Harry Potter and The Robots at The National Museum
One thing that still hasn't changed is that, even with worldchump status, I still have two kids whose plans differ from my own...considerably so. Gone are the days when Liebi and I could stroll down the boulevards of a major city, take in the sights and have a leisurely lunch and dinner.
Of course, the kids themselves have graduated from playground to Playstation. They are as fascinated by electronics as anybody, so organizing activities for near tweens can be a challenge at times. But we do what we have to do to get them out of the house. What we need is a little magic. Enter child's best friend, Harry Potter.
Even before Harry Potter, Edinburgh comes to life in a testy way. Outside our window early in the morning, I hear a man shouting in that inimitable Scottish way, at another driver who dared to talk on the phone while driving. Yuuu ware toookin' on the f----n' phoooone! Axl and I hop on a double decker bus and ride downtown. Before that, a nice lady explains to us that you need exact change for the buses here. See Racket and the Rental Car a few posts ago (wouldn't that make for an interesting J.K. Rowling title?). Either way, it's a pound seventy for me, eighty pence for Axl. We go up the stairs and at the first opportunity grab the front seats in the upper deck...this is what Axl had aspired to after discovering the double-decker buses. That's one essential to-do item off his list.
We arrive at the National Museum, where a couple argues, shouting at each other over a long distance. Whoa, I'm thinking. This city is definitely awake now. We locate the statue on Chambers Street and wait for our tour guide to show up.
Edinburgh, the non-fictitious story has it, was the cradle of creation for J.K. Rowling in the 1990's. Rowling, a freshly divorced single mother, moved to Scotland with her baby daughter to escape from her husband and to be near her sister. There is the famous Elephant Cafe, where Rowling wrote while her baby slept. The Elephant Cafe is well aware of this, as it now labels itself 'The Birthplace of Harry Potter'. Good luck getting a table, a chair or even a foot in there.
There are other places in Edinburgh where J.K. Rowling found inspiration, either in writing or with her sketches that contributed to her books, like a cemetery (where we find the graves of Thomas Riddel and John McGonigal; Sound familiar, Potter fans? To me it's still Georgi Papdopolous, as in all Greek), a hotel room or an underground passage near the university. Of course, all of this is still as familiar to me as the legend of the McInirney Clan (whoever they were), but as a parent, you endure a two-hour Harry Potter walking tour.
Of course, Bash (or Liebi) could care less about Harry Potter or his ilk. This is where fortune lends a hand when we meet later at The National Museum. The National Museum happens to have a robot exhibition, which is right up Bash's alley. These days, Bash builds machines and robots out of cardboard boxes. Now it's time to witness the science and the history behind the real thing.
Another good family day in the end. Well done, Edinburgh. You pass the smell test for kids.
Of course, the kids themselves have graduated from playground to Playstation. They are as fascinated by electronics as anybody, so organizing activities for near tweens can be a challenge at times. But we do what we have to do to get them out of the house. What we need is a little magic. Enter child's best friend, Harry Potter.
Even before Harry Potter, Edinburgh comes to life in a testy way. Outside our window early in the morning, I hear a man shouting in that inimitable Scottish way, at another driver who dared to talk on the phone while driving. Yuuu ware toookin' on the f----n' phoooone! Axl and I hop on a double decker bus and ride downtown. Before that, a nice lady explains to us that you need exact change for the buses here. See Racket and the Rental Car a few posts ago (wouldn't that make for an interesting J.K. Rowling title?). Either way, it's a pound seventy for me, eighty pence for Axl. We go up the stairs and at the first opportunity grab the front seats in the upper deck...this is what Axl had aspired to after discovering the double-decker buses. That's one essential to-do item off his list.
We arrive at the National Museum, where a couple argues, shouting at each other over a long distance. Whoa, I'm thinking. This city is definitely awake now. We locate the statue on Chambers Street and wait for our tour guide to show up.
Edinburgh, the non-fictitious story has it, was the cradle of creation for J.K. Rowling in the 1990's. Rowling, a freshly divorced single mother, moved to Scotland with her baby daughter to escape from her husband and to be near her sister. There is the famous Elephant Cafe, where Rowling wrote while her baby slept. The Elephant Cafe is well aware of this, as it now labels itself 'The Birthplace of Harry Potter'. Good luck getting a table, a chair or even a foot in there.
There are other places in Edinburgh where J.K. Rowling found inspiration, either in writing or with her sketches that contributed to her books, like a cemetery (where we find the graves of Thomas Riddel and John McGonigal; Sound familiar, Potter fans? To me it's still Georgi Papdopolous, as in all Greek), a hotel room or an underground passage near the university. Of course, all of this is still as familiar to me as the legend of the McInirney Clan (whoever they were), but as a parent, you endure a two-hour Harry Potter walking tour.
Of course, Bash (or Liebi) could care less about Harry Potter or his ilk. This is where fortune lends a hand when we meet later at The National Museum. The National Museum happens to have a robot exhibition, which is right up Bash's alley. These days, Bash builds machines and robots out of cardboard boxes. Now it's time to witness the science and the history behind the real thing.
Another good family day in the end. Well done, Edinburgh. You pass the smell test for kids.
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