“i-loo-sions”

Crocodile Toilet Seat

Visitors to the Camera Obscura can wonder why we include our toilets amongst our illusions.  However, one visit to the little girls/boys room explains it all …

Our toilet seats are quite snappy.  The crocodile is one of the styles of seats we have, and our toilet walls are covered with lenticular posters, hidden images and other illusion images.

Our toilets are not the only ones with a hidden illusion.  The Shard, in London, has its toilets on the 68^th floor.  You can do your business whilst watching the city of business through one-way glass.

I suppose at 750 feet, you need not worry about anyone looking in, except maybe Superman!

Here are some other toilet illusions.

A Floor-Less Bathroom

One way glass toilet in Houston, Texas

Georgia Max Coffee, Japan

This toilet seat scares a lot of people!

Roman loos at the Puzzling World of Wanaka, New Zealand

Watch out below…

 

And, of course, we must end with … The Iron Throne

 

Image Credits:

tinyurl.com/kmzu4ft; tinyurl.com/l3skmqz; tinyurl.com/cjjp6l; tinyurl.com/lgtb9b9; tinyurl.com/mq2uttx; tinyurl.com/kxuup3u; tinyurl.com/mllg8uk

Cameron Explores the Great Places on Castlehill!

There is still more great stuff to see near Camera Obscura, so today I went across the road to the Scotch Whisky Experience.

Cameron at the Scotch Whisky Experience

There is a barrel ride, where you get to learn about how whisky is made. Then you get to have a ‘wee dram’ as Scottish humans call it, which was drinking a small glass of whisky. Then you get to see the largest collection of whisky in the world!

At the end, I took up an unconventional spot at the bar:

Can you spot Cameron?!

A little further down the hill is the building that used to be Highland Tolbooth St John’s Church and is now the Hub, home to the Edinburgh International Festival. The Hub is almost 250 feet tall, so I could not get it all in the photograph.

Cameron outside the Hub

This is apparently an appropriate time to write #selfie (if there is ever an appropriate time, said a colleague).

I tried to make another friend at Gladstone’s Land, but he was not very talkative:

Cameron and his new pal!

Inside is a 17th-century style house that belonged to Thomas Gledstanes, which was very grand to a little bear like me.

That’s all from that adventure. I wonder where I’ll go next?….

Who’s Who: Camera Obscura & World of Illusions Exhibit

Who’s Who? This is one of our exhibits but we’re struggling to name all the people featured in it….can you help us?

We’ve included photos of the people who we don’t recognise but also tried to capture all the faces in just two shots of the entire picture. There are 36 faces in total….how many can you get?!

Cameron at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Rawr!

This week, I went to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo! Every August, military bands from around the world perform on the castle esplanade, and this year there are visitors from New Zealand, South Africa, Malta, Singapore and Trinidad and Tobago.

The show was very loud, but in a good way. We are also lucky, here at Camera Obscura, because our building is so close to the stands that we are practically backstage. So I got to meet these humans:

Cameron with the Tattoo Pipers!

They are only four of the pipers and drummers of the 1150 humans in the show. One of them let me sit on his drum, so he must be the coolest one.

Stay tuned for my next festival adventure!

Cameron the Camera Obscura Bear… at Edinburgh Castle!

Cameron on the One O’Clock Gun

 

RAWR!

Although I might not be an A-lister yet, I received celebearty treatment on my most recent adventure – a trip to Edinburgh Castle!

The firing of the one o’clock gun is a tradition dating back to 1861. I got to sit on it:

 

 

 

 

Then I saw Mons Meg, which is over 500 years old. Normally you are not supposed to touch the cannon, but I got to sit in it:

Cameron in the Cannon!

I saw St Margaret’s Chapel and some of the military museums (there are many different parts of the castle), then I got stuck in jail again! Temporary glitch.

In Jail….again!

When I got out, I made the most of the nice views. Can you spot a familiar black and white tower in the background? See how far I have gone already!

Checking out the view

I saw a red box with a phone in it, which is an invention people use to speak to each other without seeing each other. I wanted to try it, then I realised I did not know who to phone.

Cameron in the Phone Box

After that, though, I made a friend in the Great Hall!

Best Buds!

This lucky guy will be able to say he met me before I was (really) famous.

Apart from almost ending up in jail again, I had a rawrsome time at Edinburgh Castle! I would go back tomorrow, except I have a whole bear bucket list to get through and…

…festival time is here! I will be telling you about the shows I have seen next week!

Mind-Boggling Illusion!

This is brilliant! Which way are the black and white dots rotating – clockwise or anticlockwise?

Clockwise or Anticlockwise?!

Cameron the Camera Obscura Bear: ‘My Ramsay Lane Adventure!’

 

Cameron the Camera Obscura Bear

I can’t bear being in the same place for too long! After the whole day it took me to type my last post to you, I needed to get out of the office.

I sat on the wall outside while I thought about where to go.

 

The Camera Obscura Mirror

 

 

 

 

 

 

I realised after a minute or ten that there was actually a lot to see right in front of me.

This is an odd mirror outside of Camera Obscura where I could look at myself. If I got really close, my head went upside down.

 

 

 

 

I made the mistake of waddling down Ramsay Lane. It is so steep that it is difficult to walk down, though of course it is more difficult to walk back up.

Ramsay Hill Lane

I did manage to get this awesome photo though:

Cameron the Bear Selfie!

The sky matches my hoodie. In the background you can see the Scott Monument, which I will climb one day when I am used to the steps at Camera Obscura. There are 287 steps to the top of the Scott Monument! Beside it you can see the clock of the Balmoral Hotel.

I also got a picture beside the Patrick Geddes trail sign, because he was the second owner of Camera Obscura:

Cameron and Geddes!

He also developed Ramsay Garden, which is almost next door. I had to jump very high to get these pictures.

Cameron at Ramsay Garden

Do you see the cat?

Then after climbing such a big hill, it was time for a rest!

 

RAWR!