Edinburgh, Scoltand by Kev

24.8.2925. Somehow I slipped 900 hundred years into the future while I was asleep. Or that was a mistake that I just rolled with. Anyway, travel day again today. Bags packed and loaded up. We're a bit sad to leave this stay, as it was really nice. But adventure waits for no one, so we're off. We got to our new stay, which is not quite Edinburgh, but close. Edinburgh was booked out, unless you had a butt load of money to blow, which we don't. So Mel found a mobile home about a 30min train ride outside of Edinburgh. It is surprisingly roomy inside. A large living/dining room. A pretty big kitchen, with a gas cooktop, I like gas. A shower and bathtub. Kids had their own room as did we. Pretty bloody comfy for a few days. Mel and the kids blogged this afternoon and I went to the local supermarket. Supplies for the next few days secured. I made dinner later on, had a few more local beers and spent a nice evening in Armadale, Scotland.
25.8.2025. Now back in my own timeline, we got the day started early. We hopped on the train into Edinburgh, had a bit of a look around, and went to the Castle. The Castle is built on top of a dormant volcano, they didn't know that at the time, but we do now. Another impressive castle, with lots of sculptures and architecture to see. I do like fortifications, and looking out over the landscape. Maybe I would have made a decent King, looking down upon my subjects. Probably not. The kids led us around the place with a map, and we listened to a kids audio guide on Mel's phone. We walked to the highest point and looked around. We sat there and had our lunch, while waiting for 1 o'clock. What happens at 1 o'clock everyday? The One o'clock gun! It is fired at 1 o'clock, so sailors could set their timepieces accurately, to better help them navigate the ships. They have radar and GMaps and stuff now, so the gun is merely ceremonial tradition now. Still it was pretty cool. Unfortunately I missed it, thinking I still had a little time, I rubbed my eye at the same time the gun fired. At least I got a video of it. We finished our visit then headed to something a little different. A distillery. This is more of a dad thing, but we all enjoyed the tour. We met our tour guide, Joel, and got started. He hit us with some basic knowledge, then we moved on. We saw the big vats where they make the wort from grains, then pump it into the fermenters. We were shown different ways of preparing the grains. Sometimes, to dry the grains out, they use peat, a type of “fossil fuel”, dug up from the bogs around Scotland. It gave the grains a nice smoky flavour, which transfers though fermentation and distillation, to infuse the Whiskey. Mel especially liked the peated whiskey. We had a few tastes along the way, and afterwards we bought a tasting tray of 4 whiskeys. We walked back to the train station, enjoying the fresh air and exercise.
26.8.2025. Today we're going to a place called Dynamic Earth, in Edinburgh. A museum of sorts, with lots of info about the world and how it all started. With fun and interactive things for the kids. We learnt how the earth's tectonic plates shift and what happens when they do. We went through a series of immersive videos of how the universe started, and how the suns and planets formed. It taught us how mountains are formed, how melting glaciers helped form peaks and valleys. It was a thoroughly entertaining visit. We had planned on finding a supermarket afterwards for lunch, but it was peeing down, so we had lunch there. Once the rain stopped, we ventured out again and wandered over to The Childhood Museum. Lots of old games, toys, clothes and home movies. Some that brought back memories for Mel and I. We had more of a hill all through the city. We found a dog statue with a very “touched” nose. The bronze was shiny. They love their dogs here in the UK, taking them everywhere. We saw heaps of dogs at the Highland games. I couldn't imagine having Guinness with me, on a leash, for 6 hours or more. Actually, he'd probably love all the attention. We had our last look at Edinburgh, then walked back to the train station.
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