Today we needed a slightly less strenuous day so we started out with a good breakfast then headed over to the Scottish National Museum. It wasn’t open yet so on a whim we.popped into the Scottish National Library and went through their exhibit of old and rare books which includes a Gutenberg bible! I think that’s my 3rd to see in person. After that we headed over to the museum about the time it opened. They had it organized so you could go through the Scottish history section by itself starting from prehistoric times and the geology of the area up through the Picts and vikings and Romans influences. Then there were several floors of the chaotic history of the Scottish kingdom and the eventual unification with England. The top floors were mostly about Scottish modern accomplishments from scientific (James.Watt, etc) to sporting legends (Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark).

By the time we finished the Scottish specific wing we were just about ready to head out for lunch but there were a few other key items in the main museum. They had an exhibit on the CERN super collider and one on Dolly the sheep.

There were a couple of old F1 cars in an exhibit on aerodynamics which I enjoyed as well. Interestingly they had a sculpture by Picasso that was supposed to be a goat but looked more like a teapot to me 😂.

Once we left we decided to eat at a fish and chips place we had seen on Victoria Street (remember Diagon Alley). After lunch we caught the bus over the hill to the Scottish National Gallery. This had a surprising collection of art including Da Vinci and Rafael giving it a 2/4 on the TMNT scale.

There were works from the renaissance up through probably the 1800s we saw several Rembrandts in a Dutch/Flemish exhibit room. They had several rooms of Scottish paintings and I learned that John Knox the landscape painter is not in fact John Knox the reformation leader.

We left the gallery and walked through the park along Princes Street to see the Sir Walter Scott memorial spire up close then we rested and watched people pass for a bit. On our way back to the hotel we did a little shopping at the tourist shops along Princes Street. I was a little disappointed at the lack of MacNaughton tartans and knock knacks but i guess that just saves me a little money. We got back to the hotel and packed a little before heading to dinner at a Tapas restaurant nearby. Tomorrow we will start the car portion of our trip so not should be quite an adventure. More pictures to come tomorrow I unfortunately already packed up the camera! updated!