Our week at Corshill Cottage came to an end. We drove back to Edinburgh to catch our train back to Manchester, but first squeezed in a quick trip to the Camera Obscura. From the Outlook Tower at the top of the Royal Mile we got panoramic views of the city:

Inside the tower, we got another view of the city in the camera obscura, a darkened room in which mirrors and lenses are used to project a live image of the streets of Edinburgh onto a large horizontal screen. Our guide told us that when the apparatus, (the same one that is still in use today), first debuted in 1853, people would vomit and even pass out from the shock of seeing the live projection.

The rest of the Tower was devoted to optical illusions:

Finally, it was time to get back to Manchester for our last few days, and the pleasures of home life there:

Teddy and Granny

Tea in the garden

Colin catches up with his brother.

Nicholas chats with his aunt.

Watching Countdown

My daughter spent many hours of the day boning up on Greek mythology with a new book from her aunt:

and with her dad’s Classical Studies notebook from grade school:

At night she dreamt about Greek mythology:

There were some serious ping pong matches:

The little brothers won a point against the big brothers, which was then taken away for excessive celebration.

We liked Granddad’s cool “one hand in the pocket stance”

Granny’s got game…

Frolicking in the garden:

On the day we left, Granddad indulged the kids by taking them on a pilgrimage to see the home stadium of their favorite team:

Old Trafford: “Theatre of Dreams”

And finally, it was time to bid a fond farewell to our family:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.