Believe it or not, I’m actually following through on one of my resolutions in my last blog! I took a spontaneous trip to Edinburgh, and the only planning I did before the day itself was deciding which train I would catch. Edinburgh is a fantastic city, but I’ve only ever been once before, during the Fringe Festival which was far too busy for my liking. It was definitely time to go and enjoy the beautiful city in the way it was intended (i.e. without the huge crowds).
The train ride was stunning. For the one and a half years that I’ve been studying in Carlisle this was my first time taking the train over the border. Why on earth did I wait so long? I made good use of their free wifi and looked up things to do in Edinburgh on a budget. The National Museum of Scotland came up on the list and I knew immediately that I had to go.
On arrival at Edinburgh Waverley I pretty much fell onto the sight-seeing city bus tours. This was perhaps a little expensive, but it’s a great way to get a look at the whole city and learn something about its history. I’ll admit, it did take me an embarrassingly long time to work out how to actually use the audio guide.
I hopped off outside the museum and made my way through the ground floor entrance. There wasn’t much to see at this level so I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be there for very long. I headed up the next of stairs and…
Oh my goodness.
I entered a dazzling hall, with glass roof and wrought-iron balconies. It was bright, it was airy and it was such a lovely space to be in. I sat down for a while because I was just so amazed at the architecture. There were a number of stunning artefacts placed around the hall, including the skull of a whale and the skeleton of a giant deer – I’d been reading about those in Crane’s The Making of the British Landscape so it was fascinating to see one up close.
Naturally, I made a beeline for the natural history section. It was absolutely brilliant to have so many interactive games and displays – that was great for me, but was also a massive hit with all the children that were visiting. I then realised that it was fortuitous that I chose to visit on a Friday as I’m sure at weekends the museum is absolutely packed. There was loads to do in this particular section; I explored space, listened (and felt) whale song and identified animal communication signs – something which may prove useful for an upcoming assignment.
All this learning was making me hungry so I headed to the balcony café for lunch. This was a charming space, set at the heart of the museum. You could really soak up the atmosphere of the whole building whilst eating some rather lovely food. Definitely recommend you pay a visit.
After that I decided to check out some of the galleries off to the side of the building. These covered a whole host of exciting topics including fashion, interior design and exploration – all with a very Scottish theme. My favourite was the world music section which had a whole host of musical activities to get involved with. There were some fantastic instruments and even a composition tool, which I spent a lot of time on to create the best composition that I could. I was really impressed with this program, despite its limitations (such as samples being in wildly different keys!) and even more so when I discovered I was actually able to get my finished composition sent to me. I’ve never seen that capability in any exhibition at a museum before – everyone else needs to start getting on the NMS’s level!
My final stop at the museum was the science and technology section, where there were lots of hands-on experiments to get involved with like pulley systems and model hot air balloons. They covered an excellent variety of concepts from locomotion right the way up to pharmaceuticals. One of these activities was to run some simulation drugs trials, which was a fascinating glimpse into a side of science that I’d never really given much thought – so kudos to them!
After this I decided that I ought to get back on the bus and finish my tour of the city before it got too dark (and, more selfishly, because I didn’t want to get on the rush hour train). We whizzed past Dynamic Earth, Holyrood Palace and Arthur’s Seat, which have now gone onto a list of destinations for me to check out when I’m next in the city.
I got back to Waverley Bridge literally 5 minutes before the train was due to leave so I pegged it through the station and literally set my foot on the train one minute before the doors shut. I did lots of writing on the train home, which was an added creative bonus.
Honestly, I didn’t expect a day of spontaneous living to go as well as it did. I thought I’d be a stressed out mess, but it was actually really liberating to just take things minute by minute. I definitely want to go back to Edinburgh to explore some of the other gems hidden in the city, but I’m also looking forward to some other unplanned days out!
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