After having thoroughly enjoyed the southerly bits of England we set our sights on our real destination: the veritably sheep-filled country of Scotland. I realize the fact that there are more sheep than people in Scotland is due to a terrible history, but nonetheless we went with hearts full of hope to see as many as possible.

To get to Scotland we travelled in style aboard the Caledonian Sleeper. I was very excited about this experience and in the end it was indeed quite the experience. The fundamental reason we took the train was to save ourselves a day spent just travelling and for this it worked out pretty well. But I was also looking for an excuse to take it because I like trains and it wasn’t too hard to convince my super amazing wife. We departed Bath via one train, took the tube over to a different train station, and then boarded the Caledonian. Because of how late we bought the tickets we wound up with the most luxurious option, which gave us lounge access beforehand (where I got in the Scottish mood by enjoying Irn-Bru and shortbread cookies). It also meant we had a shower in our cabin which I took advantage of. The room was still very tiny and barely had enough room for both us and our bags but nonetheless. In the end the thing that would have made the ride better was if it were longer; it is only like a seven-hour train ride so by the time we were onboard and settled we only got a few hours of sleep before it was time to wake up and get breakfast. Sleeping through the ride in the dark also means you miss out on any potential scenery viewing. We arrived in Edinburgh as we were eating breakfast at the same table as a very nice couple from Indiana, before gathering our things and alighting.

After dropping our bags at the hotel we set out for the day’s adventures, which with our early arrival on the Caledonian put us on the streets of Edinburgh at about 8 in the morning. And what a morning in Edinburgh. Misty, foggy, and very atmospheric. It was early enough that almost nothing was open but we had the Royal Mile nearly to ourselves. We took in the sights and did some window shopping and eventually settled into a café to kill some time. Fortified, we spent the largest chunk of the morning hiking through greater Edinburgh to do some shopping, stopping by Topping & Company and Kathy’s Knits and The Gently Mad, where I once again was somewhat disappointed at not finding the exact bits of London Mission Society ephemera I had imagined would just be all over Edinburgh. Oh well. On our way back to the Royal Mile we enjoyed a hot chocolate at The Marshmallow Lady.

Despite being hopped up on marshmallow sugar we still needed lunch which turned out to be somewhat of a struggle on the Royal Mile. During my family’s now much-ballyhooed house exchange in Scotland while I was in middle school, the house we exchanged was actually in the suburbs of Edinburgh, which meant I have many fond memories of the Royal Mile. So that means I can’t tell if I am just misremembering how crowded it was back then or if it has gotten significantly more crowded, but every day while we were there the Royal Mile was PACKED. And maybe I was just a kid back then so I can’t tell anyways but it did seem a bit Disney-fied since then as well. But after several attempts we finally got some very good ramen for lunch.

But the real highlight of the day was Dovecot Studios which was just phenomenal. This was a destination picked by my super amazing wife so I did not know what I was walking into when we arrived but man it was magical. What they do is tapestries. Some rich dude in 1913 wanted tapestries for his castle or whatever so he just hired some people to start a studio and eventually started taking commissions. You could go up and see the tapestry weavers at work (or the singular tapestry weaver, while we were there), and they had some just fantastic art on the walls as well, both in tapestry form and in other media.

Downstairs they had an exhibition for The Caged Bird’s Song which was just mind-blowing. The first part of the exhibition was about the making-of, and then there was a video with the final product and I was just blown away by it. The tapestry is based off of a watercolor and the tapestry looks like watercolor, like you can see in the weaving the pooling effect of the watercolor pigments and the expressiveness of it all. How do they do it man. And I was satisfied with just a video of the finished piece until my super amazing wife pointed out that the real thing was like right behind me and man. What a craft, what a thing to see in person. Dovecot takes on a new apprentice every three years or so, which means there might be a slot in 2026 and might be worth it to turn one’s life upside-down to learn such magic.

Shaken and inspired we went back out into the somewhat overcast Edinburgh light and spent the rest of the day doing circumnavigating the Royal Mile to visit a few more shops. The best part of the Scottish Textiles Showcase was a very friendly dog who wanted you to kick his ball for him to chase, but at Greyfrairs Kirkyard we couldn’t find any of the Harry Potter graves. At Armchair Books the very knowledgeable saleslady was impressive but we didn’t get anything there either. The day ended with dinner at a Nepalese restaurant and us subsequently collapsing at the hotel, very footsore.