Our Mini Moon

 

[Just an FYI, I'm sharing this now, over a year later because a) I wasn't back in the blogosphere last November and b) I am not going anywhere taking new photos just now.]

Back on October 31ast 2019, we got married. At that time we didn't have the funds etc to even think of planning a honeymoon but as our 'wedding' did cost so little, we decided to go away that night to my favourite city (actually one of the only cities I don't mind - I'm a country girl).
Growing up in Berwick, in the middle of both Newcastle and Edinburgh, I spent many days out, cinema trips, shopping trips etc in both of those. Obviously we pretty much live in Newcastle and because Mr H hadn't really been to Edinburgh before that's where we headed. 

The night of the 31st we didn't actually do much. We drove up to Berwick to drop off my parents and Baker who was going to have a sleepover and then up on to Edinburgh. We stayed at The Antler Guest House, ran by two lovely ladies who popped us in the top floor room which benefitted from its own personal separate bathroom and even gave us a bottle of Prosseco! We had never had it before so only had a few sips but the gesture was super sweet.
After a quick freshen up we headed out into the rainy Halloween night with no clue where to eat. We ended up at Hard Rock Cafe, which is a cool place but as vegans not the best choice haha! Still, Mr H ended up with a nice veggie burger and I had fries...the typical go-to for me when eating out. After we bought a pin to commemorate our visit, we walked back along toward the hotel and stopped in at The Conan Doyle pub where the staff couldn't believe had gotten married earlier the day and decided to spend our time in there. I love Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and it was a quiet place on Halloween night, so why not! We had also planned to pop into CC Blooms for some drag fun but again, it was Halloween, meaning events were all different. We ended our time out there, walking back along to the hotel to our books and an early night ready for the next day.

Bright and early we were up, washed, dressed and checked out. The bags back in the car we walked toward Princes Street and stopped for a nice vegan breakfast at The Booking Office before continuing up Cockburn Street and up toward Greyfriars Kirkyard. This is somewhere I have been many times and love to stop by and visit Bobby. If you don't know the story of Greyfriars Bobby, give it some research! We also walked around to see all the other brilliant sites in the grounds, including Tom Riddles grave - the man who inspired Voldemorts name. 

From there we headed to Edinburgh Castle, the place we decided on touring properly as neither of us had actually been inside before. It was a very rainy day, the Castle was very busy, and in some places, photos weren't allowed so that all kept my over the top photo taking to a minimum for a change haha.

There are so many brilliant museums in Edinburgh, especially free ones so choosing where to go to after our time at the Castle was difficult. We ended up at The Writers Museum so that we could document it on our book blog at the time. You can see that post here - The Writers Museum - Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a stunning building, home to a large array of collections relating to famous Scottish writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott...a great stop for readers and literature fans. 
The day was ticking on at that point, so with wet clothes and tired feet we grabbed some food at Tony Macaroni in the Omni Centre, got back to the car and drove down to pick up our little guy before continuing down the road home. 

And that was our Mini-Moon, or I guess now it was also our actual Honeymoon. I wish I had documented it sooner so that it was fresh in my head but at least Mr was able to remember the details so we can look back at this post in years to come.

To read all about what should have been our honeymoon this October and the hows, whys and what's of it not happening check out the blog posts listed below!

Honeymoon Here We Come...?
Countdown to Disney 2020 // Honeymoon Cancellation Update
All 'Countdown to Disney 2020' Posts

The Writers Museum - Edinburgh, Scotland

As you may have seen from our post on the 18th October, we have decided to do a little mini series on literary places of interest we visit that we think you may enjoy. In this post I am going to share some photos and info about The Writers Museum in Edinburgh after our recent visit at the start of the month. You'll notice from the outdoor shots that it was an extremely rainy day which Mrs H thought was why the museum seemed to be extra busy - on her previous visits it was always empty apparently!

Situated in Lady Stairs Close, The Writers Museum is in a little close, accessible by a staircase off North Bank Street or down a narrow passageway from the Royal Mile. It is inside a stunning building originally built in 1622 and altered a number of times throughout the years, in 1897 it was restored to what is assumed to be the original configuration from 1622. When you arrive you are greeted by a building that is much taller than it in wide, the doorway is in a spiral staircase which leads up to the main museum with two exhibits one for Robert Burn and Sir Walter Scott and also down stairs to a great exhibit on Robert Louis Stevenson.

The first author's section we visited in the museum was Robert Lewis Stevenson. In this exhibit they had a large range of personal items including part of the bed he was born in. They had several items from his time in Samoa including a traditional wooden pillow, riding cap and a ivory box he gifted to his mother as well as a ring which was given to him by a Samoan Chief engraved with the name he was given, "Tusitala" meaning "teller of tales". Also in the collection they have lots of books from other writers that were owned by Stevenson in which he wrote his name and some of them he made notes.

Upstairs the museum has a small gift shop and a corridor leading to a room housing items from the life and work of Robert Burns. This includes a stool he used while working at a publishing office in Edinburgh, a plaster cast of his skull (one of only three ever made) and his writers desk. 

Upstairs from here is a small room relating to the work of Sir Walter Scott here we saw items including the chest and rocking horse he used as a child, also they had a pipe and wallet. The main attraction to his exhibit is a recreation of a Ballantyne printing press which is said to be the press used to print the Waverley Novels.

This was my (Mr Hallow) first visit to the Writers Museum and I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was quiet busy while we were there so didn't get to absorb as much as I would have liked to so will definitely have to visit again. Have any of you guys ever been?

💀 Mr Hallow 💀