Camera Obscura March 15, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Edinburgh , add a commentToday we took a day trip to Edinburgh to visit the Camera Obscura. We had a great time in the galleries and taking a different kind of tour of Edinburgh in the top floor of the building.
The Camera Obscure is located just down the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle and across the street from The Scotland Whiskey Experience.
The show consisted of a tour of Edinburgh, having some laughs with the hostess, and learning how camera obscura works. We were very fortunate that today was not very rainy since the show is apparently fairly lame if the weather’s bad (the mirror fogs up or low visibility due to precipitation). That was not the case for us and it was amazing!
The Camera Obscura is one of several around the world, they are each large pin-hole cameras that project an image in a manner similar to an old film-style camera.
The tour feels like a cross between seeing the city from a low flying plane and being an omnipotent being. We got to see all the major sights in the city plus (since it was a clear day out) we saw islands and the hills outside of the city! And since it’s a real image that’s constantly changing, we got to see the people moving around the city. This is truly people watching in style! We pretend to pick people up off the street with a piece of paper, give them a shake, and put them back (those poor pedestrians, if they only knew).
The galleries are three floors of purely interactive exhibits.
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The first floor of exhibits consisted of all sorts of demonstrations of light play, from holograms to pin-hole photography. 
One of the most visually stunning parts of this floor was the room of lights- a room with a transparent wall blocking a lot of lights, causing the light points to move outward to infinity. Another fantastic aspect of this floor was the stairway to Australia!
The second contained varied optical illusions: everything from Escher prints to ways to visually exchange facial components/faces.
The third floor of exhibits had many fun gadgets and devices including a gigantic lightning ball and other fun toys! There was a crackle ball and a flat lightning ball like thing that responded to noise.
The exhibits mentioned above were fantastic but are merely a way for you to pass your time until your show on the top floor is ready to begin, the camera obscura.
Click to learn more about Camera Obscura.
Camera Obscura gave us free admission to write this review.
The People You Meet February 28, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Edinburgh , add a commentOne of the best things about traveling is the social aspect. Where you stay and what you do determine what kind and quantity of people you’ll meet.
I was pretty weary of the hostel we stayed at last night, but we were there for more than just to drop the larger bags off and we had a blast! We met perhaps 6 other travelers about our age and played ShitHead (a British card game ) for two hours. The night before we stayed at a less populated hostel and met a nice young man from Philly who was taking a break from his philosophy major to tour the UK and Europe. While I wouldn’t leave my valuables at the hostel, the last two nights were excellent in the way of being social without much effort.
Another great aspect of the travel is the people you meet doing activities. We climbed to the peak of the mountain today( gorgeous by the way) and met a man and his mountain climbing companion. He was a nice fellow who climbs mountains for fun.We joked around and he told us about how he aborted a climb because of the frigged temperatures and he ran into a group of young men going to climb the mountain in flip flops and t-shirts. A good laugh had by all.
On the way up and down the mountain we met quite a few people with dogs. There was a man who owns a Great Dane puppy that we had to stop and marvel at. The dog was flying up and down the steep side of the path running after rocks the owner was throwing. He looked more like a mountain goat from a distance. A teenager with a blue (Chris thinks it’s gray) Greyhound crossed our path on the way down and talked to him for a bit( Robbie, if your reading this, it was an Irish Greyhound ).
All the people we have met thus far have been irreplaceable elements in our adventure.
Edinburgh: A World-Class View February 27, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Edinburgh , 2commentsWe conquered half of the mountain today. It was, at first, brutal with wind coming from all directions and a steep climb. Thankfully that was only thirty minutes of the hike and it was not raining.
The path evened out and the view was spectacular! We could see clear out to the ocean and to the mountains toward the main land. There was snow on the ground there(barely) but it was warm enough without the wind to take the hood, beanie, and gloves off.
I saw what looked like either deer or sheep droppings and kept my eye out but alas, we only saw gulls.
We saw what looks to be ruins of a castle or watchtower but it was beginning to get dark and our stomachs were yodeling with all the emptiness it had to work with.
We are planning to go back tomorrow to have a picnic by a shallow creek in the valley and then explore the ruins nearby.
The Real Mary King’s Close February 26, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Edinburgh , 3commentsSo, as it turns out that deciding to take a short cut up never ending stairs in an ally, called a “Close” (don’t worry mom, it’s not dark or deserted), was very beneficial. We ran into a historic attraction called The Real Mary King’s Close, which takes groups down, under the city to what was once Edinburgh.
It turns out that the city was basically used as pre-made foundation for new government buildings.As you walk through the original roads of Edinburgh, you discover the treatment of the plague, myths, ghost stories, and other nifty tid-bits of what life was like in the 1600′s.
The tour was more than we expected and all of the employees were very welcoming. The tour guide acted the part of a 1600′s lady and her spiel was very entertaining. We had a great time.
By the way, All people with the surname of ‘King ‘ get free admission if you show them your ID.
P.S. Burgess, Katherine, tell your mom, means free to vote. Edinburgh was one of the first places that allowed women this right.
Day 3:Edinburgh February 26, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Edinburgh , 2commentsSo our second stop is much more expensive than Glasgow for things even so simple as sleeping quarters or food, cooked or otherwise.
The Edinborgh Castle, as gorgeous as it is, is 22 pounds for the both of us to enter(with a tour guide). There is a great view of the city from the castle even if you choose not to pay for admittance.
Also, a nifty place to see(from the entry way and gift shop, I cannot promise a good show past there) is the Camera Obscura And World of Illusions. The gift shop is like a show all by itself with everything novelty from ice cube trays to optical illusion puzzles and books.
Food runs approximately 4.50 pounds each. An up side to this price increase is the pub-tenders are much more outgoing(possibly because they’re used to tourists and understand that we may be clueless to how to order or what things are on the menu). I still don’t know what a Frog In a Hole is but I now know how to order food(after 30 minutes of Chris and I wondering if the waitress was purposely avoiding us and then going to the pub-tender to purchase the dinner in Glasgow ). The lunch we ate today went off without a hitch and the pub-tender came over,mid-meal, to see if we were doing OK. Talk about a sweet heart.
Beds are anywhere from 109.99 pounds a room-12ppn (pounds per person per night) in a hostel. You can bet the option we went with. A life saver we ran into is the work for boarding at the Brody’s Hostels on High Street/ The Royal Mile. They want a mere 2-3 hours of our lives cleaning the hostel and making beds to save us 24pounds a night. Sounds like a winner! Hopefully we don’t pull the short straw and get bathroom duty(I not sure if that’s an option).
For tomorrow, I have my eye set on a small mountain in a public park that, according to a cab driver, has a great view of the city. The best part- it’s free!
