Snapshots of Edinburgh, Day Trips, Scotland

Snapshots of Edinburgh

National Monument, Snapshots of Edinburgh, Day Trips, Scotland

Last week I took Ben and Simon to Edinburgh for the day because for Christmas, we gave the boys tickets to see The Lion King.

Snapshots of Edinburgh, Day Trips, Scotland

This is the second time we’ve gone to Edinburgh just for the day, and I have grown to really enjoy doing it this way. We hop on the train early in the morning and ride it back late at night.

Snapshots of Edinburgh, Day Trips, Scotland

We had the prettiest January day I’ve seen so far in Scotland, which was such a gift after being almost blown away on our last visit.

The boys and I walked all around Calton Hill, taking pictures of the city, reading about the monuments and enjoying the sunshine.

Snapshots of Edinburgh, Day Trips, Scotland

Oh and yes, we had this strange encounter with an art exhibition.

 

Snapshots of Edinburgh, Day Trips, Scotland

I must say that I love getting the chance to travel with only one or two of my kids. There is less need for compromise and I’m able to let them lead and make decisions about what to do without all the arguing.

National Monument, Snapshots of Edinburgh, Day Trips, Scotland

Ben chose a lot of what we did in Edinburgh, and it was fun for him that he is starting to know his way around the city.

Snapshots of Edinburgh, Day Trips, Scotland

University students have a habit of rubbing the toe of this Hume statue for luck around exam time. Ben does not have any exams this year, but he’s still collecting luck.

Ben and Simon picked out a restaurant together after we walked through Grassmarket.

Snapshots of Edinburgh, Day Trips, Scotland

I must say that they chose very well. Both boys ordered super yummy pizza at Made in Italy. And I had lasagne with super thin sheets of homemade pasta stacked together. So divine.

Snapshots of Edinburgh, Day Trips, Scotland

Plus Italian desserts and coffee.

Perfect.

Snapshots of Edinburgh, Day Trips, Scotland

After lunch we made our way over to the Edinburgh Playhouse to see The Lion King!

Everyone’s favorite moment of the play was the beginning when all the animals arrive. AMAZING! There was an older gentleman sitting next to Simon and he watched Simon as much as he did the play, which was super sweet to me. When the elephant came down the aisle next to us, he said to Simon, “Look! Look! Do you see the olli-phant?!” Super cutie!

We had matinee tickets so we were able to grab a bite in the train station before getting an evening train back to Aberdeen. Two sleepy boys were humming the tunes from the musical all the way home.

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14 Comments

  1. I love the idea of traveling with one or two kiddos. Looks like you had a great time! How long of a train ride is it for you guys??

    1. It is a nice change! The train ride is about 2.5 hours.

  2. Looks like a perfect day trip!!! And now I want to visit Edinburgh even more than before, it’s def on my top list of cities to visit.

    1. I do love it a lot! Would be happy to meet you there sometime!:)

  3. Lovely photos! I’ve been living in Edinburgh for almost a year now, and it’s one of my favorite cities. I love it here!

    1. How very fun! It’s SUCH a wonderful city. I’m sure you’re enjoying it so much.

  4. Beautiful photographs of Edinburgh! What age do you think is good to start traveling abroad? My boys are 7 and 4 now and we want to show them the world, but we are kind of scared.

    1. Thanks much, Ashley! It so depends. It’s so expensive to fly to Europe that before we moved here we decided that one of us would take each child when they turned 13 as sort of a milestone trip, which has turned out to be a great age. They are old enough to walk far, appreciate some things a bit more, sit and wait for things, etc but they are not yet (completely) embarrassed to be seen with you in public. 🙂 I love taking Simon and Ben places now (ages 7 and 12) but of course, if we didn’t live here, we couldn’t jet off to a European city for the day. 🙂 I took all three of my boys to Memphis last year though for a couple of days and we weaved in some culture with a trip to the zoo. I thought it worked great. Loads of blog posts about our milestone trips with our kids in the archives. Taido and Cole went to Switzerland, while MP and I went on a Medi Cruise. LOVED. EVERY. MINUTE. 🙂

  5. Beautiful photos from Edinburgh, especially the ruins on the hill, and that gorgeous blue sky – we haven’t had much of it lately here in South East England!

    1. Thanks Reeta! YES the sun has been SPARSE lately. I’m ready for a good three or four day stretch, but we’ll have to settle for just a sliver here and there. 🙂 And of course, when I’m on my computer, I have the sun lamp right next to my face. 🙂

  6. […] « Snapshots of Edinburgh […]

  7. I enjoyed your adventure! I was in Saint Andrews last year … and am now in love with Scotland!

    1. St Andrew’s is so beautiful, but so is all of Scotland really! My son currently has his eye on going to ‘uni’ at St. Andrews!

  8. […] I took Ben and Simon to Edinburgh to see The Lion King, we made a day of it, enjoying the city and taking loads of photos. We even had an […]

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