Edinburgh

One of the best things about having kids is seeing them enjoy the things I enjoy. One time the kids complained about a museum we were headed to and I explained that because we go to museums together, when they grow up they will enjoy museums. “Hey!” Isaac said, displeased. Once in a while they’ll say, “Remember that place? We should go there again,” and they’re talking about SOME BORING MUSEUM.

Then one day, Isaac came home from school and explained this really fun game to me. “You pick your people and stuff, and it’s all in black and green, and you try to get to the end!” He couldn’t remember the name, but was surprised to discover I was very familiar with Oregon Trail myself. The rest of the week, after homework, I’d hear of occasional shouts of, “Oh no! The kitties have died of dysentery!”

So we have lots of fun together. The first night, we adopted a (cooked) baby octopus from the ferry buffet and gave him a name. We can guess what everyone is going to order. Everyone likes afternoon tea and tromping around outside. Spirits were high as we rolled in to Edinburgh around sunset.

Sunshine in Edinburgh?! This is not the weather I expected from Scotland. We walked a couple blocks from our clean but somewhat funny-smelling airbnb over to High Street and soon found a place for dinner. Without stopping to think about what it is, I ordered haggis and vegetable stuff that comes with haggis.

The kids tried it without even holding out to be offered a dollar or anything. It wasn’t bad, especially since I didn’t know what it was. Cow brains? I couldn’t remember. Chris wouldn’t try it until he looked it up.

“Haggis is chopped up sheep’s heart, lungs and liver, boiled with grains inside a sheep bladder,” he said, making a big deal about it and doing his classic “what’s in this” face.

Isaac pleasantly arranged his facial features and blinked sanguinely. “Organ Trail: Isaac has died of disgust,” he said.

But everyone agreed it didn’t taste bad at all, and of course Chris had to try it, “what’s in this” face and all.

“Can we have ice cream?” Isaac asked hopefully at the end of dinner. “Are you hungry enough for ice cream?” I asked skeptically. Isaac’s eyes lit up and he cracked a silly grin: “Uh-huh! It’s SCOTTISH! Good for the heart, lungs and liver!”

The kid got his ice cream.

The next day, we ventured further up High Street, popping into St. Gile’s Cathedral, having lunch, touring Edinburgh Castle. A full-on Scottish wedding was gearing up; international formal wear is always delightful to admire.

“When I’m walking down this street I kind of feel like I’m walking through medieval times,” said Eloise.

I convinced everyone to visit some charity shops with me to see if the thrifting was good. I didn’t find any of the things on my list, but I got an antique silver fork with a hand-etched floral design and monogram for a couple of pounds.

As I checked out, the lady at the till asked where I was from. We had a lovely chat where I understood exactly nothing of what she said. I was bewildered by my ability to murmur and chuckle at the correct places in the story she was telling me about maybe her brother living somewhere abroad, when I literally could not understand a single word she said. I kept waiting for the words to make sense. They never did. She would pause and smile expectantly at me, and I was right there, engaged, sharing a laugh. No idea what we talked about. I practice this a lot in French class I think—responding appropriately without understanding. This is a terrible skill to have. At the end of our chat, the shopkeeper nodded warmly at me and said, “Well, it was lovely chatting with you! Bye-bye!” “…Bye!” I called to my old friend as Chris and Isaac exhaled in relief that we were finished shopping. So maybe we don’t enjoy all the same things.

During this time in Edinburgh, Chris was negotiating our next set of orders with people on two other continents. This was stressful. Meanwhile, I was trying to find reservations for tea time. With the beautiful weather, everything was full. Finally we realized it was also Mother’s Day in the UK, making afternoon tea in the gardens doubly crowded. So tea time was not in the cards and I felt very sad about this since daily afternoon tea was my main reason for coming on this trip.

Holyrood Palace, a short walk from our place, is a quick and interesting visit with a palace built around abbey ruins. I love me some ruins! My favorite part of the palace was the tea room at the end—yes, they were full for afternoon tea, but we all had regular tea: scones, tea, and coronation chicken wraps. That was unexpected and delightful.

After that, Chris wanted to see the Scottish History Museum, which is free. The kids LOVED the science room where you can have a robot spell your name with blocks, mariokart a racecar, and more. I was interested to find more information about the myth that the Scottish people are descended from Pharaoh’s daughter Scota who was exiled from Egypt, and other early stories of the Scottish people.

There was none of this. It was mostly a giant, gorgeous curio cabinet of items related to Scottish history, without being presented in a storytelling way. It’s a very beautiful museum though, and the somewhat hidden rooftop terrace offers amazing views of the city.

Overall, I felt like we were a little unfocused in Edinburgh and I wished I’d done more research ahead of time, but we enjoyed the long weekend we had there!