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.