National Museum of Scotland

When in Edinburgh a visit to the Lewis chess pieces on display in the National Museum of Scotland is a must. The majority of the members of this famous chess clan are to be seen in the British Museum in London. However, Scotland is rightfully their home as they were originally found on the Island of Lewis (go figure!) at Uig.

They are believed to be from a Viking hoard and it's believed were were made in Scandinavia, probably Norway. Although it has been argued they could easily be Icelandic. The characters are clearly influenced by Norse culture and the strongest evidence for this is in the figurines of the warders which take the form of berserkers (which is where the term to 'go berserk' originated). These are the incredibly brave and fierce mythical warriors of the Sagas. (One of the most famous sagas is Njal's saga which tells the story of the terrible consequences of blood feuds.)

Whatever their origins they are beautifully crafted with the most amazingly comical faces. 

I'm hungry, mum

Travelling+children+kitchen+microwave = no brainer. 

We decided to try out some of Tesco's ready made dinners and we weren't sorry that we did. They are fresh, and taste great; you can tell they don't contain any artificial ingredients or additives.

And soooo convenient. (And made by Kerry Foods - how appropriate!)

This one was  eaten along to several renditions of "bangers and mash, bangers and mash...."


 

One of the (secret) joys of travelling is being able to check out different supermarkets.  Oh be still, my beating heart!

Duncan's Land part II

 Sensational. Just a minute's walk from our apartment (as seen in the background) to...coffee!

 Hey dad, how come the sun is shining, aren't we in Edinburgh?

 A happy man is one with a good coffee to hand...

Duncan's Land is the building on the left, and the window you can see just over the fence is our kitchen window - with window seat *sigh*.

Duncan's Land, Edinburgh

This garden is an oasis in the heart of Edinburgh, the path leads down to our apartment.

 I never used to worry about comfort when I was travelling.

 As long as you have a roof over your head and feel safe. After all a bed is just a bed, right?

 But then children come along, and things change. Having somewhere nice not only becomes necessary, but a joy when you get it right. And that's what happened when we arrived at our rental apartment in Edinburgh - booked on the internet very much at the last minute. 

'Duncan's Land' was built from the rubble of the old town so looks a lot older, it's a sensational two bedroom apartment that you could happily live in. And our host went out of her way to ensure we had a wonderful array of food to welcome us on our arrival.  

44 Scotland Street

The series of books written by Alexander McCall Smith under the title of 44 Scotland Street revolves around the tenants of this fictitious address of a real street in New Town in Edinburgh. The main characters include a very insightful and smart young boy called Bertie, his awful mother and others such as the intellectual Domenica Macdonald. 

Scotland Street was a pleasant stroll from our apartment, which took us past shops, art galleries and cafes inhabited by the prototypes of the characters portrayed in McCall Smith’s very readable series. This is so obviously his turf and his people and he portrays their everyday struggles and dilemmas with such charm, compassion and insight that you feel that know them and would recognise them should they pass you on the street. 

I was so happy to visit.

Here I am at the corner of Scotland Street.

 And if you close your eyes there is No. 44 just to the left.

 And below is the view along Scotland Street, 

from the entrance to No. 44.

On the (rail) road to Scotland

Train travel is by far my favourite way to travel. I don't know why it's not more popular.

I particularly enjoy being able to read, look out the window at the scenery AND drink coffee. 

Bliss.

This is us heading to Scotland from London, having spent overnight in a Hotel near Heathrow. We decided not to hire a car and drive like we have before (over about five days). And I'm glad we did. We were able to relax and enjoy the changes in scenery, and arrive in Edinburgh with enough time to enjoy exploring our truly delightful apartment (thank you Morag!) before heading out for food.

The Venetian, Macau

The Venetian, Macau, is a tribute to excess.
This is the lobby for the casino as seen from the balcony upstairs. We weren't allowed down the escalators due to kiddy company.

The upstairs (shopping) section has its own Grand Canal, complete with gondola's
and singing gondolier's. (Note the shops along the banks.)
A tad too touristy for us, but hey when in ummm Venice?

I didn't know whether to love it or hate it.
This is the amazing trompe l'oeil ceiling...
which goes from day...into dusk...creepy.

Excess = opportunity for a kiddy cart wheels...

When in Macau...

Just an hour's ferry ride away from Hong Kong is Macau. It's a wonderful mix of Portuguese and Chinese cultures and the place is steeped in history, old churches, a lot of casinos and restaurants

and just a few eskimos!

Hey dude!

After a lot of extremely-cold-fun playing eskimos it was time
 for Portuguese tarts with a hot chocolate for afternoon tea.
Mmmm.

And for the girl who has everything, some Hello Kitty
earphones purchased in a shop on The Grand Canal
 at the Venetian Macau Resort.

We *heart* Hong Kong

Elements Shopping Centre
sits above Tsim Sha Tsui Station, Kowloon.
What's not to love...
it's neat
clean
and
great shopping!

And with a HKD million dollar view.

The boys

We are off on our overseas holiday tomorrow.

Woohoo!!!!

But we are going to miss our boys, so here is a photo to remind us of them.

Eddie and Henry, if you read this post, please remember to be good boys for the nice family that is minding our house.