Leith Festival

Edinburgh during the summer has gobs of festivals.  It is fitting that the first festival we attended was the Leith Festival (since we live in Leith).  We started the festivities on Friday evening by going to the carnival set up across from the playground in Leith Links.  We had seen all of the rides and RVs pull in and start getting set up for a couple days prior to opening to the public.  Amelie and Liam had a hard time choosing the 3 rides that they wanted to do.  Bobby and I laughed at the lack of regulations at this fair.  Of course, the rides we could participate in were all very safe.   After our carnival fun, we ate at a delicious restaurant that is on our walk home.  This was the 2nd time we've eaten out since we've lived here, and it was delicious.  It was a very fun evening for all of us!

Bobby and Liam riding a motorcycle.  Amelie is behind them driving the double decker bus while ringing the bell.

Liam and I rode the lady bugs.  He did not want to get out once the ride was over.  

Amelie driving the bumper boat while Liam holds on for dear life.
Amelie couldn't figure out steering so they spun in a circle for the majority of the time.
Apart from being scared to death that Liam would decide to jump out, I was laughing hysterically at Amelie driving.   

Amelie was able to jump in an enclosed, large jump house.  Since the carnival was slow, the manager let us throw Liam in for a couple minutes at the end of Amelie's time.  They had a great time running and jumping and falling as all kids do in jump houses.

On Saturday, we attended the larger event with tons of booths set up all over Leith Links.  Amelie was able to have her face painted, ride a horse, and even eat a couple pieces of hard candy.  Liam participated in a dance contest and even though he was the youngest participant, he danced his heart out. ;)

Saturday afternoon, Liam and I rested while Bobby and Amelie went back to watch a friendly soccer game.  The local football club played a match against old pro's.  In this friendly match there was a lot of scoring that occurred which made it fun for them to watch.  

The closing of the festivities was the Leith Festival Tattoo on Sunday evening.  This took place a block away from our apartment in front of the Watch Tower on the Shore.  We saw highland dancing, bag pipes, belly dancers, and more.  Liam enjoyed the dancing so much that he stood up and mimicked the dancing as best as he could.  It was hilarious.  He held his pants as the girls were hold their skirts out, and he would hold his hands up and hop as they would.   I am not making this up, I promise!  Unfortunately, Bobby didn't get any videos of this.  The video below is a clip of the entire group of performers playing Amazing Grace.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Leith Links

With summer school is full swing for Bobby and I, we have spent many days close to the apartment. Our favorite place to play is Leith Links.  This area was formerly used as a golf links.  The rules of golf were formed here and then later sold to St. Andrews.  The park now consists of lots of fields used for soccer, an informal cricket pitch that has existed since 1826, and the playground.

Amelie and Liam love this playground.  It is about an 8 minute walk from our apartment.  They swing, climb, slide, ride the zipline, kick the soccer ball, play with the wood chips, jump rope (or at least carry it around), blow bubbles, and do all of the afore mentioned over again.

Since we have been spending so much of our afternoons here lately, I decided to pull out the camera in an attempt to capture the fun we have.  Bobby and I are ready to explore more that the city of Edinburgh has to offer us, but Amelie and Liam are perfectly content to spend every day at Leith Links.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Open to the public in 1889, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery was the first purpose built portrait gallery in the world (http://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/about-the-portrait-gallery/).  The building itself is gorgeous both inside and out.  The gothic architecture is enhanced by the abundance of statues that line the outside of the building.  The entrance hall is breathtaking with intricate archways, paintings wall-to-wall all the way around the room, and an amazing painted ceiling.  We stood admiring this room for a while.  Amelie enjoyed pointing out the various animals painted on the ceiling.  Liam enjoyed running around from wall-to-wall, happy to be out of his stroller.  Maybe one day he will appreciate art?! ;)

The museum has an "I spy" type game for children as they progress through the rooms of the gallery.  They are given clues and close up pictures of things to find in a painting in the particular room.  Amelie did a great job finding the clues.

Our favorite exhibit was Playing for Scotland:  The Making of Modern Sport. Here is the description found on the website of this exhibit:  transformation of sport during the nineteenth century when traditional games flourished and new sports were invented. From football to fishing, canoeing to curling, hunting to hockey, this sporting revolution is illustrated through paintings, photographs and prints and a specially-commissioned film.  Doesn't this just sound like something we would like a lot?  The kids were entertained by the video while Bobby and I walked around.  We couldn't take many pictures of what we saw, but it was so interesting to see photographs of women rock climbing in the 1900's and early golf teams and so much more.

Amelie watching the video, with a painting of Leith having a horse race behind her.  The watch tower seen in the middle of the picture is right down the street from where we live!

Our trip is not complete without a picture next to William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.

Edinburgh Zoo

Thursday, May 30th, was a day promised to be full of sunshine and warmer temperatures (mid 60s).  Before our summer semester started with students, we wanted to make a trip to the Edinburgh Zoo.  We rode the bus to the outskirts of Edinburgh while enjoying the gorgeous scenery on the way.  One of the big attractions of this zoo are the penguins.  They have a huge area with King Penguins, Rockhopper Penguins, and Gentoo Penguins. We had fun watching them swim, play on a water slide, and waddle around.  We were pleasantly surprised that we made it just in time for the Penguin Parade.  Once a day they open up the penguin enclosure and any penguin that wants to walk around on the sidewalk can.  They do not force or coerce the penguins.  All penguins involved go voluntarily.  We were also told that some of the penguins are slap happy so to be sure to not sit down (or keep small children down on the ground).  It was SO fun watching them walk right by us.  In this particular parade there were about 25 penguins.  One did stop and stare down Amelie, which she proceeded to be very dramatic about and talk and giggle about the event to all around us. Thankfully, no one was slapped on this parade!

There were so many interesting animals!  We saw the largest pelican birds; they were actually pink!  Another draw to this zoo are all of the monkey exhibits.  Since there is ongoing research done as this zoo, all the monkeys wear a little necklace with two different color beads to identify them.  All of the monkeys have names and their pictures (with necklaces showing) displayed.  Amelie wanted to hear all of their names (dozens of them).  One of my favorite areas was the African safari.  You walked on a wooden bridge to a gazebo which was in the middle of a large field. The view was at the top of a mountain so you could see for miles.  The zebras were really close to the viewing deck.  There were other safari animals around, but none as close as the zebras.

The Meerkats were SO fun to watch up close.  Their habitat was open with only a 3 foot wall surrounding them.  Amelie and Liam both enjoyed leaning over the edge to watch them dig while listening to the noises they made.

There were two different playground areas that we had to try out.  You can see the open-air netting for the Baboon habitat behind Bobby's head.  You can see the love Liam has for his dad written all over his face!

Here a monkey is playing with Amelie and Liam in the window.  The monkey house has inside areas and large outside areas for the monkeys to play as well.  They can freely go in and out.  Liam would yell, "Watch Out!" as they would run by him.

The picture doesn't do justice to the beauty...but it was worth a try!

The zoo was one steep hill, as is Edinburgh.  Bobby had fun pushing the stroller up some fun hills! ;)  We had a lot of fun learning about new animals, familiar animals, and just being together.  

Scottish National Gallery

One of the many great things about Edinburgh is that many of the museums and galleries provide free admissions.  On a chillier day last week, we set off for the National Gallery.  Liam fell asleep on the walk to the Gallery so Bobby and I were able to enjoy walking around with Amelie talking about modern art and other notable historic works of art.  We started in the Modern Art area.  We saw paintings, sculptures, videos, and claymations.  We were amazed by some works and dumb-founded by others.  We then made our way to the classics.  We enjoyed scrutinizing Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Raphael (Raffaello Santi), Claude Monet, and more.  Who knew this little gallery would have so many amazing famous works in it?  It was nice being able to see them in a relaxed setting, unlike our experiences at the Louvre.

Bobby and I reenacting The Kiss by Rodin.  Amelie took the picture.  Not too bad! ;)

Amelie then had to pose in front of the statues...she is so silly!

Amelie and I mimicking the statue behind us.

Bobby admiring a Da Vinci.

When Liam woke up from his nap, he was ready to enjoy the art as well.

Bobby and Liam in front of the painting Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch (1755-1808) by Sir Henry Raeburn.  The name caught Bobby's eye and since we have learned what a famous work this is.

 Since the kids were patient for us, we stopped by a playground at the base of the castle to burn some energy before going home.  Both Amelie and Liam are getting more and more daring on the playground equipment.  Amelie is also starting to want to do things on her own for Liam.  It is fun watching them play together.  

This swinging rope is actually really fun.
It is big enough for our whole family to ride on (and we did ride on it all together!)

1st Week in Edinburgh

We are slowly getting ourselves acclimated to our new location, Leith which is right outside of Edinburgh.  We are taking it all in as we discover nearby playgrounds, figure out which is the best/cheapest/closest grocer, and get ourselves used to walking around in the area.  Transitioning is fun and exciting while also a little difficult.  It takes a lot of energy to learn a new area and it can sometimes be uncomfortable when you don't have all of your normal conveniences mapped out.  It is also fun and invigorating as you marvel at new surroundings, and discover new loves.

Family picture taken right outside of our apartment on our first day in Edinburgh.  We love our view!

I love Edinburgh so far for a couple of different reasons.  First, I love being able to communicate with people again!  You don't realize how even small conversations on the playground or in the grocery store can be so nice.  Second, most of the buildings are constructed out of stone.  I have loved walking through the city gazing at all of the fine stone carvings and "closes" that are between buildings and cobble streets.  Third, even though Edinburgh is a big city it is surrounded by beautiful mountains and ocean.  Since we are right on the water, we hear seagulls making all sorts of noises all day and night. The ability to be able to get out and enjoy nature is very exciting for me.  I am looking forward to discovering more about what I love about Edinburgh over the next couple of months.

As we take pictures, we feel that they do not do justice for what we are actually seeing; kind of like trying to capture the Grand Canyon.  We need to do a better job of having our camera out.  It is easy to just experience and not take the time/effort to take pictures, but I know we will want to remember as much as we can in the future.  We need an extra set of hands though!! ;)

So far, we have discovered the following places that I am sure we will frequent often:

• Leith Links - Fabulous park near our house with great open fields to kick around the ball and a large playground with a zipline, swings, slides, and more.  Amelie likes to ride her bike from our house to the playground. 
  
• Water of Leith Walkway (Wiki Page) - Walking/biking path that runs along the river to many major sites in Edinburgh.  This allows for you to get to the places without being in traffic.  We have used the path a couple of times already as we ventured into the center of Edinburgh.  On one occasion, Amelie rode her bicycle.  She rode for about 6 miles her first day having her bike! The video below is of her on the path.  Since this is such a bike friendly city, Bobby and I are contemplating purchasing bikes for our time here and then of course selling them when we leave. 

• Public Library - There are many public libraries around the city that we have access to be able to check out books.  These also provide a story hour for children once a week.  We have checked out a large stack of books and will be back for new ones frequently.  The one library we have visited so far had a really large play area for children with kitchens and play food, tables & chairs, trains, beanbags, and more.  
• Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh - 70 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens that is free to the public.  We spent on afternoon strolling through the gardens in amazement of the many varieties of plants and flowers.  There were also stunning views of the city. 

  

  Quick pear snack in the Rock Gardens in the Botanical Garden.

  
  
  

  

  Liam is an explorer that is not afraid of any feat.

  

  "Look at me and hold up your arms!"
  I could not get them both to look at the same time.

  

  Amelie climbing trees with dads help.  Liam had to have a go at it too.

  

  There was a thin sheet of metal on a couple of stumps which made for the perfect drum set.

  
  
  

  

  A 6 meter tall hedge...crazy tall!

  
  
  

  

  View of the National Monument on the hill in the distance.

• National Museum of Scotland - A free museum with a couple of great interactive children's area as well as an expansive collection for adults to view.  On the museum's website is the following description:  "Explore the diversity of the natural world, world cultures, art and design, science and technology and Scottish history, all under one roof at the National Museum of Scotland. National Museums Scotland has one of the few remaining museum taxidermy departments in the UK, with true craftsmen presenting hundreds of stunning new specimens from all over the world, complimented by astonishing life-sized casts and models of species."  The Wildlife Panorama was our favorite area with lots of interactive games/activities throughout.  Since it is so expansive, we will be headed back multiple times for sure! 

  

  There are a lot of dress up opportunities throughout the museum...exploring different cultures as well as different adventurers.

  

  You can go on the roof of the museum for more great views of the city.  The castle is seen in the background.

  

  Reading about the Tortoise and the Hare and then playing a game related to the book.

  

  A large area is set up with lots of different musical instruments to try out.

  

  The Wildlife Panorama main gallery.

  

  Digging for dinosaur bones.

• Royal Mile - A major tourist activity is walking down a series of streets that connects historic Edinburgh (castle area) to the area closer to our house.  We hiked to the National Monument and then to the castle and then down the Royal Mile on May 25th.  We are sore today from all of the walking up crazy big hills!  The views were worth it though!!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  View of Arthur's Seat.  We are going to hike this while we are here. ;)

  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Liam napping while Amelie plays on a playground.

  As in any city, there is a lot to explore and learn.  Many times, your first impression is totally different from the impression that you leave with.  It will be cool to see what we take away from this experience.