Every two years Steve attends a conference put on by the International Society for Optics and Photonics and it alternates being held in North America and Europe. Ever since we found out (two years ago) that this year's conference was in Edinburgh, I have been looking forward to going with him. My parents graciously looked after M and R the whole time, and although we don't have any pictures of their time together, we heard many stories and it was clearly a lot of fun for everyone.
Steve's conference went well - he saw many familiar faces, including old colleagues from New Zealand. Here is one of the three posters he published for the conference. Steve described the poster sessions as being like a science fair, where you stand next to your poster and people walk by and chat with you if your poster looks interesting.
We stayed in a little flat on Young Street for the week of the conference.
We had one day before the conference started, so we walked around the Castle and enjoyed watching all the clouds (which are generally absent in our part of California).
While Steve was at the conference all day, I would spend my days exploring on foot. Most days I ran between 6 and 8 miles along pathways and backstreets. It was fun returning to places I remembered from the year I lived there during university (15 years ago!).
On the first day, I ran down to the waterfront along little side streets and out to the end of this cobblestone quay.
On the way home I went through the Botanic Gardens - just as impressive and lovely as I remembered them.
On my next day of exploring, I ran up Arthur's Seat - a volcanic mound in the middle of the city.
I left the very cold and windy summit for the shelter and warmth of this mossy hillside.
There was constant construction right outside our flat and I noticed that the workers were carefully removing each cobblestone to lay a new pipe. A few days later, they had to fit each stone back in place, like a giant puzzle, to rebuild the road.
Another day I ran along the Water of Leith.
On my last day of running, I followed the Union Canal and saw various houseboats.
In one spot, the canal went over top streets and workyards, right alongside a raised train track.
As well as running and exploring, I spent my time in coffee shops or gardens - journaling, reading, and sketching. It was so relaxing and rejuvenating to do all these things on my own time.
A view of George St, near our flat. Every day the weather would be a mix of sun, clouds, and rain. It was so nice to be in cooler temperatures and have so much rain.
Once the conference was over, Steve and I hiked up Arthur's Seat together.
We rented a car and drove north to Inverness for one night, then on to Loch Ness and a night at the edge of Loch Maree. Below is the view from our hotel in Loch Maree - a bit worn out at the shore, but a beautiful view of the Loch and hills.
I made the most of the only bathtub in our travels and filled it with peat-filtered brown water from the highlands for a long hot bath.
After Loch Maree, we drove back to Edinburgh and stayed near the airport the last night. We flew out early the next morning and both felt very ready to be home with the kids. Even though we skyped with them each day, we missed them a lot and felt like we had had a good break.
