Doors Open Day **Saturday September 29**

For one exciting day in Edinburgh a lot cool places open up to the public. There are over 70 establishments all over the city which participate in this day organized by the Cockburn Association. Needless to say I only saw a very small fraction of them. We began the day early (9 am!) and tried to hit up some different places around the dorm.

Our first stop was Old College, which I mentioned last post as the original campus for the University of Edinburgh. The really awesome thing to see is Playfair Library Hall. It was used as the library until the 1960s and is decorated with the busts of notable Scottish figures. It is an incredible room with tall vaulted ceilings and balconies supporting the numerous bookshelves. Leading into the library are this large staircases decorated by huge portriats. Adjoining the Playfair Library, there is a art gallary. Had some interesting things, and my favorite were this pieces made from cheap plastic things such as sunglasses or hairbrushes.

Continuing on to other places, the next stop was the Parliament House. Not to be confused with the brand new Scottish Parliament building. This is the Court House next to Saint Giles Cathederal on the Royal Mile. They had private tours of the advocates (Lawyers) libraries. They had manuscripts from the 1600s just sitting there! The librarian told us that every summer they dust the books and hire students.... So I definetly know what I want to do if I'm short of cash come June. One of the library rooms used to be a courtroom and a very famous murder trial was held there. The rest of the courthouse displayed the old judges outfits with the wigs. Pretty cool.

I toured the Central Library also which wasn't as impressive because I had already been in the building to get a library card. However, there is an awesome reference room with balconies of books. There is also a lot of passages and it is not the tour for the closterphobic. The stacks were so crammed! They had floors and floors of reference books that only the librarians can retrieve. It made me a little nervous because I noticed there were no sprinklers.

The other thing I did was climb to the top of Calton Hill which is a very touristy thing to do. It has an awesome view of the city where you can get the Castle in your picture. The hill also pays tribute to Robert Burns and Horatio Nelson. There is also a tiny observetory. It was awfully crowded because it was Doors Open Day and was not raining like it tends to do on a whim in Scotland.

I saw a few other places. A small music hall with a collection of old pianos. Also a modern apartment converted from stables in the back of fancy residences in New Town. In all honesty I am sad that some of the things I wanted to see were so far out from the city. I did not get to see any old residences or museums. Despite this fact, I do believe a lot more of these places are obtainable to the public than I thought previously. Using the guide for Doors Open Day I know there is a Museum created from an old Fire Station, a museum of Geoscience, a National History museum, and the Royal College of Surgeons has a book bound in human skin! Sometimes I think a year is not going to be enough to see everything in Edinburgh!