Walking Adventure

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This morning when we woke up, the weather was actually kind of nice, and it stayed that way all day. This was great because we had an outdoors day planned.

First, we went to Easter Road Stadium to try to buy football tickets for Saturday's game, and we were successful. Next, we went to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. This is the official residence of the queen when she's in Scotland. She wasn't in residence today, but we decided not to go in anyways.

Right by the palace is the beginning of the trail to climb Arthur's Seat. Arthur's Seat is 822 feet high and is the remains of an extinct volcano. Some parts of the trail were really steep. It took about 45 minutes to climb it. At some points, it seemed like we were rock climbing, and not just hiking a trail. It was so windy at the very top. I was clinging to this one structure they up there. I really felt like I could be blown away! After we had our fix of being at the top and looking at the great view, we hiked down a little so it wasn't as windy anymore. We had packed a picnic lunch, and ate it up there while having a great view of the city. We finished hiking back down, and made our way to our next stop- Our Dynamic Earth.

Our Dynamic Earth was really interesting. It's a science museum that shows the history of our earth and what the future may bring based on the decisions we make today. It was very entertaining! At one point, our "spaceship" landed in a volcano and the ground actually moved under us. Then, there were areas that explained various climates, and the temperature in those rooms matched the climates they were talking about. So, in the arctic room, it was freezing cold with cold air blowing in places, and the rainforest was warmer, with a torrential downpour (every 9 minutes).

Our next stop was Calton Hill. There is an unfinished replica of the Parthenon there, and more great views of the city. There is also the Nelson Monument, whose ball drops everyday at 1pm.

Next, we walked to the National Gallery of Scotland. Along the way, we saw the Scott Monument and had an ice cream cone with a flake. It was yummy!

The gallery was very nice. It contains a selection of European art. However, my favorite piece ended up being by an American-- Frederic Edwin Church. he painted the Niagara Falls, and it is so beautiful. We also saw some Scottish paintings. My favorite one of those was of Martin Luther looking very troubled about his decision to go against the pope.

After we left the gallery, we decided to go to the Royal Botanic Garden since it was still early. We arrived too late to enter the greenhouse, but the gardens were still open. It was so pretty in there. We took pictures of all these different flowers that would be cool to have at our house. Also, their hedges are trimmed so perfectly there.

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Photos

Greenhouse
We couldn't go in, but it looks pretty cool.