11.09.2010 National Museum of Scotland

We went to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh today, which is right in the centre of town near George IV bridge. The building is a very interesting piece of modern architecture attached to an older Georgian building and also houses the popular Tower restaurant. We were hugely impressed with the collection and could not believe how large it is and also, like many museums in Scotland, it is entirely free!
The museum's scope is very broad, it starts with Scotland's geographical history (including lots of rocks, yay!), there are whole floors dedicated to Roman history, early people and  industrial revolution, and there are interactive displays for kids, and let's not forget Dolly the sheep and even a Formula 1 car! Clearly too much to see in one visit.

The highlight for us, and the main reason for going before we knew how great the rest of the museum is, was the exhibition of the Lewis chessmen. The chessmen are amazingly beautiful fist-sized figures carved out of walrus ivory that were discovered in the 1830s on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. They were probably made in Viking Norway around the year 1200 AD, but no one knows for sure and they are unique in the world. The detailed carvings and their expressions are very enchanting, we just couldn't stop looking at them!

Another unique set of items in the museum are the little coffins which were discovered on in a cave on Arthur's Seat around the same time as the Lewis chessmen. Each coffin contains a little carved wooden figure dressed in clothes. How they got there and why is still a mystery, a popular idea is that they represent the victims of Burk and Hare - the two chaps who killed innocent visitors of their inn in order to sell the bodies for use in anatomy classes in the medical science department!

On top of all that (literally!) is the roof terrace with great views of Edinburgh's skyline, and because it is in the centre you feel really close to all the peaks and spires. If not for the contents the museum is worth a visit just for the views!

04.09.2010 Trossachs, Ben A'an

This weekend we ventured out a little further than normal, to Loch Achray in the Trossachs north of Glasgow, and therefore stayed overnight in a bed and breakfast called Glenbruach House. It was quite the treat: a beautiful Victorian mansion that could equally well be a National Trust property as a haunted house in a Halloween movie. And very reasonably priced. But if you want to experience it yourself you have to be quick as the owners have unfortunately put it up for sale after 17 years of service!
But first we hiked up to Ben A'an, the rather daunting looking peak on the photo (you can't see it but you can imagine Iwona's face...)







In fact, it turned out to be a pretty reasonable climb, which was probably why it seemed like every Scot, his wife and kids, the dog and sometimes grandma made their way up the mountain that afternoon! There was the occasional little scramble though. The views got more stunning the higher we got; it really is a stunningly beautiful part of the country.












Iwona enjoying a sandwich after we made it to the top. I can assure you, she was a lot more cheerful than she seems but it's hard to look pretty when you are chewing a baguette!

The lake you see here is Loch Katrine, of which you have fantastic views from the top of Ben A'an. It famously was the hide-out of Rob Roy MacGregor in the early 1700s, whose story was later immortalised by Sir Walter Scott and the occasional cheesy movie. Its tumultuous past is difficult to imagine and in stark contrast with the tranquility of the lake as it is now!






Since we don't have that many pictures of the two of us on the blog, here's one to show that Cees-Jan was also there. In shorts no less - see, Scotland isn't so bad in September.











The next day we made a boat trip on Loch Katrine with the old steamboat "Sir Walter Scott". It still has the original steam engine and was assembled in five parts which were carried over the mountains to the Loch where it was put together. An amazing effort considering it started sailing in 1900!
It sails to the little village of Stronachlachar, from which you can bike back along the lake shore, and there were many cyclists with their bikes on board. The views of the lake were stunning so we may bring our own bikes next time!

31.08.2010 What we did this summer

It's about time for an update of our blog! We've been busy this summer: had lots of visitors (Edinburgh is popular in summer, not in the least because of the festival...), been on holiday and the left-over time we filled with decorating our new flat! Our first visitor in the new flat was Karen, and we spent some long days walking around town (in-between World Cup football matches that is, we made poor Karen watch about six of them). Here you can see the girls trying hard to look upbeat despite their sore feet in Dean Village.

Our next visitor was Joakim! We spent a week in Edinburgh before heading off to Holland for ten days. Loads of pictures of his visit and can be found on CJ's Picasa site! Joakim's biggest achievement was probably to climb Scald Law, the highest peak in the Pentlands. After Arthur's Seat last year he was ready for a new challenge! He was a trooper and barely complained, but he thought it was a bit windy on the top. And he was right! That's why there's an area called the Windy Door Nick, visible right behind us.

Cees-Jan's friend Harold from Holland came to visit for a week in August. He thoroughly enjoyed wandering around Edinburgh during the festival time and having a beer somewhere, watching the world go by! It was also a good opportunity for Iwona and me to visit some places we hadn't seen before.

During the festival Edinburgh changes completely. It is a pretty, lively town normally, but in August it is boiling over! Almost every venue in town, pub, gallery and anything else, has changed into a theater and the Royal Mile is one big stage for artists and musicians. You certainly wouldn't think you were in Britain as English is certainly a minority language! Well, British English and Scottish that is, the festival is very popular across the pond.

One of the things we came across during the festival was the Hairy Coo free Highland Tours! You read that right, free. And for two Dutchmen, one of them living in Scotland, that sounded very tempting. The only catch is that you tip whatever you think the trip was worth and what you can afford. And it is certainly highly recommended. We visited some great locations (such as Stirling Castle on the photo), had a guide named Donald who was dressed in kilt and who knew more about the history of Scotland than I thought there was to know, and of course we saw quite a few hairy coos (Scottish Highlanders)!

We also did a Forth boat tour. There are quite a few islands in the estuary, most of them uninhabited except for large colonies of birds, but on one of them there is an old abbey which is worth visiting. The boat tour starts in South Queensferry, goes under both bridges and them steams up along the coast to Inchcolm Island. The medieval abbey is beautiful because it is very well preserved and is very popular for weddings. In fact, there was one on when we got there! From the top of the tower (which goes through the narrowest of spiral staircases, not for the faint of heart, read, Iwona) you have great views over the Forth. On the way back we were treated to a group of nosy seals sticking their heads out of the water. They seemed to be as curious about us as we about them! Highly recommended!

OK, this has been a long post, but we couldn't finish without showing a real Hairy Coo! His name is Kyle and he needs a haircut :o)