National Portrait Gallery

After the Edinburgh castle I decided to check out the National Portrait Gallery as it was only a short walk from my accommodation. It was really quite good . It contained portraits of notable Scottish people of which there are many. I was lucky enough to tag onto a docent led tour for a group of U of Pitt university students who were in Pittsburgh for a study abroad month. The docent led us to all of the notable Scottish writer's portraits and lead a discussion about each of them. Robby Burns, Walter Scott and Robbie Louis Stevenson were all covered. I felt that I was back in school again. I don't think the students knew how lucky they were to have been there. I also enjoyed the portrait of JM Barrie the writer of Peter Pan. I love the movie about JM Barrie and the writing of Peter Pan called finding Neverland. It is very touching. Lots of wonderful portraits of noble Scots. I capped the visit off with a cup of tea and a lemon chocolate coconut square in the cafe but felt that I deserved it after such a busy day. One can make it out just behind the pot of tea in the photo.

After supper I hiked about 20 minutes from my flat up Carleton hill to command a nice view of the city. It was an easy walk and well worth the view.Read more