Another weekend, another mini-break
Yup, that’s right, I’m just back from another adventure. I’m liking the “every weekend another city” thing! This past weekend it was Edinburgh, and okay, I’ve been to Edinburgh a fair amount, in fact, I’d been twice already in the past month. But this time I got to do some touristy things I hadn’t done before, which was fun! My two highlights were Kelvingrove (I know, I know, it’s in Glasgow) where they had a Dr Who exhibition…
…and a dog made of wellingtons…
…and one of my favourite parts, the domestic violence display which is part of the ‘Glasgow Stories’ section. It’s a collection of objects chosen by women to represent their experiences of domestic violence with a voice over explaining the reasons they chose the objects. There are some ‘obvious’ ones like a cross bow and then less obvious ones like a packet of disposable nappies and a brass name plate. Each time I go to Kelvingrove I stay and listen to all the stories.
I also visited the National Museum of Scotland which was AMAZING!! I only went there to see one thing and didn’t have much time to go round the whole place but I really wish I could of. Among many, many other things they have huge working machines and a mock-up house showing how they built thatched roofs…
…and of course the thing I went specifically to see! Which was hidden away on the corner of the fourth floor. The fourth floor being mainly a “staff only” zone this meant I tried many different lifts and stairways before successfully getting there! But it was worth it. It was a series of miniature coffins that were found by children playing on Arthur’s Seat in 1836. There have been various theories about them, including that they were used by witches, or were made by sailors as goodluck charms but the most popular theory is that they were made by a shoe-maker friend of Burke and Hare, who murdered people in order to sell their bodies to the medical school, to represent their victims and to give them a semblance of a Christian burial as beliefs at the time were that the souls of people whose bodies had been dissected would not go to heaven (or something similar). The museum has eight of the seventeen coffins, the others not having surviving. They’re surprisingly detailed and, to me, felt slightly sinister.
