Day 3 (Tuesday, 20th September): Visit to the National Museum and Ceilidh

By Niccolò and Noël

Today we went to the national museum of Scotland and in the evening we went dancing ceilidh, an old Scottish dance. In the morning we met at 9.00 am at the entrance hall and then walked together for 20 minutes to the national museum. The museum was in the old town and it was really big. I was quite baffled by the vast size of the museum. It was like a maze. The museum had an old part which was really beautiful and a modern one. At first we had to gain an overview of the museum before we went to the geography part. We received a geography and history assignment that we worked on individually. The geography part was about the formation and placement of Scotland during earth’s history. We also learnt about the rocks and mountains of Scotland. The history assignment was about Scotland’s slave trade in the past. We all worked individually and on the tasks that we liked the most. At 12am we had a one hour lunch break where some of us ate on the beautiful roof top terrace of the museum, where you had a great view over Edinburgh. After the break we re-commenced work on the assignment for two further hours. We were also able to explore the museum and the different rooms (flora & fauna, universe, …). The museum was very interesting and had a lot of interactive attractions, such as a Formula 1 simulator. At 3pm we met again at the entrance and then had spare time for ourselves until 7pm. Some of us went home to the apartment, while others had a stroll in the city center. 

At 7.15 pm we met again at the entrance hall and walked for about 30 minutes to the Old Town. We went to an event location called the Summerhall where we visited a ceilidh evening (workshop). Ceilidh is a traditional Scottish gathering where you dance simple dances, which are accompanied by Gaelic music. The dance took place in a large hall and many other people were there as well, even native Scotts. At the front there were two men playing some Gaelic music and instructing us the dances. The two men performed an array of traditional Scottish songs to which we danced diligently. The dances were challenging and one had to heed to dance along. Each dance was usually done with a different partner, sometimes even a stranger. The event started at 8pm and lasted until 11pm however there was a well-deserved break in the middle. The dances themselves were very intensive. At the end the two performers played the song Old Lang Syne to quell the crowd and pacify the commotion.  During the song we stood in a circle, holding hands, singing to the music. This experience was pleasant and enjoyable. And we would certainly recommend this for blissful evening in Edinburgh. After the event we returned back home and finished off the night in the apartment.