Be a tourist for a day or two!

Its great being on holiday. Why can we not be on holiday all the time - well we can by injecting that holiday feeling into wherever you are right now. Last week we had a visitor from Canada who has been longing to be in Scotland for the last few years and finally made it for a visit. After catching up with friends and family she visited us in Leith for a few days. The weather was mixed which was great-we had a not so good Sunday when we tackled the family history courtesy of the online Scotlands People - a big difference to the days when I used to go to Register House and request the record books-an occasion with its own appeal too I might add. We also used the Scottish Room at the library on George iv Bridge to peruse the census returns for Kirkcaldy before visiting that town to seek out the various houses where the family in question had stayed. Kirkcaldy library was helpful too in having old maps of the town that revealed that a house we thought was relevant had not in fact been built in the year in question. All bits of the puzzle! Back in Edinburgh and with time running out our visitor requested a trip to St Giles and was most impressed with the Thistle Chapel. On our visitor's last day a serendipitous call to the Scottish Parliament revealed that their last day too before recess and tickets were available. There was Wendy still in post and a themed question time underway on Health and Wellbeing, the session finishing with a feisty Margo MacDonald asking challenging questions. There are a lot of women in this parliament commented our visitor! A stroll up the Royal Mile to Canongate Kirk - what a wonderful bright and historic church. Do not miss Adam Smiths grave on the left hand side of the church yard on the wall backing onto the houses in the Royal mile. On the way we discovered a couple of hidden gardens in closes where you could rest and relax away from the bizz. The afternoon finished with a wee bit of retail therapy in Chique in Jeffrey Street before getting a lift home. All this in a period of time between 1.30am and 5pm and all on our doorstep and in front of our nose. Yes being a tourist for a day is revealing. Visitors see Scotland's places, its institutions, its history and last but not least its people differently than we who are here all the time. Try it-go be a tourist for the day or even a few hours. Offer to take a visitor with you and see it anew with their eyes. Imagine a Scotland where we all really see and experience these things and appreciate them and the land we inhabit fully.