Edinburgh

You know it's going to be a good day when you're first stop is to a cafe that has cones of yarn dotted everywhere and fab tapestries on the wall.
Rob, Thom and I headed over to Edinburgh today to finally go and see the revamped National Museum of Scotland. Handily, Dovecot Studios, which I've been wanting to go to all year, is just over the road. The boys put up with being dragged to yarns things but they perked up when we got the cafe and they had some lovely muffins. I had the best gluten free brownie ever and sat there with a large smile on my face as all I could see was yarn and tapestries.
This year is the 100th year that Dovecot Studios has been running. To celebrate there is an exhibition throughout the studios and gallery of the work that has been created over this time. The tapestries are stunning. The level of detail is mind blowing and the artistic creativity behind them is inspiring. The boys really enjoyed it as well, which helped. If you're in Edinburgh then it's really worth making a bit of time to go and see it.
We then hiked through the Fringe madness on the Royal Mile (it seems to get crazier every year) to go and meet our friends Joan and Sooz before heading to the NMS. It's been a while since we've seen them and it's always lovely to catch up with them.
The new museum of Scotland is great and been done really well. The exhibits are more interactive and easier to see. However, there is a bit of me that is sad as its not how it was. I used to go to the museum a lot as a child with my gran, my aunt, and my parents, and it's one of those few places that just feels comforting and cosy to me. When I studied in Edinburgh I would go there just for a wander about, and also to look at the rocks at times as it was what I was meant to be doing for those 4 years. The structural changes that have been done do make it feel a bit more sanitised and they do work, but it just feels like there's something missing. Please don't let this put you off going as its fab and a great place to still go to. It just feels that there's another bit of my childhood has changed and will never be the same.
Anyway, I've had a really great day with brilliant company and I'm missing Edinburgh and the East coast as it'll always feel like home to me.
Off to possibly play with some tapestry weaving.