Museums and Coffee

Yesterday, I took another trip into Edinburgh. On one of the facebook groups I belong to through BUNAC, the internship abroad company, has a section for people in Edinburgh. So I met up with two other people my age who wanted to explore the city too. We went to the Portrait Gallery first, which was really lovely. I just wish I new more about all the Scottish politicians, because there were a lot of names I did not recognize.  The whole ceiling of the first room in the museum was covered in constellations. It was really pretty! However, a lot of the exhibits you could not take pictures in, so I don't have many!

I also found this gem:

 Another aspect of the museum I thought was interesting is that it is a very different color than many of the Edinburgh buildings. Most in Old Town are a lot lighter because they are made of sandstone. This is one of the New Town museums, and as you an see, it has a much redder tone to it. 

We had a fabulous lunch in the museum cafe - they always seem to be so good. Being vegetarian, I am usually always able to find something. I decided to try something different, and had a cream of fennel soup, a piece of freshly baked whole wheat bread, and of course, a coffee. 

From there, we then headed back to the Royal Mile to check out another free museum - the Museum of Childhood. It was an interesting little place. However, I was not a fan of the first exhibit, which was a room full of dolls. I found most of them quite creepy! I took pictures of these ones, but then I found out later on we weren't supposed to take pictures. But even though there were signs posted (although not clearly), many people were snapping photos.

 

 The rest of the museum was more interesting, they had every kind of toy you can think of dating back through the centuries. They also had an exhibit on the school uniforms for children through the years. That was interesting, seeing how the requirements have changed throughout time. 

After that, we headed back up to the National Museum of Scotland, as I was the only one who had been there before. I can't remember if I took a picture of these amazing little chess pieces before, but here they are again. They were probably brought over by the Vikings, as they were found in the northern part of the country, and are made of walrus ivory. It's incredible how well preserved they are!

What started out as a magnificant, warm, sunny day, eventually changed over to a cooler, misty one. This is what they call a "ha" or "harr"- a sea mist! 

At the end of the day, we stopped off in another coffee shop. We ended up just chatting for about 2 hours, until we had to leave because the shop was closing for the evening! I was the only American in our group, the other two being from Australia and Canada. It's really incredible what the world thinks about the States. I try to be as impartial as partial, but it's really amazing how it has become the focus of so many jokes. Most of the jokes are centered around the hypocrisy and general ignorance of American people. Everyone who I've talked to has cited America's resistance to changes that many other places in the world have already gone through, such as healthcare reform and gun control. And their views make sense, because you can see the changes working for them. Another issue that is always brought up is how they feel America claims to be a certain way, preaches its values and beliefs and all, but then in reality does something completely different. One example that is often brought up is claiming all people deserve the same rights, and contrasting it to in reality, how the nation's homosexual population is repressed, underrepresented, and definitely not afforded equal rights. Just an observation - I'm learning a lot about the world and how everyone else perceives America's place in it. 

Overall, I had a really great time on Saturday. Edinburgh is a place where it seems a lot of young independent travelers choose to go. I have found it's pretty easy to strike up a conversation with someone and then spent the rest of the day wandering around with! When I got back to the house, we ordered Indian food, had strawberries, raspberries and fresh cream for dessert, and spent the rest of the evening sipping tea and watching Pride and Prejudice. I was quite happy to have a slower morning though to reflect on the last few days!