Pardon me, i'm puffed

Sorry if this post is not terribly well constructed - i'm well and truly puffed.

We woke up late this morning - almost 9:00am, which is about 2 hours later than we've been averaging, and which meant that we almost missed the breakfast being served. Not really sure why we slept so long - probably a combination of a nice room with no traffic going past thanks to the road being shut.

This morning we visited the Scottish National Museum, which my parents visited 30 or so years ago and had thoroughly enjoyed. Their expectations on revisiting were most definitely met - it is one of the best art galleries i have ever visited. It has an absolutely superlative collection of artists - Van Gogh, Turner, Monet and Rembrandt amongst others - and it is well set out so that you can view the collection comfortably and without having to spend a full day just to get a proper feel for it (which is an example i feel some of Australia's galleries could profit from imitating). My favourite piece was a self-portrait by Rembrandt during his late 40s/early 50s.

I have to say that the gallery cafe was not as good as the gallery itself. The food was adequate - pre-prepared sandwiches, lentil soup - but the staff either had not been given adequate cutlery and crockery, or they had not washed up any, as people were being served soup in styrofoam cups, and they had run out of pies (an unforgivable error).

The other highlight of the day so far, and the reason that i'm so bloody puffed, was the Walter Scott monument. Now, it might not have been totally obvious from my post about visiting Walter Scott's house, but Scott is one of the truly great and dominant figures in Scottish cultural history. He was a spectacular literary talent, and a fiercely passionate advocate of Scottish history. He can be seen as the primary reason for the reemergence of Scottish pride in their history and national identity after being conquered by the English.

When Scott died, it was proposed that a monument be built in the centre of Edinburgh "...befitting his stature". Well, they well and truly succeeded - the Walter Scott monument could be described as Scotland's Eiffel Tower - even in the modern skyline of Edinburgh it towers, and it is a very popular tourist attraction. You can also climb the monument, which is 61 metres tall and has 300 steps.

I thought this sounded like a grand idea, but Mum (who did it 30 years ago) mentioned that it got a bit tight towards the top of the monument. Undeterred, i paid my 3£ and began the climb.

Mum was not kidding about it being tight. You ascend via a steep spiral staircase which unfortunately does not have handrails, and there are four levels that you can walk around on. I have taken pictures from each of these levels, but as usual i can't upload them. Suffice to say that the view from each level is spectacular, and from the top level it is an unparalled view over all of Edinburgh which simulaneously made my heart soar and my vertigo gently tap me on the shoulder.

Coming back down was a bit problematic - the lack of a handrail meant i sort of had to wedge myself against the wall of the stairs and hang on to the the centre of the spiral. Thankfully noone was coming up the staircase on my way down, or it would have been a bit problematic. At the end i was very puffed - probably a little more than the experience truly warranted, so there's another little reminder to work on my fitness.