Friday, September 21- Two Museums

I decided to do a morning hike up to Arthur’s Seat again. I try to stay in shape on my travels and this sure filled the bill! It was a little harder this time; there had been a lot of rain the night before and I had to avoid puddles and be careful not to slip. It was sunnier today, though, and the view were ever-changing. I could almost understand why people took up mountain-climbing although I don’t think I’ll go out and buy boots and pitons. 

I’d planned to go back to the apartment, eat lunch and then head to the museums, but got distracted by a display of exquisite jewelry made by a designer in the Orkneys, which Ron and I had visited in 2005. The shop was in the Scottish Parliament Building and I had to go through a metal detector to enter. At the sight of such beautiful, locally-made work, my credit card leapt out of my wallet. There was, conveniently, a café in the building and I had lunch there. I spent the rest of the day in the National Gallery and the National Academy. As usual, I got a little burnt out after seeing so many paintings, but I learned a lot, especially about Rembrandt, whose works were the subject of a special exhibit at the National Academy.