Day 245: Sun’s out, Super Mum’s out

27/03/2022

This morning it was Super Mum’s first UK Mother’s Day. Eloise and Lachnado spoiled her with a new top.

This morning we had early tickets to Edinburgh Castle. It certainly felt early as Daylight Savings began in the UK with the clocks moving forward an hour. We think we can officially say we survived our first Scottish winter. It sounds like it was a mild winter which was good to ease us in. We are all loving that the sun is back, in case you could not tell. We arrived after summer last year, hopefully, we are all good weather wise until Octoberish again.

We stopped to pick up breakie on the go. Eloise was very concerned about the golden letterbox “how, no work dad? Why no red?”

After walking around the bottom of Edinburgh Castle the past couple of days we started the ascent to the top. Unfortunately, the Tartan Weaving Mill and Experience was closed, next time.

Edinburgh Castle was incredible, ranked the best Scotland castle according to Planetware.

It was Sunday so no 13:00 firing today. Lachlan was relieved. It would have scared his wee hairs off.

The National War Museum had an impressive collection.

We thought we would leave Eloise in the prison but it was too dirty for her. We left the pram at the entrance and made our way through and up.

After walking through a few halls we were completely lost at the top of the castle.

There were more impressive halls and the crown jewels. We were not allowed to take photos. You will all have to check it out yourselves.

Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century, the castle’s residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison. Its importance as a part of Scotland’s national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards, and various restoration programmes have been carried out over the past century and a half.

After a day of science yesterday, we thought today the kids should see some art at the Scottish National Gallery. Eloise was interested until she realised there were no buttons to press and used her “MAGIC!” to get out of there.

The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Playfair, and first opened to the public in 1859. The gallery houses Scotland’s national collection of fine art, spanning Scottish and international art from the beginning of the Renaissance up to the start of the 20th century.

We had a lovely lunch in Princes Street Gardens, well, three of us did. One of us was more interested in climbing the big elephant. It was a nice place for Lachlan to practice his walking, no thanks to his sister.

Because we are bad parents we bribed both the kids back into the Batmobile as we plucked up the energy to climb Carlton Hill. Turns out it was more of a mound than a hill and we were up in no time at all, a one booter. Eloise was singing all the way up and Lachnado had found Foxie.

The view was pretty speccy and there was actually a lot to see on the summit.

The National Monument of Scotland, on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, is Scotland’s national memorial to the Scottish soldiers and sailors who died fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. It was intended, according to the inscription, to be “A Memorial of the Past and Incentive to the Future Heroism of the Men of Scotland”. The monument dominates the top of Calton Hill, just to the east of Princes Street. It was designed during 1823–6 by Charles Robert Cockerell and William Henry Playfair and is modelled upon the Parthenon in Athens. Construction started in 1826 and, due to the lack of funds, was left unfinished in 1829. This circumstance gave rise to various nicknames such as “Scotland’s Folly”, “Edinburgh’s Disgrace”, “the Pride and Poverty of Scotland” and “Edinburgh’s Folly”.

Calton Hill is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city’s UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the city.

When we return with aunty Becca and her fresh ACL we will have to do Arthur’s Seat, a two boot climb. We did not have the hiking baby carriers this time. That will do as an excuse.

It was then back to the apartment for a rest, or in Lachnado’s case to resume launching himself headfirst off Eloise’s bed. For dinner, it was Thai Express Kitchen in St James Quarter. Eloise enjoyed her own quiet table and rice dish. It turned into a feast as we noticed that it was free meals for Mum’s after a certain limit. We had to spend an extra £10 to get £12 off the bill. The most challenging part of travelling with kids is food. Food has been especially accessible in Edinburgh which has made this trip the easiest yet.

It was a nice cool walk around the block before rushing home (not asleep) to stock up on mini milks for the night.

It has been a while since we have drawn one of these incredibly frustrating walking maps, enjoy…