Day 244: A baaarilliant day

26/03/2022

This morning after a birthday call back home to Nali. Happy Birthday Nali! The Hungry Caterpillar was fed and we were on our way.

We made our way back to the Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus’ at St Andrew Square as we had a few hours remaining. Turns out we actually snuck onto the wrong bus yesterday. So we got to see a slightly different route this morning. We were lucky as “MoonSwatch: Hundreds queue for hours outside Edinburgh watch store on Saturday as Omega x Swatch collab sparks shopping frenzy”.

The Scottish Parliament is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyrood… The original Parliament of Scotland was the national legislature of the independent Kingdom of Scotland, and existed from the early 13th century until the Kingdom of Scotland merged with the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

We hopped off the bus in the Old Town at the Grassmarket near the bottom of Edinburgh Castle for breakfast. We seemed to be the only ones not downing beers with breakfast. “The Grocery Store” was getting a good workout.

The Old Town can be traced to the seventh century AD and is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-century New Town, it forms part of a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After breakfast, we checked out the Grassmarket and then found an Aussie pub. Sadly it was closed so we could not redeem our one free citizens drink which they probably offer.

Eloise raced up Victoria Street and The West Bow better known as Diagon Alley, past the kiltmakers as she had an appointment with Ollivander. After buzzing about the store and trying a range of wands. It was Snape’s wand that chose her. Read of that what you would like.

It’s no wonder then, that this colourful street is rumoured to have served as the inspiration for London’s magical shopping thoroughfare, Harry Potter Diagon Alley.

Eloise has been doing a lot of magic recently with pens, cutlery and big sticks so she was glad to finally own her own wand. Perhaps our best investment as she managed to put Lachnado to sleep.

We explored the Old Town further. It was packed, especially towards Edinburgh Castle. Luckily when you are pushing the Batmobile you acquire Moses like powers and the sea of Scots part.

We made our way past Edinburgh Castle to Muzza Bizza and Lauren’s new apartment. We were getting desperate trying to find a housewarming gift, looks like a Mother’s Day gift would have to do. Lachnado was on a mission to check out the place, the only way we could keep him still was with a drum.

After a lovely lunch, they walked us back to the National Museum of Scotland. As soon as you entered everything you imagined was in this museum. Eloise was in heaven when she woke up. In fact, I don’t know if she could tell she had woken up. The two engineering parents gravitated towards the technology exhibition. We were interested to find Dolly and there were lots of buttons for the children to press.

Dolly (5 July 1996 – 14 February 2003) was a female Finnish Dorset sheep and the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell. She was cloned by associates of the Roslin Institute in Scotland, using the process of nuclear transfer from a cell taken from a mammary gland. Her cloning proved that a cloned organism could be produced from a mature cell from a specific body part. Contrary to popular belief, she was not the first animal to be cloned.

We could have spent a week here, we figured we should check out the Scotland exhibitions too. Dad was interested in the typewriter exhibition but Eloise was not afraid to let him know what she thought about that.

The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum (opened in 1866 as the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, renamed in 1904, and for the period between 1985 and the merger named the Royal Museum of Scotland or simply the Royal Museum), with international collections covering science and technology, natural history, and world cultures.

Getting a bit tired we walked back to the apartments for a break. On the way back we bumped into the famous Greyfriars Bobby statue.

Greyfriars Bobby (4 May 1855 – 14 January 1872) was a Skye Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died on 14 January 1872. The story continues to be well known in Scotland, through several books and films. A prominent commemorative statue and nearby graves are a tourist attraction.

It was takeaway back at St Andrew Square tonight for dinner. We like this place, it is very relaxing as there is nothing Lachnado can break.

Sadly tonight we missed Chris and Penny’s engagement party in Radelaide, looking at the photos from Nali and DAVE it looks like it was a blast. Congratulations!