The Royal Botanic Garden and Arthur's Seat were two separate sites that I visited, but together they served as equally interactive experiences because both found me completely immersed in nature.
The Royal Botanic Garden is located outside of the city center, and was founded by Scottish physicians Robert Sibbald (of the Royal College) and Andrew Balfour. In 1820, the gardens were officially established at their current location with a mission of cultivating plants, both foreign and domestic, for medical use. As the British Empire expanded, so did the diversity of the plants brought into the gardens. This diversity is prevalent as one wanders through the gardens today; there's an entire garden of plants from Japanese mountains, for example.
The entrance building to the gardens contained plant photography exhibitions that I was able to look through. One that stood out to me was a series of photographs taken with a lens that mimics the way insects view their surroundings (photographs below).
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Visitors sketching the gardens |
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An exhibition on "Biomimicry" and its ability to serve as a sustainable option for the creation of science and engineering processes and materials |
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Part of the photography exhibition on insects' view from the forest ground |
Arthur's Seat is located at the eastern end of the Royal Mile and takes about three hours total to hike up and come back down. The views throughout the hike are absolutely breathtaking; you're able to easily spot almost all city monuments and well-known sites. Arthur's Seat is significant for being the site of a now inactive volcano, and for the work of the geologist James Hutton. Hutton is known as the "father of modern geology" and was responsible for the theory that Earth's surface is continually changing due to internal heat. He used Salisbury Crags at Arthur's Seat to explicate how the rocks were formed from molten lava.
After reaching "Hutton's Section," the mountain becomes much steeper, but it's definitely worth the hike to the top to see sights like the pictures below. There are also two sundials located at the summit. Hiking Arthur's Seat during my first day in Edinburgh was a wonderful way to become acquainted with the city.
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The site of Hutton's Section |
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The view from the summit of Arthur's Seat |
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A close-up of a sundial at the summit |
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