn't done any exercise since Mount Fuji, it would probably be a shock to my system. The first part of the path was quite steep and muddy as I climbed above the city. I could see across to the Old Town, so I took a million pictures, like I always do. The path wove its way around the hill and I got to see the other areas surrounding the city. The first part wasn't too strenuous, but the trail to the summit branched off from the nice, wide path and there were a few steps to climb. I was definitely out of breathe by the time I reached the top. I loved looking out over the crags, the scenery is so different from what I am used to hiking in. I didn't want to head back down the same way I had come up because that would be boring, so I watched where other people were going and cobbled together a new route for heading down. I came across the ruins of St. Anthony's Chapel on the way down. There isn't much left of the chapel, only an exterior wall, but I enjoyed looking around it. I also passed by a small lake.

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