Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Edinburgh National Museum of Scotland (2/7)

 

So the very first exhibition that I headed to was The Kingdom of the Scots. I mean, we were in Scotland, so I am guessing this would be more special and unique in terms of museum exhibit as compared to the other general history of humans kinda exhibit. 

Walking in, I was instantly charmed by these wordings, and those fonts! Fairy fonts! So beautifully written. In case you can't read it clearly, on it is written: "For we fight not for glory or riches or honours, but for Freedom alone which no good man give up except with his life." Such beautiful words! With so much weight to it. I was instantly in love with this land even with not a single drop of Scottish blood.

There was more! The second wordings were written: " As long as only one hundred of us remain alive, we will never on any conditions be brought under English rule". It shows how proud Scottish people were. I think that's so wonderful that they held on so strongly to their identity. Except for what happened to the Highland culture that was lost, I think that was such a shame.....

In that same exhibition, there were also more info on their rulers and religion etc etc.

More reading of information for you.

There were also some cool stone carving of a lady there. I am not sure who she was, but it just looked so beautiful there. Was she Mary, Queen of Scots?

Old flags of Scotland .

And pins! An unexpected fascinating piece I find myself drawn to. I think it's because it resembled a bit of celtic design in them. Celtic jewelries are so beautiful. And in the series Outlander, I often see them using pins to hold up their Tartans, their scarf etc. I don't think I'll get one for myself as I wouldn't know how to wear one.  But I think the design is absolutely lovely. 

Here is a long info on the pin/brooch itself.

I also managed to see the Lewis Chesspieces. I think I've seen them before, or something like them before in the British Museum last time. As a chess player myself, this was so cool to me!

I mentioned that I did missed out on some of the things I wanted to see in the museum, but due to tiredness, I totally forgot about them. One of those thing I missed were the miniature coffin found on Arthur's Seat. You can read more about them here.  Should I pop back in on my next trip to see them? I wonder if the staff would be able to direct me to where it's house..... 

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Edinburgh National Museum of Scotland (1/7)

 

We managed to complete our visit to Dean Village and Stockbridge by noon and walked back to Edinburgh new town. With no plans for the 2nd half of the day, I decided that we should go visit the National Museum of Scotland because it's FREEEE! Above is one of the sculpture found inside. It reminded of the time I visited the London National History Museum where I took a nice photo with Charles Darwin :)

The museum kinda looked like the Manchester Museum at some part, but it was actually a lot bigger. Above was just one wing of the building. And we actually suffered from information overload and fatigue at the museum, so we didn't really see everything inside. We, or actually just me, since my husband seems dead tired by this time, mainly focus on some key items I wanted to see. I did missed a few key items too, but oh well....

A different part of the museum focusing more on science and mechanical items etc. I think we skipped most of this part since it was more geared towards kids. 

There were also some weird art pieces made of metal at the basement somewhere which we stumbled into. I think this was where I left my husband and went to explore on my own while he took a cat nap :P  I can understand that not everyone love museums as I do. 

I don't really get this exhibition. It was near those ancient Scots display hall, so perhaps these were meant to represent ancient Scots?

We did managed to go all the way up to the rooftop, which was one of the hidden gem of Edinburgh based on my research. It offers a different view point of the city below. I think it was on the 4th or 5th floor of the museum. It wasn't as crowded up there, so I guess most visitors don't do their research!  There is even a sort of garden up there!

This view shows a more concrete view of the museum rooftop and the buildings of Edinburgh below. The circle things on the right kinda reminded me of chimneys, and so this whole photo reminded me of Oliver Twist and his chimney sweeping days. And yes, I am aware that Oliver Twist is based in England and not Scotland!. 

More views from the roof top.

And how can we not have one of the Edinburgh Castle as well? Lol. Are you sick of the castle view yet? I know I will never be :) 

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Edinburgh Stockbridge Circus Lane

As mentioned in earlier post, we did managed a 15minutes detour to visit Circus Lane which was just down the main street.  It was one of those hidden gem places of Edinburgh for it's charming small alley and building charm. But I was here for a different reason. You see, Circus Lane was a location featured in the series Good Omen, which was based on one of my favourite book by one of my favourite Terry Pratchett. And I really really like the two main characters inside the story. So I just wanted to stand there and absorb the vibe of the story :P

 

This is the famous view of the lane. It is actually just a short alley, but I guess it hold it's own charm. There weren't many people there that day, so I could managed to get some shot of the empty street with the church at the end of it. I can't remember if it drizzled a bit that day, but the shine on those cobbler looking street was lovely. 

There are residential buildings on both sides of the lane. In the series, Crowley actually has his Bentley parked at the side of one of the houses here in Season 2.  I'm looking forward to Season 3 coming up in May as I'll be visiting one of the bookstore that is rumoured to be featured in the series. I hope the rumours are true. Then again, I doubt I'll ever regret visiting a bookstore :)

View of just the houses on the lane.

They kinda looked like warehouses at certain section really. 

Some were more residential looking than others, with gardens and roses planted in the front of their house.

Above is the church at the end of the lane. Again, we didn't went inside. We just walked there and walked back again. 

I did managed to take a few notable nice doors found along the lane. Here is house #49. Love that the number is in black and white mosaic and on the floor itself as the first step into the house. I love the black door too, and the bird knocker at the top. I want to think that it' a crow, cause Sandman the series was also recently a thing in the book/fantasy world :P

The house with the pink flowers in front was #14. I'm gonna imagine that this is my little house in Scotland :)  cause my birthday is on the 14th :P

Nearer to the end where it met the main street, there were also some buildings that looked more like office buildings. This was where I found the above sign. I just thought it looked cool. 

Signing off with a selfie of myself on Circus Lane. I guess I should have taken it with the view of the church instead. Agh! Oh well, we settle for what we can get in our life. I doubt I will walk there again, unless it's on one of my any trips to Scotland where I would get the time to walk the whole length of the waterway! Then for sure I will stop by here for brunch or lunch, and wander into this lane again to take a better picture :P

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Edinburgh Stockbridge

 

I knew I've reached Stockbridge because of this clock tower which my research have shown me before. I was just surprised that the whole place seems to be so small. I guess it's a small town? Cause I can only recall a crossroad where the Sunday market was at one side. We did venture further down the road to see Circus Lane, which was on my Good Omen site list. But other than that, it seems that we were already in the center of town where all their shops were at. I could be wrong, but that was just how I see it at that time.

Sign on the road/bridge with the name on it.

More signs of the Water of Leith Walkway, which was nice. The actual length of the walkway is actually around 20km, which is about a full day's walk! I would have love to do that if only the air flight to Scotland and their hotel weren't so darn expensive. I mean, it's almost 100% higher cost than if I were to fly to Japan for a walk. And trust me, Japan has a lot of nice walk too! All over their very beautiful country.  And in Japan, I could probably dine out more, and even stayed in nicer hotel..... 

Anyway, some nice sight of the town. A bright blue building in the middle of town always brightens up my day :) I think it was next to a grocery shop or something. Remember, this was still Sunday morning, so many people were going about their weekend task as we drop in on them that day.

I saw this cool sign that just says Hectors, and I think it's one of those historical pub or restaurant. Pity I don't have a photo to show whether my memory was correct or not. But if you Google it, it shows that it's a pub. Geees why can't pubs in Asia look just as cool.

The pub was named after Sir James Hector, and here is a signboard of a full information about him.

We also walked by a lovely cafe called St Vincent, and it immediately reminded me of Vincent Van Gogh. It would have been nice to have time to sip coffee or tea here if time and money was of no concert of my, but ha! No such luxury. Off we go!

Above a stone with the working "He That Tholis Overcummis", which I saw somewhere on the main street near Circus Lane. I thought it kinda sounded funny, but Google doesn't seem to think so! Apparently it's a Scottish proverb which means "He who endures/suffers overcomes".  There is also a lot of history tied to that saying, but I shall not bore you by linking more reference here for you to read. If you are truly interested, you can go look it up yourself. We need to move on else the blog will never be completed before my next trip!

We did stopped by a cafe after visiting Circus Lane, and while waiting for the Sunday market to be opened. My husband kindly gave me a treat here, and I ordered hot chocolate as the weather was kinda cold. I think this is where I started getting addicted to hot chocolate in Scotland. It tasted nothing like those chocolate drink we had in Asia. It tasted more like the hot chocolate I had once in a Spanish Cafe in Melbourne, or some cafe in Paris. It's thick and deep, one that can support your spoon when you put it on it. Hot chocolate cost around 3 to 4 pounds a cup here. But goodness, it is such a luxurious drink to have in this country! I would spend my money on this more than coffee. I would also spend it on tea if I needed calm and relaxing vibe. But if I wanted to pamper myself, I would sit in a cafe and order a hot chocolate 

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Edinburgh Water of Leith Walkway from Dean Village to Stockbridge (2/2)

Continuing our walk on the Water of Leith Waterway, we soon arrived at what looked like a park? I want to say urban park cause things started to look a lot more organised and erm, arranged? Man made! Yes, that's the word. 

This is St Bernard's Well. You can read the history of the well here. You would think it would be a very lovely history, but it was actually not! I mean, it looked so pretty and roman-looking, but it was a tragic tale of water contamination and poisoning. If you're a fan of Frankenstein, you might want to visit this site as it was mentioned in the book. I've never related Frankenstein with Edinburgh before. Funny how my world is now collapsing in the more I travel, especially in Europe where my books and stories are mainly focus on.

A peaceful looking sight. 

 

Fun wordings: "The Liberal Deviseth Liberal Things". Of course I have to Google it now, and there is a part two to that wordings! "And by Liberal Things Shall He Stand".  I think I took this of the wordings, and I identified more towards liberalism.  

More park like structure as we continued on our walk. 

Duck! I always love seeing ducks. Wish I could feed them, but I don't have any food on me. And after watching Good Omens, apparently you're not suppose to feed them bread. The correct things to feed them with was frozen peas. Ha! I would have never guess that!

Finally, coming to the end of our walk! Looks like we're hitting a town with all that concrete!

Husband walking though a concrete tunnel and into a proper road. Welcome to Stockbridge!

Love this colourful sign that welcomed us. I think this was a side street we came out from. I think we went back again and sat at one of the residential garden to eat our lunch that day.

One of my favourite find at Stockbridge was this art piece on the river. I wonder how many people actually spotted it. I love it! I know that there is also one of a metal man looking out in one of the Loch/River in Scotland, and I wasn't going to get to see that on my trip, so this naked guy here was a very nice consolation prize for me :)