RMS

The Royal Museum of Scotland re-opened a week ago after having been closed for refurbishment for about 3 years. I took advantage of a free day to go down and check it out.

It was always a favourite place; when I was young it was known in the family as the "Push-button Museum" because of all the exciting interactive elements. As I recall, these consisted almost exclusively of some 1;12 scale train models where you could make the wheels go round, and a scale model of a coalmine where a dim bulb would illuminate to indicate "Winding Gear" "Manager's Office" etc.

We were easily pleased.

The displays are very interactive, now. There are a lot fewer things on display; no drawers full of gorgeous butterflies to discover, no cases of comparative mammal skeletons, but it is imaginative and inspiring all the same.
I didn't have time to go round all the galleries, and it is still incredibly crowded (over 100,000 visitors in one week!).
This is the main hall, now quite empty of Stuff (and no goldfish ponds :( ) still one of the most elegant public spaces in Edinburgh.

I shall be back regularly...

A few more photos HERE