This is Edinburgh

Joseph and James' schools have a 2 week Fall break in October. We've enjoyed having laid back days at home and at the park. Last week, we took advantage of the holiday and went on a quick day trip to Edinburgh. Edinburgh is a short drive from St. Andrews but we decided to ride the train to avoid navigating the city by car and because we have two boys that love trains. It was a lovely trip filled with beautiful scenery of quaint Scottish towns and views of the sea.

We took lots of pictures during our time in Edinburgh of various landmarks that are depicted in a children's book we have "This is Edinburgh".

Waverly Station-the train station right in the heart of the city
 

Edinburgh is very walkable and quite dense - on our way to our first stop we passed by New College, the Divinity school for the University of Edinburgh.  The subject of Joey's dissertation, T.F. Torrance, was a professor here for almost 30 years. 

Our first official stop was at Edinburgh Castle, which was built during the 12th century. The boys loved the cannons and we enjoyed seeing our first true castle.  The weather was a little colder than expected so we walked around for a bit, ate lunch, and then moved on to finding Joseph a heavier coat for the day.

The view of the city from the castle

The boys with the cannons

a bagpiper

We got Joseph a coat (not at Jenners) and then took photos in front of two landmarks in our book: Jenners Department store and the Sir Walter Scott Monument. The monument sits in the middle of the city next to the Princes Street Gardens and close to the train station.  

James loves to see all the buses. He shouts "decker bus, decker bus!!" every time one passes by. There were lots of "decker buses" to be seen in Edinburgh.

After playing in Princes Street Garden, we continued walking through the city to the Grassmarket. After the long hike, we stopped off at the aptly named "Preacher's Patisserie" for a snack and coffee.

the view of Castle Rock from the Grassmarket

On our way to the National Museum of Scotland, we stumbled upon a free Fire Museum and couldn't pass up letting the boys see lots of old fire engines. Little boy paradise!! The sweet man who took care of the museum challenged Joseph to find four animals throughout the rooms. We found all four and got to take firemen coloring sheets for our train ride home!

Our next stop was the Greyfriar's Church and Kirkyard. J.K. Rowling spent some time in Edinburgh as she wrote the Harry Potter books. It's said that she walked around the cemetery and subconsciously drew the names of some of her characters from the gravestones there. We found the plaque for Thomas Riddle (there's also a poet buried there with the last name McGonnagal). Greyfriar's other claim to fame is Greyfriar's Bobby . This dog was so distraught over his owner's death that he stayed by his grave until his own death many years later. This area of town honors his loyalty with a statue and various other depictions of his name and likeness.

Next, it was on to the museum. The National Museum of Scotland is a wonderful, free museum with lots to see and do. There are plenty of exhibits of artifacts (we saw one on transportation and one on Christianity in Scotland) plus interactive things for the kiddos. One of Joseph's highlights of going to Edinburgh was seeing the racecar. We spent a fair amount of time at this small exhibit dedicated to Sir Jackie Stewart, a Scottish racing champion). Then, the boys took turns driving a sportscar with Dad.

After the museum, we stopped for dinner at Oink. We remembered it from some friends of ours trip to Edinburgh and couldn't pass up the quick and easy meal of some local barbeque (Joey's favorite!!).  I wish I had snapped a pic of the full pig in the window. The only thing they served was the pork sandwich.  Joey got his topped with haggis!

We walked back through the Royal Mile and came across another landmark.  St. Giles Church is best-known as being the pulpit John Knox preached from for many years.  Knox is known for being one of the key Reformers in Scotland and is somewhat the father of Presbyterians.

 the Royal Mile

We finished our day walking along the city streets and enjoying the view. A beautiful sunset was the perfect ending to our day before hopping on the train towards home. We can't wait to make another visit to Edinburgh!

In this picture you can see New College, Edinburgh Castle, and the National Gallery